GIFT OF
BANCROFT
LIBRARY
<
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
ROBERT DOLLAR
MEMOIRS
OF
ROBERT DOLLAR
December, 1917
PRIVATELY
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR
BY
W. S. VAN COTT & CO.
SAN FRANCISCO
v,
Copyrighted 1917
by the
ROBERT DOLLAR COMPANY
Printed by
W. S. VAN COTT & CO.
San Francisco, Gal.
U. S. A.
THE CHAPTERS
Chapter One. EARLY EXPERIENCES Page i
Chapter Two. FIRST BUSINESS VENTURES IN CANADA. . . 13
Chapter Three. TRANSFER TIMBER OPERATIONS TO THE
UNITED STATES 23
Chapter Four. FIRST TRIP TO THE ORIENT 30
Chapter Five. THE RETURN VOYAGE VIA JAPAN 49
Chapter Six. MY SECOND TRIP TO THE ORIENT 54
Chapter Seven. NOTES OF A TRIP TO JAVA 66
Chapter Eight. THE STEAMSHIP "M. s. DOLLAR" AS A
BLOCKADE RUNNER 77
Chapter Nine. AMERICAN COMMISSIONERS ENTERTAINED
BY JAPANESE 83
Chapter Ten. A CONTINUED ROUND OF ENTERTAINMENTS 91
Chapter Eleven. PERSONAL COMMENTS ON JAPAN 99
Chapter Twelve. A VISIT TO AUSTRALIA 1908-1909. . . . 107
Chapter Thirteen. CONDITIONS IMPROVE IN CHINA 120
Chapter Fourteen. INTERESTING DESCRIPTIONS OF INTE
RIOR CHINA 140
Chapter Fifteen. AN EPOCH MAKING VOYAGE 155
Chapter Sixteen. COMMISSIONERS SEPARATE TO REUNITE
LATER 191
Chapter Seventeen. LEAVE FOR THE ORIENT AS SPECIAL
DELEGATE OF P. P. I. E 2OI
Chapter Eighteen. SAIL FOR HOME ON THE "MONGOLIA" 237
Chapter Nineteen. A JOURNEY TO GREAT BRITAIN AND
RETURN 241
Chapter Twenty. THE YEARS OF 1913, 1914, 1915- - - 255
Chapter Twenty-one. 1916 A BUSY YEAR 277
Chapter Twenty-tzt'o. HOW TO GET OUR SHARE OF THE
WORLD COMMERCE 304
Chapter Twenty-three. MEN WHO ARE MAKING AMERICA 317
Chapter Twenty-four. ELOQUENT APPEAL FOR A GREATER
AMERICAN MERCHANT MARINE 325
Chapter Twenty-five. HASTY TRIP TO JAPAN AND CHINA 343
THE ILLUSTRATIONS
ROBERT DOLLAR Frontispiece
MRS. ROBERT DOLLAR Page l6
PALACE HOTEL, SHANGHAI 32
TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT BUILDING, SHANGHAI 32
A CHINESE PAGODA 36
THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN 44
CHINESE METHOD OF DISCHARGING LIGHTERS 48
MRS. DOLLAR IN GATEWAY OF GREAT WALL OF CHINA .... 56
AN IRRIGATION DITCH, JAVA 64
THE TEMPLE AT BARABOEDOER, JAVA 68
A SNAKE AFTER HAVING DINED ON A SMALL PIG 72
THE SAME SNAKE, EXPOSING TO VIEW BODY OF THE PIG. . 73
VIEW OF SECTION OF WALL, TEMPLE OF BARABOEDOER .... 76
IMMENSE PANEL OUTER WALL TEMPLE OF BARABOEDOER. . 80
BUDDHA, LEFT HAND FIGURE OF GROUP, MENDOET 84
BUDDHA, CENTRAL FIGURE, TEMPLE OF MENDOET 88
BUDDHA, ONE OF A GROUP OF THREE, MENDOET Q2
THE OLD PALACE, KYOTO, JAPAN ; THE MAYOR OF KYOTO. . 96
E. K. HOWE OF THE ROBERT DOLLAR COMPANY 112
GRAIN EN ROUTE TO MARKET ON WHEELBARROWS 128
THE HAN YANG IRON AND STEEL WORKS 132
A CHINESE JUNK 140
THE ORPHAN 144
AMERICAN SPARS USED IN LING YING TEMPLE 148
HOUSEBOAT "ST. FRANCIS^ ; BRIDGE OF HUNDRED ARCHES. 156
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, SHANGHAI, ENTERTAINS COM
MISSIONERS AND LADIES l6o
CAMELS AND ELEPHANTS OF STONE MING TOMBS 164
V. K. LEE 172
PRIVATE CAR OF LATE EMPRESS DOWAGER 176
A JUNK UNDER SAIL LOADED WITH "FOOCHOW POLES*'. . . l8o
THE ILLUSTRATIONS (Continued)
A SPECIAL BUILDING ERECTED AT FATSHAN IN WHICH TO
ENTERTAIN THE COMMISSIONERS l88
A TYPICAL VILLAGE STREET SCENE, NORTHERN SHANTUNG IQ2
THE STEAMSHIP "BESSIE DOLLAR" LOADING PIG IRON .... 2O8
GUARDIAN OF GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE 224
THE HONORABLE LI YUAN HUNG 256
THE STEAMSHIP "ROBERT DOLLAR" 260
OFFICE OF THE ROBERT DOLLAR COMPANY, TIENTSIN .... 268
HONORARY CHINESE COMMISSION TO UNITED STATES. . . . 272
Memoirs of
Robert Dollar
Chapter One
EARLY EXPERIENCES
HESE memoirs were intended for my family and
some immediate friends, but at the urgent request of
others, I have decided to make them public. I have
but one reason in so doing and that is, that they may be of
benefit to some young men who are starting in at the bottom
thinking the difficulties confronting them are insurmountable,
when they look up to the top of the ladder. No doubt they
think no one has had such a hard time as they.
I cannot express my sentiments better than to repeat a.
part of Longfellow's "Psalm of Life" :
******
And departing leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate,
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.
In getting a start in life, no doubt many have had as
hard a time as I but few have had harder experiences.
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
1 was born iii alkirk, Scotland, in 1844. That was an
eventful year for my mother's family. My uncle, John Mel
ville, was master and part owner of the ship "Helen Mar"
she was owned by my uncle and grandfather. Another uncle,
Alex Melville, was first officer, and Robert Melville was
carpenter. In the early part of 1843 sne got a cargo from
Bombay to Calcutta. There was no freight offering there,
so she was laid up some time. They gave her a complete
overhauling, and in the early part of January, 1844, got a
cargo for London. A Glasgow ship sailed in company with
them, and in a violent typhoon was totally dismantled, but
with a jury rig was able to make port. The "Helen Mar"
was never heard of after. The supposition is she foundered
with all on board.
At the time of my birth my father was manager for the
lumber establishment of Robert Melville & Company. The
downstairs of the house in which I was born was used for
the office and the upstairs for the dwelling. This house has
been taken down, and a new office building is in its place.
Later we moved into a house surrounded by a garden, and
the first visit I made to my native land after having been
away thirty-five years, I found the garden had been turned
into a lumber yard and a lot of timber had been piled against
the house, and to my astonishment, in looking it over, I
found it was timber I had taken out on the shore of Lake
Huron and sold in Quebec, not knowing where it was dis
posed of each stick of timber had the Dollar mark on it.
When old enough I went to the public school. The
teacher had only one arm, but when it came to chastening us
boys how he could use that one arm! He used a cane, and
he could make us dance the Highland Fling to perfection.
Thank Providence he had only one hand, for we could never
have stood two. That was one essential feature of the
education in those days to get a good thrashing several
times a week. I may have gotten more than my share, as
I have never forgotten them to this day. I left school when
I was about twelve years old and immediately started to
work in a machine shop attending a lathe. In those days
there were no self-feeding lathes and small boys were used
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
for that purpose. I recollect the first Saturday night I got
paid for a week's work with a half crown (60 cents) and
how I ran home all the way and gave the money to my
mother.
My mother died about this time, and my father took to
drinking occasionally to drown his sorrow. This brought
about the necessity for our emigrating to Canada, and it
made me a strong temperance man, as I vowed I would never
touch liquor as long as I lived. This vow I have religiously
kept and to this resolution I attribute the most of my suc
cess in life.
In April, 1858, we sailed from Glasgow for Quebec on
the sailing ship "Anglesia." There were very few steamers
in those days, and the greater number of passengers were
carried on sailing ships. We were five weeks in passage,
and having some sickness on board were quarantined ten
days, so it was the last of June when we arrived in Ottawa,
where my father intended to make his home.
Immediately on arrival there I got employment in a stave
factory in New Edinburgh. The eight hour law had not
been enacted at that time, so we worked twelve hours a
day. I do not recollect the wages I received, but think it
was $6.00 per month. I worked in different mills until
1 86 1 when I hired with the firm of Hamilton Bros, to work
in one of their lumber camps, or "shanties" as they were
called in those days. Mr. Hiram Robinson of Ottawa City,
who is still alive, gave me the job at $10.00 a month. The
foreman was Sandy Kingsbury, a big, jolly man and a good
foreman. He put me to work to help the cook chore boy
as the job was called. A boy, green as I was, not long from
the old country, had certainly a great deal to learn.
We left Ottawa in bark canoes and went up the Gatineau
River to a place called Six Portages. This place was some
thing over one hundred miles from Ottawa City and there
were a great number of rapids and falls in the river past
which we had to carry all our supplies. It was a very hard
experience.
I recall one of these portages where there was a very
steep hill which we had to climb over. In getting down on
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
the other side there was snow on the ground, which made
it quite slippery. I had a big box on my back which I was
carrying with a tump line. A tump line is a broad leather
strap put around the box and placed over the forehead, as
the Indians carry their loads. When I started down that
hill my feet went out from under me, and myself and the
box went down the hill as if I was a toboggan, but we
came to an abrupt stop occasioned by the box going on one
side of a tree and I on the other side. The strap had
slipped off my forehead and down on my neck. I kicked
and turned trying to release myself, but the harder I kicked
the tighter the strap got, so I remained there till some of
my associates came and released me.
We finally arrived at the place where we were going to
build the camp, all tired out with the extremely hard and
heavy trip up the river. We had the buildings up and were
ready to put on the roofs when a few skunks came around
and were quite a nuisance. One night when the rest were
in at supper I was left outside to see if any came around.
I saw one go into a hollow log, so I ran quickly and
plugging up one end and pushing a pole in the other end,
called to the foreman that I had one. He came out with
his gun and I told him to take the plug out of the end
and look in, which he did. At the same time I gave the
skunk a jab with the pole and he immediately sprinkled the
foreman's head with his perfume. I had to take to the
woods, and did not venture to return until every one was
asleep. The next morning he gave me a cuffing for my fun
to the delight of all the others in camp. I realized from this
I might fool with any of the others but not with the foreman !
Another amusing incident happened when we were build
ing the camp. One day the foreman gave me two bags,
and said: "Run out into the woods and fill these two bags
with moss as quickly as you can." They used the moss to
put into the chinks between the logs to make the shanty
warm. I was in a big hurry, and wanted to please the fore
man by doing it quickly, so rushed into the swamp where
there was plenty of moss and filled one bag and stood it up
against a tree. I then proceeded to fill the other one. When
MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
I had this one filled I turned to find the first bag, but could
not see it anywhere. I set the second one down, and
started to look for the first one which I had left against the
tree, and in a short time I could find neither and had lost
myself as well. I wandered around the swamp all day, and
got out just at dusk without any moss and tired out. The
foreman was very angry and scolded me for being so long,
and said to bring on the moss. When I told him I had lost
both bags, he said: "I could understand your losing one,
but how could you lose them both?" I spent every Sunday
for a long time looking for the bags, but so far as I know
they are still there, as I never found them.
The next season I again hired with the same firm under
the same foreman, who promoted me to work in the woods
cutting roads as the logs were all hauled with oxen. They
had not tried to work horses in the woods at that time.
What an evolution lumbering has gone through! First with
oxen, then horses; both oxen and horses have been super
seded on the Pacific Coast by steam. Now no lumbering
is done except with donkey engines and railroads, on this
coast.
This year (1863) I was sent to the mouth of the Gatineau
River to help raft the logs out. A tug was sent to tow
the logs from Ottawa City to the mill at Hawksburg. We
made about one trip a week with logs, and I found it rather
hard work, as we got but very little sleep.
At this time my brother and I bought a farm. Our
united wages were only $26.00 a month, out of which we
saved enough to buy the farm. It took us three years,
I think. At the present way of living, this statement would
appear incredible; but it is a fact, nevertheless.
The following summer an event happened which prob
ably hastened my getting on in the world. I was put in
to cook for the men at the Gatineau boom where the logs
were being rafted. One day after I had finished my work,
as had been my custom for the past two years, I was prac
ticing writing and figures. I had not gotten much education
to start with but what little I did get I had neglected and I
began to realize that if I were going to rise in this world
MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
I must have some education, and therefore started to write
and figure on birch bark. While cooking* I had gotten hold
of an old account book and used it to practice in. One day
the manager and treasurer of the company came in, but
I did not hear them. They asked me if I had nothing to
do and when I told them my work was done they looked
around and found everything in order and asked to see my
writing and figures. I showed them and was ashamed that
they were not better. After questioning me a good deal
they went off.
In those days we hired for a year, and when it was
time for me to return to the woods for the next year I went
to the office to engage with them. I was told they had a
better job for me, to clerk in a small camp for a French fore
man. It was not much of a raise as I worked all day and
did what little writing that was to be done at night. This
year we went in canoes as usual, from Ottawa to our winter
quarters, further up than any lumbering had previously been
done. It was over two hundred miles, and took us about
three weeks to get there. The camp was over one hundred
and fifty miles from the nearest inhabitants except Indians.
The entire crew was French, with the exception of myself.
I was the only English-speaking person, so it became a
necessity for me to learn French as quickly as possible, and
by the end of the season I could talk the language very well.
Unfortunately I learned by sound, and as no one was there
to teach me to read and write, I never had an opportunity
to learn the language thoroughly, although I could talk it
perfectly.
The manner of living, or what would be called the
standard of living, was very different from that of our lum
ber camps of today. Our stores consisted of fat salt pork
in barrels, flour and peas. A few years after I started, beans
were added to the list. Tea was supplied to any one who
wished to pay $1.00 a month for it. Occasionally a few
sacks of potatoes were sent in before the cold weather came.
No other vegetables of any kind were used. The result of
this lack of change of diet was that in the spring of the
year we had men laid up with the disease called "black
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
leg." This is similar to the disease the Japanese and Chinese
are afflicted with on board of ships, due to the constant use
of rice and known as "beri-beri."
Another troublesome disease many of us had after the
long winter and before we could get any change of food
was what we called "night blind." As soon as the sun set
we would become totally blind until after sunrise. All those
so afflicted had to make sure to get back to camp before
sunset, otherwise they had to be led. Even a candle did
not help out as it gave no light to those so afflicted. By
eating a small piece of cheese or drinking milk, especially
buttermilk for five or six days, a complete cure was effected.
What a neglect on the part of employers that such things
were allowed to go on to their own hurt, as men afflicted
in this way could not do the work that perfectly well men
could do! Now-a-days our men in camps are as well fed
and with as good a variety as in any of our homes.
A big box was kept in each camp called, for short, a
"van," properly vanjouterie. In it was tobacco and the neces
sary clothing that might be required. In the line of med
icines, were the following, and no others: Radway's Ready
Relief, salts, castor oil and sticking plaster. Those were
supposed to cure all the ills that the lumbermen of those
days might be afflicted with. This was a small assortment,
but I must say the men were the healthiest and strongest
that could be found in any community. They worked out
doors all the time and from April until September slept in
tents.
In March of 1864, twelve of us were sent to haul pro
visions to a new place where they were starting a farm on
the Jean de Terre River. Each pair of us was hitched to
a train, de glace, as it was called. It was like a toboggan.
I think each train had four hundred pounds on it. The
route was through woods all the way, with some lakes to
cross on the ice. The snow was about four feet deep and
soft, making it such a hard trip that I never forgot it. At
night we would just break a little brush and spread it on
the snow. Each man had one blanket in which he would
roll himself and sleep in the open air with the thermometer
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
below zero. We shivered more than we slept. One night
we camped on the side of a mountain. There was a long
range of hills on the opposite side of a canyon in view
from where we lay. The woods were evergreen, spruce,
balsam and pitch pine. It had snowed hard all night and
the trees were covered with it, as it stuck to them and fell
on us. I recollect well how it melted on our blankets and
wet us through. At daybreak an earthquake came along
and woke us up. In an instant we were all on our feet; at
first, the snow falling from the trees blinded us, but we saw
a strange sight on the mountains opposite. We could follow
the progress of the earthquake's undulations by the snow
falling from the trees. Before it, the trees were all covered
with snow and after the temblor had ceased, they were all
shaken clean and were green. We could trace the course
of the earthquake for a distance of three miles, showing
exactly the direction it was moving, also the speed at which
it was traveling.
We reached our destination, the distance being about
one hundred and twenty miles, the hardest I ever traveled.
Returning, it went better as we had our trail to go on, and
having no loads we made good time. I think we returned
in about five days. We were glad to get back to our hard
work in camp, which seemed easy after our trip.
I worked my way up slowly until, in 1866, when I was
twenty-two years of age, I was put in charge of a camp
of forty men, and in the spring of the year I ran the logs
down the Du Moines River to the Ottawa River, where they
were boomed and taken by several stages over the rapids and
falls, and after a great deal of hard work and trouble we
got them, to Ottawa City. Up to this time no logs had
been taken over the Chaudiere Falls. Under the direction
of our manager I ran a quantity over these falls, but it
did not prove a success.
We then tried to get the logs to the north side, past the
town of Hull through the slide. This was successful and
after a time we got them running well. To make up for
so much lost time experimenting, I kept urging them to feed
them in faster until my energy exceeded my good judgment,
8
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
the result being that a jam occurred in the steep slide so
that in a few minutes it choked full, and, before I could
stop more coming, it completely stopped the water coming
through the proper channel and it found a very improper
one by going through the match factory of Mr. E. B. Eddy,
flooding the floor, so that some hundred employees had to
quit work. Mr. Eddy immediately appeared on the scene,
and called me all the bad names he could think of.
At last I told him that we were only losing time and
if he would let me alone I would try and stop the water
going through the factory. I went at the job with all the
energy I possessed while he sat on the bank and watched
every move of myself and the men. It was very dangerous
starting the logs, as when we got them started they would
go like a shot out of a gun. We were successful and in an
incredibly short time we got the logs started and the water
ceased making a highway through the factory. When I
finished, Mr. Eddy came up and said, "I take my hat off to
you for the able and expeditious way you got those logs
going." And after all the damage I had caused him he
said, "I take back all I said to you on the start." The big,
broad gauge man that he was; this made us fast friends
as long as he lived.
At this time I started keeping a diary and have kept one
constantly up to the present time. I find this diary very
convenient in looking up places and dates.
Needing a change, I took a vacation at home for three
weeks and worked even harder than I had been working in
the woods. I tried to do as much as possible in those three
weeks as the farm had to be paid for, and this could only be
done by working for wages. I had hoped to be able to settle
down quietly on the farm, and this ambition stimulated me
to greater exertions. But a quiet life was not to be my lot.
The very reverse was in store, and I was destined to be
actively engaged in business.
Previous to being foreman, my wages were $16.00 a
month. I often thought if I could only get up to $26.00 a
month the height of my ambition would be realized. This
ambition was soon satisfied as I got $26.00 in the fall of the
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
year by taking charge of a camp. This will give an idea of
how low wages were at that time (caused by the depression
following the Civil War), when a foreman in charge of a
crew of men only got $26.00 a month.
During this winter I had a severe attack of rheumatism
caused by being exposed to storms and hardships in the
woods far more than my share. However, I got over it,
and never have had an attack since.
In taking the logs down what is called Deep River, a
tributary of the Ottawa River, where there is not much cur
rent, we boomed up the logs in one long string and with a
capstan, an anchor and lines, moved them along. One very
foggy night while we were warping, the wooden spindle on
the capstan, which needed greasing very badly, made a
squeaky noise, which a moose ashore thought was a buck,
and swam out to us. It did not see us until it was right
alongside of the crib. When it saw what kind of bucks we
were it immediately turned and started to swim ashore.
Some of the men got into a boat and killed it with oars
and an ax. It weighed over one thousand pounds and fur
nished us with roasts and steaks for several days.
On this trip down the river we built cribs on which we
erected cabins to live in. These cribs were run down the
rapids with long oars at each end. I had become familiar
with the various rapids and was able at this time to pilot
them down, which was a very dangerous and risky propo
sition.
The Civil War had been going on in the United States,
and as we were six months without any mail we could not
keep posted on affairs of the outside world. What infor
mation we did get was only a short account of some great
engagement. We were a world to ourselves, but we got
used to this as our whole time and attention were taken up
with our work.
Accidents were rare, but they did happen. I recollect
one of my men got a leg broken. I had never seen a person
with a broken leg, and had no idea how to set it. I asked
all hands if any of them had ever had a broken limb or had
ever seen one set. Not one of the sixty men could help me
10
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
even with a suggestion. So I had to go at it, having only
common sense to guide me. I was fortunate enough to do it
right, with the exception of keeping a weight on it to pre
vent it shrinking, with the result that the man had a leg
one inch too short, causing a slight limp. When I got to
civilization I got a doctor to show me how to set a broken
leg. His method closely resembled my rough and ready way
of doing it. A foreman in those days had to be a jack-of-
all-trades. I was fortunate in never having a man killed
while I was foreman, but I was unfortunate in having
several drowned at various times.
A foreman of a camp in those days had to be resourceful
and to possess the faculty of taking the initiative, as we
had very little to do with and had to depend on our own
resources when anything went wrong, which often happened.
This made us strong and self-reliant. My wages at this
time were $32.00 a month, and for the amount of work and
responsibility I thought it a small wage, so I gave the com
pany notice I would leave, which I reluctantly did after
having worked so long for them.
In 1870 I engaged with Pearly and Pattee at $44.00 a
month, and went up the Coulonge River about three hundred
miles from Ottawa City. While here we were as much out
of the world as formerly, and were many months without
communication with the outside. I put in three more years
cf this work, during which time I had an unfortunate acci
dent. The manager sent me with a crew of men to go to the
mouth of the river, about one hundred miles distant, to take
care of the logs. I protested on leaving that the boat was too
heavily loaded, but he thought differently. When we were
fifty miles from the mouth of the river the boat swamped
and three of the party were drowned, and only that I
insisted on the survivors holding on to the boat more would
have perished. We managed to get ashore, at the head of
a great falls, but lost everything including our provisions.
If we had gone over it not one would have been left to tell
the tale. We got the boat out of the water to carry it past
the falls, but as the oars were gone it was slow work getting
down. The men were completely discouraged, but after a
ii
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
good deal of protesting I got them to carry the boat over the
falls where we found two oars and a couple of trunks. We
still had two long rapids to run, but got through safely. At
night we all lay on the frozen ground close together to keep
as warm as we could, having no matches to light a fire as
they had all gotten wet. We had a cold, miserable night
of it and were glad next day to get to civilization. We
reached a French-Canadian farmer's house, and he permitted
us to lie on the floor, which was much better than the
previous night. By keeping a good fire in the stove we had
an opportunity to dry our clothes.
By persistently saving we kept buying land and increased
the size of our farm until we had five hundred acres all paid
for.
During the last few years I had been successful in build
ing dams and improving rivers that were not considered
navigable, thereby saving a great deal of money for my
employers by shortening the haul with the teams. I managed
to make a great success of this work.
12
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Chapter Two
FIRST BUSINESS VENTURES IN CANADA
Up to 1872, I had succeeded in saving some money and
had been persistently working on my education, having
taken a good many books of standard authors to the camps
and read them during the long winter, so that isolation from
the world was a benefit in that way.
At that time I left the Ottawa River and went to a
new country, the Muskoka district, north of Toronto, where
in .partnership with Mr. Johnson, we bought timber on
land owned by farmers and started lumbering for our own
account, making our headquarters at Bracebridge, Ontario.
It was a new country just opened by the Government, and
there was a good opportunity. Business was booming at
this time and we did not sell our logs, expecting to get a
higher price when we would deliver them at the market
the following summer; but at that time along came Black
Friday in New York, which paralyzed business throughout
not only the United States but Canada as well. When we
came to sell our logs we found we had made a loss of what
little money we had put in as well as about $5000.00 more.
I recall what a friend said to me at that time, which I did
not appreciate: "Happy and lucky is the man who fails
when he is young." This loss turned out all right in the
end, but it was hard medicine to take and it was years
before I understood the meaning of my friend's words.
In order to pay up the debts, my partner and myself had
to go to work on wages. We divided up the indebtedness,
each agreeing to pay half. For my part, it took three years'
hard work to get even with the world again.
I had previously been in the employ of H. H. Cook. At
this time he tried to get me to go into partnership with him,
but I absolutely refused until I had paid up all my debts. I
then started with him. He furnished the money and I the
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
brains and hard work. Having the experience of previous
years I was extremely cautious and careful, and made a
success of the new venture from the start.
In 1874 I got married, and my wife and I made our
home in Bracebridge, Ontario, where we lived for seven
years. From this time on I date the commencement of my
success in life as I was fortunate in getting a good helpmate.
Business began gradually to increase and I was kept very
busy.
In 1876 I had started eight camps in Muskoka district,
and besides these I started a camp to get out saw logs on
one of the islands of Georgian Bay near Parry Sound, which
was accessible only in summer. So we put the whole equip
ment on a steamer with men and teams and sufficient sup
plies to last them until spring of the following year. Early
in March I got a letter from the foreman, the first we had
heard from them. This letter was brought out by an Indian
who had managed to cross on the ice. The foreman stated
they would be short of fodder for the horses, and unless
some was sent to him the horses would starve before the
opening of navigation. It was a serious situation and re
quired drastic measures.
I went to Midland, bought four loads of feed and hired
four teams of horses to take it out on the ice to the camp
sixty miles up towards Lake Huron. The owners were so
afraid, that I had to value their horses and guarantee if any
were drowned I would repay them. We left Midland on
the 2Oth of March. All went well the first day with the
exception of our finding a few wide cracks which we had
to bridge over. That afternoon and evening a terrific storm
blew up. We were out of sight of land and I was piloting
them now with my compass and chart. About 3 p. m. a
light snow began to fall and then a heavy gale swept down
on us without any warning. It was so heavy that it swept
one team off its feet. When we got them up it was blowing
a hurricane and the snow was blinding. It was impossible
to proceed, so we got the loads together and made a hollow
square with all the horses and ourselves in the small place.
It did not seem possible that we could live through the night
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
in this shape as it was very cold and we were on the open
lake without shelter. The soft snow that had been falling
had wet us through. On looking at my chart I found there
was a small island or rock about a mile directly to windward
of us. I took an ax and started out to find it, in hopes we
could find some shelter, but after going scarcely a quarter
of a mile I could go no further on account of the velocity
of the wind and the fine snow which choked me, so I turned
back to where I had left the men and teams.
As I had gone directly against the wind I returned with
it at my back. When I had gone as far back as I thought I
had gone forward I could not see them. This was not strange
as the blinding snow prevented my seeing any distance. It
was impossible to stand still so I lay down on the ice and
called with all my might hoping they would hear me, but
I had begun to choke with the fine snow driven with the
force of the wind. So I got up and started again. I was
mystified at not finding the teams and men and could not
reason it out for a while, but it soon came to me that the
wind had shifted, which turned out to be the case. I was
driven along having no idea where I was going sometimes
thinking I might be going to open water as Lake Huron
did not freeze all over. There was water over the ice in
places making it very slippery and I had some very bad
falls besides getting very wet, and the cold wind soon froze
my clothes as hard as boards. I was getting badly used up,
the head of the ax handle having broken the bones in my
hand, although I did not know it at the time. At last I
fell and struck on the back of my head which stunned me,
and I lay quite a while unconscious. The snow falling on
my face at last revived me, but I reasoned it was no use
going further, and that I might as well lie there, as it did
not seem possible for me to get out of it alive.
After lying there a while I felt a little rested, and
thought I would try it again. I got up on my elbow, and to
my great astonishment saw land not more than fifty feet
from me. I immediately felt as if there was nothing wrong
with me, and jumped up as smart as I ever did in my life.
Although it was a barren, inhospitable shore no habitation
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
within fifty miles of me I was well pleased with it. I
walked into the woods far enough to get out of the wind
and cut a lot of wood (I never had let go of my ax) and
lit a fire. My clothes were frozen so stiff it was only with
great difficulty I was able to get my hand into my pocket.
When I got out my match box there were only two left in
it. I need not say that I took great precautions to make
sure they would not miss fire. I got behind a perpendicular
rock out of the wind, and everything ready, was pleased
beyond measure when the first match started the fire. My
anxiety was great as it would have been impossible to have
survived, wet as I was, through the intense cold of that
night. I kept a good fire going and got my clothes thawed
out and dried, but did not sleep any. At daybreak I started
back to the ice, and found it calm and a clear, bright
morning.
All through the night I thought of the poor men still
on the ice, and was sure they had all perished and I was
the only one left to tell the tale. They, on the other hand,
must have thought it was impossible for me to have reached
land and were sure I had perished so they hitched up their
horses and started for home, but, as I was the only guide
they had, they had no idea which way to go. After consul
tation they decided on a direction which proved to be en
tirely wrong. I started in the direction where I thought
they were, and found my tracks occasionally. I found I
had gone over three miles parallel with and never more
than five hundred feet from shore. After traveling eight
or ten miles I got sight of the teams a long way off. They
appeared like a dot on the horizon. I walked as quickly as
I could and fortunately the men saw me, and were over
joyed as they had great doubts of being able to get back
home without me. During the night they had lit a fire
and burned about one load of the hay, which saved their
lives. We had lost nearly all our provisions, and the only
thing we had to eat was bran mash, without salt. When I
got up to them it was about noon, so we lit a fire and all
had a share.
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MRS. ROBERT DOLLAR
The Faithful Companion and Counselor of Robert Dollar
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
The men had had enough of it and all wanted to return
home. I urged them to keep on as we were that far, but
with only bran to eat, and in view of our late experiences,
I don't see, now, how I ever persuaded them to go on. As
soon as we finished our meal we started for the camp. That
night it was not so cold and we reached a small island
where the woods were thick. The next day was Sunday,
and after dark we reached the place where I understood the
camp was located. It had been snowing hard all day and
none of the men had been out, so there were no tracks to
guide us. We passed on the ice not more than two hundred
yards from the camp, but it was in thick woods so we did not
see it. We went on about a quarter of a mile when I told
the men to light a fire and keep warm and I would go to
the place where the camp had been in the fall, three miles
off, thinking probably they had not moved. It was now
dark and I set off on the run, but when I got to the old
camp found it had been abandoned months before. I turned
back to where I had left the teams, but they had gone. I
followed their tracks and later found them at the camp. The
fire of our men had been seen and some of the men from
the camp had come over to find out who was there.
Next morning I could not move in my bed. I never was
so sore in my life. The teams had to return at once as the
ice gave signs of breaking up. I called the teamsters to my
bed and told them we would send an Indian guide who
would take them back as I would have to stay until I got
better. They positively refused to go without me, so I got
some of them to rub me to get me limbered up, but it was
a terrible job to get out of bed. However, we got started,
and got through all right except getting the horses in the
water several times.
When we got back to Midland I went to bed and it
was several days before I was able to go home. It took
me many months to get completely over the effects of the
trip. Although I was able to attend to business my hand
continued swollen and when I showed it to a doctor he
told me it was broken.
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
The next year, 1880, I started to get out square timber
for the English market, and became much interested in
foreign trade. This interest has kept on increasing as the
years have gone by. In those days it was quite an under
taking, and required considerable grit and energy to carry
through this kind of business.
Two years later in following up this business I branched
out, getting out this class of timber at Shawanaga, north
of Parry Sound, and at the Serpent River, as well as on
the Canadian side of the Lakes.
In the spring of 1881 I had an experience while visiting
the camp at Serpent River. We sent in the men and sup
plies by a steamer in the fall and built a warehouse at the
mouth of the river to hold our year's supplies. We boated
supplies up the river to where the camp would be built,
sufficient to do until the snow and ice made it possible to
haul the balance with teams. They were cut off from all
communication with the outer world. I started from Parry
Sound in February with a team of horses to go to the camp,
a distance of two hundred and fifty miles, which was made
on the trackless ice right from Parry Sound, Ont. The time
occupied was eight days. We slept out every night with the
canopy of heaven for our roof. The weather was intensely
cold, being below zero all the time, with the exception of
the last day, when it rained. Not being prepared for such a
change in the weather we had a miserable time of it. Sleep
ing out in winter in a heavy rain storm is anything but
comfortable to say the least. The weather was so bad I
left the team and teamster at our warehouse at the mouth
of the river and made the last thirty-five miles on foot in
the soft, slushy snow. It was hard walking and I was glad
to get to the camp and the men were delighted to get news
from the outside world. I had to give them an account of
the principal events that had transpired since they left
civilization.
I found the work had gone on successfully and we had
a lot of fine timber on the ice ready to be floated down to
Lake Huron, where it was to be loaded in vessels and taken
to Kingston at the foot of Lake Ontario, then rafted and
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
run down the rapids of the St. Lawrence past Montreal and
towed to Quebec; there to be again loaded into ocean-going
ships for Liverpool, where it would be rafted and taken up
the canal to Manchester and be sawn up into sizes for mak
ing cotton-spinning machinery. I spent three weeks looking
over the various tracts of timber, but could not find the
large sized timber required for this trade, namely twenty-one
inches average diameter. For this reason I later on decided
to shift operations to Michigan, where the desired sizes of
trees could be found.
It was near the breaking up of winter and we had twelve
more men than we needed to drive the timber down the
river, so I started out with a team of horses and the twelve
men intending to return as I came, on the ice along Lake
Huron and the Georgian Bay to Midland. But the fates
decreed otherwise. The first night, with considerable diffi
culty on account of the ice having melted in the recent
spring weather, we got to Little Current on Manitoulin
Island. I found it impossible to go farther with the team
and decided to send it back to the camp and tried to induce
the men to return as I could see we were in for a two hun
dred and fifty mile walk; and besides, there was the uncer
tainty of the ice remaining long enough to make the trip.
They all decided that if I could go they could. I tried to
explain that it was a case of "have to" with me, but they
could return and work in the camp until navigation opened;
whereas, I had various camps in Muskoka and Parry Sound
districts, and it was necessary for me to be on hand to
arrange about getting the logs driven when the water was
high. This was of no avail they were determined to get
out to civilization. So I bought a few hand sleighs from
the Indians and put on them what was actually required for
the trip. Then we started out pulling the sleds on the ice.
The third day out a severe snow storm raged and it was
impossible to travel, so we had to lay up all day much
against our wills, as we had hardly provisions enough to
take us to Byng Inlet, which was much nearer than Midland.
Next morning we were up before daylight and ready to
start, when to our dismay we discovered the ice had gone
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
out during the storm. There we were on the bleak and
barren shore of Georgian Bay and had now to foot it through
the trackless forest. We reached French River, which we
had hoped to cross on the ice, but to our dismay it was
wide open, the ice having gone out in the previous day's
storm. So we had to cut logs, and after pulling them to
the water made a raft of them. This took an entire day,
and was attended with much danger. The first raft capsized
and two of our men narrowly escaped perishing in the cold
water. So we had to cut larger logs and make a stronger
raft. The only tool we had was an ax. We secured the
logs together with twisted withes. We all got across alive,
and to our delight found the ice was still fast inside of the
islands so we were able to make better time. However, our
provisions were about exhausted, so I had all the flour baked
into cakes and divided equally. It was just enough for a
small meal. I told the men that the nearest civilization was
a three days' journey and that each one should divide his
cake into three parts, but nearly all of them ate it at once.
I divided my share into three portions, each piece being about
one inch square.
The ice was getting bad and several of us went through
it. The nights were very cold and we suffered considerably
wet in the afternoon and freezing at night. The frost hard
ened the crust so that in the forenoons we had fairly good
walking. But in the afternoons every step went through to
the ice. I remember I had a pair of deerskin moccasins on,
which kept the water out as well as a pair of socks would.
The men got tired and it was only by encouraging and urging
them on that we were able to make any headway, as many
of them wanted to lie down and give it up. The last day
before arriving at Byng Inlet I told them I would go ahead
and get provisions sent back to them with Indians and for
them to follow my tracks.
Before noon I came across an Indian wigwam. A squaw
and two children were the occupants. She could not talk
English or French so I made signs to her that I was hungry
and tried to make her understand there were twelve more
coming. I found she had about twenty pounds of flour, but
20
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
no meat of any kind, so she started to make slap-jacks. I
did not eat, and encouraged her to make more until about
three miles off our men were in sight. I took her out and
showed her the crowd, when she held up her hands in
despair. I put aside enough for herself and children for one
day and made her understand I would send her plenty the
following day, so she went to work and baked the balance
of the flour, and, to my surprise, she went out into the
snow and dug up a white fish three feet long and put it into
a pot of boiling water, scales, guts and all. This was as
sweet a fish as I ever tasted. In the meantime I saw the
very slow progress of the men. I got some birch bark and
made a big smoke; the effect was magical. When the men
saw there was a habitation near I noticed that they imme
diately began to step out. When they came they ate every
thing in sight, but I prevented them from leaving the squaw
without anything.
I almost had to use force to get them to start out for
Byng Inlet Saw Mills, ten miles distant. We found a trail,
which helped us out, and reached the mill at 10 o'clock that
night where we got plenty to eat, and washed our hands and
faces for the first time in two weeks. We looked more like
negroes than white men. To say I was pleased does not
express it, as a few days before it seemed like a physical
impossibility to come out of our trials alive, and the respon
sibility was heavy upon me. I sent an Indian back with
supplies to the squaw, four times as much as we had used
of hers.
I was up bright and early the next morning, as I knew I
was urgently needed to start the drives. I had a camp at
Shawanaga, and started out on snow shoes that I borrowed.
The distance from Byng Inlet to Shawanaga through the
woods was forty-five miles ; no roads, not even a trail. Before
dark I was able to strike an unused Government road which
led to our camp, which I reached after every one was in
bed. I looked over this timber and works the next fore
noon. (We were getting out what was called Tonawanda
21
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
timber, which was the full length of the tree; and in sum
mer it was towed across Lake Huron to Detroit, where I
sold it.)
I took one of our teams to carry me to Rosseu, which
I reached after midnight. The winter roads had broken up
and I could not get any one for love or money to take me
to Bracebridge, Muskoka district, my objective point, so I
started out again on foot for a thirty-five mile tramp. The
mud was ankle-deep in places, and with dirty clothes and
deerskin moccasins I certainly was a tough looking tramp.
The next morning I was busy hiring men for the drives
for the various camps, apparently none the worse after as
hard an experience as few lumbermen ever had, even in
those days when they were used to hard knocks.
It was a survival of the fittest, and only the strongest
were able to come out of it alive.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Chapter Three
TRANSFER TIMBER OPERATIONS TO THE
UNITED STATES
I decided at this time to give the foreign trade the pref
erence, and found the most desirable timber was of a larger
size than could be found on the Canadian side. So on
July 6, 1882, I moved to Michigan, making headquarters at
Marquette, and there got out fine large timber for the
English market.
On the 1 3th of July, 1882, we started to build a saw
mill in the forest at a place afterwards called Dollarville,
to manufacture lumber out of logs that were not suitable
for the foreign trade. This mill had a long and successful
career, and manufactured lumber for over thirty years.
After running it five years I sold out.
While I was looking up a mill site, as well as timber for
the mill at Dollarville, the railroad was under course of
construction at this point. It was a wild, undeveloped
country at that time.
With a man to help me I went to the end of the rail
road and camped in a house kept by a Mr. O'Brien and his
wife. They had gotten a barrel of whiskey to celebrate
Christmas and New Year's and it was about empty, but they
were to have a last blow-out that night. When I went into
the kitchen on my arrival, Mrs. O'Brien was busy grating
blue stone and putting it into the whiskey barrel. I asked
her what in the world she was doing, and she told me they
had all made up their minds to have a big last drunk that
night, and as she had found there was not enough whiskey
she knew there would be the dickens to pay, and the only
thing she had to make it out of was pepper and blue stone,
with water and what little whiskey was left in the bottom
of the barrel.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
I said we had better go and tent out as we had all the
outfit with us, and I did not want to be in a place like that,
but she said it was a terrible, cold night and on no account
to leave as we could go into a lower bunk in the corner and
no harm would come to us. So with her assurance we
remained. The men, about twenty-five of them, came in at
dark and had supper. They were a very quiet looking lot of
fellows, mostly Irishmen.
After supper they started drinking. My man and myself
went to bed with the ground for the bottom of our berth
where there were several roots and small stumps that made
it anything but level or soft. However, we spread out our
blankets and as we were tired we were soon asleep. About
midnight we were awakened by a terrible row. The lamp
was knocked out and the big stove overturned and smashed
to pieces, and the contents went flying all over the shanty
setting it on fire in many places. The men all made a rush
for the door and got out into the snow. As it was many
degrees below zero and we were in our bare feet we were
in a bad way. The drunkest ones came out into the snow
to get more room to finish their fight, and the more sober
ones to throw snow and water on the burning shanty. So
we got to work and assisted in saving the building. Rolling
in the snow had the effect of putting an end to the fight, and
quiet was restored. We had breakfast and were glad to
get ready for our departure, having seen enough of the
results of Mrs. O'Brien's blue-stone whiskey combination.
While we were packing up our provisions I could not find
the flour we had. I asked the landlady if she had seen it,
and she replied, "Sure enough I saw it; I got short and
have used it all up!" So we were forced to return that
night again, but supplies had arrived that day so we replaced
our flour and went on our way rejoicing to sleep in the snow
which we preferred to O'Brien's hostelry.
After this I examined the timber in the northern part of
the Ontonagon River country. I walked through the woods
to Florence, Wisconsin, having two Indians with me, a trip
which took us three weeks. That whole country at that
time was unoccupied, not a person living in it. Now it is
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
quite a farming and agricultural district, and has turned out
to be the great mineral belt of Michigan.
On my arrival in Michigan, along with my own business,
I started up business for the British Canadian Lumber Com
pany. To say I was busy does not half explain it. To start
a corporation of the magnitude of this concern, as well as
attending to my own affairs, was a great undertaking.
After I moved to Michigan I found there were large
tracts of Government land for sale at $1.25 an acre. I in
vested every cent I had in this land, and it proved to be a
good investment.
As previously stated, I left Scotland in 1858 and did not
return until 1884, when I went back partly on business and
partly to see my old home. A few of my friends were still
alive. I was much interested in visiting my mother's grave
in the churchyard at Falkirk.
In looking over the town I found they had no public
library although it was quite a large place. No town in the
United States the size of it would have been without a
library. So, while I could not very well spare that amount
of money out of my business, I strained a point and gave
them enough to buy books to start a good sized library. A
few years later Mr. Carnegie gave them a building, which
made the library a great success.
We left Scotland on the loth of June, 1884, an d visited
the first electric railroad ever operated. This was at Port
Rush, and ran to Bushmills in the north of Ireland. After
we had gone about three miles we found a car stuck and
they could not get it to go either backwards or forwards.
I was very anxious to see it under operation, and asked the
brakeman and conductor how long before they would start.
They said it might be an hour and it might be a month,
but they had sent for Sir William Thompson, who was the
only man they knew of who could make it go, and when he
came they thought he would immediately get it started.
This proved to be the case as it took him only a few min
utes to get it going. What progress has been made in
electricity since that time!
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
I returned home in July completely recovered in health.
In fact, this trip showed me that all that ailed me was that
I had been working too hard, and if I could only have lis
tened to reason and not over-taxed my brain and physique, I
need not have taken a trip for my health. In February we
took a trip to New Orleans to get out of the intense cold
of the Lake Superior country.
To show the great difficulty that the railroads operating
on the upper peninsula of Michigan had to contend with,
we got thirty miles from Marquette when the train stuck in
the snow and remained there for a week. Every winter the
snow lay very deep on the upper peninsula, and the terrific
storms sweeping across Lake Superior made it difficult for
both lumbering and railroading.
On the 4th of July, 1883, at Dollarville, it being the
first national holiday for the village, we had a celebration
with the usual result in all backwoods places, the men got
filled up with bad whiskey and there was, of course, a free-
for-all fight. Two of the worst fellows were arrested, but
there was no lock-up so the justice of the peace came to me to
know what to do with them. I saw a box car on the siding
so I said, "Put them in it and lock the door." The next
morning the justice reported that a freight train had taken
the car to Marquette, one hundred miles distant. The sequel
to it was that the fellows woke up in the morning and a
brakeman opened the door. They looked around and every
thing being strange the first question they asked was where
they were. When told they were in Marquette they took to
their heels and disappeared in the town, so we had a good
riddance.
C I continued lumbering on the upper peninsula of Michigan
until the good, large timber was getting scarce and hard to
find. During those years I got out from eight to ten ship
loads for England, besides ten to fifteen million feet of logs
which I had sawn into lumber. Part of it was sold at
Tonawanda and part at Chicago. The business was profit
able as long as I kept at it, but the profits were getting less
every year.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
We remained in Michigan until 1888. For a few winters
previous I had found the severe cold weather was telling on
my health, and it became necessary to go to a warmer
climate during the severest part of the winter.
On one of these trips we visited California and decided
we would finally settle there. So we made our home in
San Rafael, making our business headquarters in San Fran
cisco.
I find in my Diary for 1887 the distance I had traveled,
showing the amount of hustling it was taking to keep my
business going. During that year I traveled 31,141 miles;
29,100 by water, 1050 by rail, and 991 with horses. This
was considerably more than once around the globe. That
year, needless to say, I was glad to be able to spend Christ
mas and New Year's at home.
Although we moved to California to live in 1888 it took
three or four years to finally close our business in Michigan
and to sell the land, which amounted to over twenty thou
sand acres.
After arriving in California, my brother and I bought
with Mr. Westover what is called the Meeker tract in
Sonoma County the largest tract of redwood remaining in
that county. Here we started lumbering and manufacturing
at Guerneville. A part of this land was later sold to the
Bohemian Club, of San Francisco, which they still use for
their Grove. I later sold out my interest to my partners.
/In 1893 I started up a mill and lumbering establishment
at Usal, in Mendocino County, California, and ran it for six
years. During this time I found it very difficult to get
vessels to carry our lumber so I started investing in vessel
property. I contracted to get several vessels built and also
became interested in a large mill at Mukilteo, near Everett,
Washington, to supply cargoes for our steamers to carry to
China and the Far East.
On one of my many eventful trips to Usal I experienced
what was probably one of the closest calls I ever had. I
went on the steamer "Newsboy." When we arrived off the
wharf at Usal it was very rough, the sea breaking outside
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
the wharf, making it impossible to effect a landing. We
kept out to sea for the night and next morning approached
the shore and found the wharf had been totally destroyed
during the night. It was no use waiting there, so I de
cided to go to Fort Bragg, a nearby port, and endeavor to
get a cargo there.
As we approached Fort Bragg a signal was run up on
shore that it was too rough, and for us not to attempt to
make port. Later in the day the sea moderated some and
another signal was run up that we might try it. When we
got close to the entrance we found a terrible sea breaking
on the reef, and a strong current swept us past the entrance
and on to the reef with a terrific crash. The next sea swept
over the ship, smashing in doors and windows, so it was
evident it was only a question of two or three more seas
when the ship would be smashed to pieces. We had not
long to wait, for in a very few minutes we could see a
gigantic wave approaching us which we felt sure was to be
the last of the ship and crew. Every one got hold of
some part of the ship to prevent being washed overboard
as it went many feet over our heads, but, strange to say,
this one was so big and irresistible that it lifted the steamer
completely over the reef and landed us in the comparatively
still water of the harbor. The ship was leaking badly, but
we managed to keep her afloat, and both steamer and crew
were miraculously saved.
/In 1901 we made our first venture in the China trade
with the steamer "Arab," capacity of six thousand five hun
dred tons, which we had bought. I found that if we were
going into that business it would be necessary to have an
organization, as the first trip the steamer made she had about
half a cargo at a very low rate, which did not pay, thereby
losing money at the start.
I might say here, the early training I received in Scot
land has stuck to me all through my life, and when living
in the lumber camps, amongst the roughest of the rough,
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
having no opportunity of reading the Bible in quietness, I
always made it a practice, on Sunday, to take my Bible out
to a quiet place and read it, even in the coldest weather.
Ever since I have had the opportunity of being alone in
a room, I have always read a passage out of it every
morning, and amongst other things, attribute much of my
success to the teachings received from this daily reading.
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Chapter Four
FIRST TRIP TO THE ORIENT
On the 8th of July, 1902, Mrs. Dollar and I sailed on
the then crack steamer "China" of the Pacific Mail fleet.
We had an interesting but uneventful trip until we reached
Yokohama. We also visited Tokio and Kobe.
The trip from Kobe through the Inland Sea was beau
tiful. The thousands of small islands, all more or less
wooded and many of them cultivated, with the hillsides
terraced to the top, gave a fine scenic effect. The sea is
well named. Sometimes it is many miles wide, then there
are narrows less than a half mile across. The formation is
volcanic, many of the hills being very steep and sharp.
INLAND SEA
The thing that impressed me most after we sighted the
coast of Japan was the number of boats engaged in fishing.
The whole coast was alive with them. At night the lights
were so numerous it looked just like a lighted city. Many
times I could not believe that they were not cities, there
were so many boats in this Inland Sea. At any time we
could count several hundred, but when we came to Shim-
onoseki Straits they were so numerous the steamer had to
slow down "dead slow" and keep blowing the whistle con
tinuously to get a passage through them. They were of all
shapes and sizes from the old junk, made many years ago
mostly of bamboo, to sanpans fifteen feet long. The junks
have high bow and stern twenty to twenty-five feet out of
the water with a freeboard of from three to four feet amid
ships. Then there were lots of fore and aft schooners, not
bad looking but too dumpy, too much beam for their length.
The sampans are four to five feet wide, three feet deep, one
or two masts and a long pointed bow eight to ten feet long,
which is of no use.
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This blockade continued past Moji and Shimonoseki, op
posite each other, near the outer or western end of the Inland
Sea. There we saw a great many steamers, mostly English
tramps, either loading coal cargoes or taking bunker coal.
Coal is about the only business going on there.
Nagasaki is typically Japanese, with a population of
probably thirty to forty thousand. We climbed over two
hundred steps to a temple on the top of the hill overlooking
the town and harbor. This is called the "Bronze Horse
Temple," there being a large horse of bronze in the square.
Some deer and other animals were there too. From this
elevation it looked as if the town was built solid, and we
could see nothing but roofs, not even the sign of a street.
They have a good water works and the sewers are all open
and made of good masonry.
No houses have more than two stories, and most of them
have only one. The stores are very small, a large one would
be fifteen or twenty feet by thirty feet. The streets are from
ten to twelve feet wide and crooked, but very well paved,
mostly for jinrickshaws and hand carts. It is a rare sight
to see a horse, and then they are very small; there are some
oxen, but they carry their loads on their backs. The men are
also beasts of burden.
Before leaving Nagasaki we took on twelve hundred tons
of coal in seven hours. There were about four hundred men
and women engaged in the work, and as it was all handed
up in small baskets passed from one to another, the work
went on very fast.
When we passed out we noticed that, like all Japanese
ports, it was fortified on every available point, evidently
getting ready for the inevitable war of European nations in
the Far East.
We crossed over the China Sea to Shanghai. The steamer
had to lay off Woosung at the mouth of the Whangpoa
River, Shanghai being twelve miles distant up the river.
Woosung is at the junction of the Whangpoa with the mighty
Yangtsze Kiang, and at this point the river is several miles
wide. The channel to Shanghai is narrow and crooked and
quite shallow in places, caused by the constant washing in
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
of the banks. There has been considerable talk of changing
this, and making a good, straight channel with sufficient
water. (All this has been done, and now a vessel drawing
twenty-five feet can go direct to Shanghai at any high tide.)
SHANGHAI
At the first sight of Shanghai I got the impression of
its being a great commercial city, but on closer inspection I
came to the conclusion it required a great deal to bring it
up to that standard. (All this has been accomplished in
later years.) The old city proper is walled in and is closely
built up of mostly small-sized buildings, narrow, crooked
streets and containing a mass of humanity. Then there are
what are called the Settlements. Farthest up is the French,
next the British, and then what is called the American.*
But to come back to old Shanghai. Along the river side
and extending back a half mile going towards Woosung is
what is called Hongkew, which was the American concession
and where a large Chinese settlement has sprung up. Across
the river, steamship companies were just making their first
moves to get wharves and terminals, but little had been done
at this time. This is called Pootung.
The name, Shanghai, means a city by the sea. At one
time the waters of the China Sea covered the present site
of the city. The land is an alluvial soil, perfectly level, and
cut up by innumerable small creeks, most of which are now
filled up. The largest, Soochow Creek, divides what was
the American concession from the British concession. The
Yankinpang, another creek which has filled in, separates the
French and British concessions. The old Chinese city was
*Unfortunately, the American Government did not have the fore
sight nor the ordinary far-seeing business gumption to hang on to
their site, but let it slip through their fingers. And now, in order to
remove our Consulate from a miserable back street, our Government
had to buy a site in 1916, and had to pay $300,000.00 for what they
had had a few years ago for nothing. The British were looking to
the future commerce of China, and retained a beautiful site of fifty
acres for their Consulate right in the middle of this great commercial
city. Our Government is slowly waking up to the fact that to be a
truly great nation we must have foreign trade and lots of it. We
used to think we were sufficient unto ourselves, but this is past and
a new era has begun.
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PALACE HOTEL SHANGHAI
TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT BUILDING SHANGHAI
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
surrounded by a wall, part of which has been taken down
and made into a wide street.
(Back of each settlement is the residential section, but since
that visit, sixteen years ago, it has grown beyond recognition. What
were fields are now filled with beautiful homes and well paved
streets. Since that time street cars have been introduced. The
population has nearly doubled, as now there are about one and
one-quarter million foreigners and Chinese. But it is in commerce
that the greatest progress has been made, and I am sure the most
sanguine could not even come near to estimating what it will be
in the next fifty years.)
CANTON
At Canton the foreigners all live on the island or Shameen,
as it is called, for protection. Two bridges connect it with
Canton, and the gates are shut at sundown. The Victoria
Hotel is the only one there. The lower part of the island
belongs to the French and the English own about two-thirds
of the upper end, which is all owned and occupied by the con
sulates and business houses of various nations. The streets
are very wide about one or two hundred feet but no part
of them is used except the concrete sidewalks as there are
no wheeled vehicles and no horses either on the island or
in Canton, and the grass grows quite high in the streets.
The houses are well built of brick or stone and are sur
rounded by many shade trees.
Gunboats, small war ships and light draft cargo steamers
anchor in front of the island on the river side. There is
a depth of about eighteen feet of water here, but a great deal
of the freight is carried from and to Hong Kong in Chinese
junks and other craft.
Early in the morning, with a guide, we crossed the
bridge over the canal between the island and the city. We
each had four men carrying us in chairs. The streets of the
city are all about the same, six to eight feet wide, and
straight only for about one hundred feet at a stretch; some
have gradual bends and some very sharp curves. The
houses are generally of bamboo, having one or two stories,
and bamboo matting is stretched across from the top of one
house to the opposite one, shading the sun from the street, so
that in passing through the city one rarely sees the sun.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
The streets are so narrow there is barely room to pass
two chairs and, as everything is carried on men's shoulder's,
the streets are very congested at times and it is quite diffi
cult to get along, but the carriers are expert at crowding,
and so manage to push through. We met men carrying
almost every conceivable thing: logs, stone, brick, mortar,
goods for export, and goods imported ; we also met a funeral
with a band and men carrying the great heavy coffin, which
was like a log of wood.
THE CITY OF THE DEAD
A very interesting sight was the City of the Dead. It is
all walled by long rows of one story buildings, containing
apartments mostly twenty by ten feet in area some thirty
by fifteen feet. Each apartment contains one coffin only, of
people who have died many years ago. The coffin rests in
the middle of the room on a stand, beside which there is a
table and chairs, with tea and cakes replenished every morn
ing, and a light is kept continually burning for the spirit
when it returns. These are only the abodes of the very rich
dead, and it is all beautifully kept up through all these years.
The coffins are of the most beautiful workmanship I have
ever seen, many of them being of ebony, polished to the
highest degree. They are mostly round and resemble the
cut off a log.
We took lunch at the five-story pagoda which is on a
hill at the City Wall. The City Wall is about thirty feet
wide at the top, one hundred and fifty feet at the bottom
and thirty feet high, in some places much more. The pagoda
overlooks the entire city, and is about one hundred and fifty
feet square at the bottom and sixty to seventy feet at the top,
each story being about fifty feet in height. It is very much
neglected, and, like the Empire, is fast going to decay. The
fortifications on the wall and at this place would have been
good one hundred and fifty years ago, but are now of no
use. The cannons are on wooden carriages, and many have
rotted away until they have fallen down.
Looking down from the pagoda the river is very pretty,
and many of the canals that run through the city can be
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
seen, but the streets, being so narrow and crooked, cannot be
seen at all so that it looks like one mass of roofs, but the
foreign settlement looms up better. The French church and
the pawn shops are the only remarkable buildings. The
pawn shops are square, stone buildings, say thirty to fifty
feet square and six or eight stories high, with small windows.
They look like watch towers. In the number of joss houses
and temples this city is well supplied. I cannot give an idea
of their number but we were continually passing them all
day, from the small stone altar, to the great gorgeous ones;
our own San Francisco Chinatown joss houses resemble
them, on a small scale.
I was interested in the lumber yards, of which there are
a great many, which mostly supply wood for coffins. It
takes a good big log to make a coffin as they are round and
hollowed out like a dug-out canoe. You can imagine the
job it would be for men to carry the logs through the narrow,
crooked streets to the various yards from the river or canals,
where they are sawn into lumber by hand. If the lumber
must be dried, it is spread out on the roofs of the houses in
the sun. American lumber was only conspicuous by its
absence.
Previously the people had not met many foreigners and
were not at all friendly, as we could see by the looks of
disgust on their faces how they hated us.
It was not safe for us to stop unless we got inside of
closed doors. Whenever we halted on the streets we could
only stop for a few seconds as the crowd would immediately
gather from all directions, and we would be jammed in and
could not get out. Mrs. Dollar's hat was the star attraction
for the women and children wherever we went.
SWATOW
Dropping back to Hong Kong, we left that city on the
Japanese steamer "Auping Maru" for Swatow and Amoy.
We were the only Americans or Europeans on board. The
entrance to Swatow is among rocky islands, with channels
somewhat narrow and crooked. The town is up the river
about three miles from the ocean, but the river has a good
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
width. Before coming to an anchor the steamer was sur
rounded by a multitude of small sampans of all kinds and
descriptions, all propelled by being sculled when coming at
full speed. Some of the more adventurous ones, runners
for Chinese boarding houses, came on board in this way:
they had long bamboo poles with an iron hook on the end
and they would hook this on the iron fife rail and come on
board by putting their feet against the side of the ship and
climbing up over the rail. It was quite a sight, and when
the steamer slowed down we were fairly crowded with them.
I should say three hundred came on board, all clamoring for
patronage, either to go ashore with them or to go to their
boarding houses.
When we made fast to the company's buoy, about five
hundred feet from shore, all kinds of peddlers came aboard,
even women trying to get clothes to mend. We had a large
number of Chinese passengers and a lot of freight to put off.
After breakfast we went ashore and through the town. The
town is occupied by warehouses (Godowns, so called) and
the few European offices, which are generally enclosed within
a high stone wall.
Swatow has somewhat the appearance of a European
town, the style of houses being somewhat of that kind,
although the streets are narrow and crooked with the usual
smells and dirt. We saw a temple in which there was some
very fine carving, also some bas-reliefs on the wall enclosing
the place. They were very large and represented dragons
and mythical deities, mostly of pottery painted in gaudy
colors; the place was very dirty, and, to add to that, a lot
of hogs were roaming around the court yard.
They are improving the water front and building a sea
wall at Swatow. There are many steamers running in here
from various parts of China and several from Singapore.
When we were there a large four-masted steamer sailed for
Java with eighteen hundred coolies. We took a lot of liquid
indigo from here to Amoy.
AMOY
The entrance to Amoy, like Swatow, is among islands
and is narrow and crooked. The city is about seven miles
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A CHINESE PAGODA
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
up the river, which is fairly wide and of good depth. Our
vessel lay at the Caps buoy, four hundred feet from shore.
A great crowd came to meet us here as at Swatow. Amoy
has the name of being the dirtiest city in the world. There
are no wheeled vehicles of any kind here, and no chairs
except private ones, so we had to walk. We started out to
see the city, and got along all right until we progressed well
into the heart of the place. In a city like San Francisco it
would be an easy matter to get out, but not so here where the
streets are not more than six feet wide and are covered over
with bamboo matting to keep out the sun, and where they
come to an abrupt ending with a stone wall. (This is done
to keep the devils from running straight through the town.)
We wandered around without knowing where we were
going, and unable to make inquiries as none of the natives
understood a word of English when, in our worst straits, one
of the Chinese stewards from the vessel came along. He
could talk a little English, and after we made him understand
our situation, he got an old man to pilot us, with instructions
to take us through the best part of the city. We found, to
get out of our fix, we had to pass through a gate and up
some flights of stairs, which accounted for our inability to
find our way about.
It seems strange to go into a store and be served by a
man having nothing on him but a pair of pants and very
short ones at that; there are no sales ladies out here.
Children until they are six or eight years old have noth
ing on them at all, but the girls and women are very modestly
and generally neatly attired and their hair is always done up
neatly. It was also strange to see us going along with an um
brella to keep the scorching sun from us and note the natives
going along not only bare headed, but with all the front part
of their heads shaved clean. The sun does not seem to have
any effect on their naked bodies.
This is the great tea exporting port. Most of the tea
comes from the Island of Formosa, twelve hours' steaming
from here. It is all brought over in small steamers of less
than one thousand tons register, and put in warehouses to
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
be repacked and reshipped to nearly every part of the world.
A great deal of it goes to New York.
(Since the foregoing was written, what a change has taken
place. The tea of Formosa is all exported by Japanese and shipped
from the new seaport of Keelung, which place was unknown at that
time. Tarn Sui was then the largest port of Formosa, and was only
for small vessels drawing not more than twelve feet of water.)
SHANGHAI
From Amoy we sailed for Woo-sung and from there
returned to Shanghai.
One peculiarity of Shanghai is the wheelbarrow in use.
The wheel is about three feet in diameter, and the body is
larger than our largest ones. The coolies carry passengers
in these, sometimes three people on each side, their feet hang
ing down. The man has a strap over his shoulders by which
he carries the weight. They carry immense loads of mer
chandise, bricks, stone, furniture, and, in fact, anything. I
saw one man wheeling a barrow with a hog on one side and
a man on the other. (Only the Chinese patronize them; the
whites use the rickshaws.) There are no chairs but a great
deal of merchandise is carried on bamboo poles with two men.
The buildings are mostly of cut stone and some brick,
and the streets are substantially built, which gives the city a
very solid appearance. One sees a great many European
houses and blocks going up wherever one goes. The Eu
ropean troops are here in great numbers and large barracks
are occupied by them. Each nation has a place of its own,
and it looks as if they intended to stay.
TSINGTAU
We left Shanghai for Tsingtau, but when we arrived off
the latter port it was blowing such a gale we were unable
to land for some time. When we did get ashore we took
rickshaws and looked the town over. It appears the Chinese
had a town or village at this place, but in 1899 three German
men-of-war anchored here and sent their crews ashore to
invite the townspeople to move off about two miles. They
saw there was no use to refuse, so their town was leveled to
the ground, nothing being left except a temple. The Ger
mans then laid out a fine city with wide streets, and in the
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
length of time they have occupied the place they have done
wonders. The German government made the streets and
have quite a city of modern houses, mostly large three-story
blocks of stone and brick. To date they have expended over
three million dollars. No Chinese are allowed to live in this
city, but they have quite a town a short distance off. The
population is entirely German and the trade will be exclusively
for the Germans.
There are two harbors. The town is on a peninsula with
a harbor on each side. On the north side they were build
ing a breakwater for deep sea ships, which would take three
years to complete. The strange thing about all this great
outlay was that there was no export trade at all all import
and nothing going out. The Germans had built one hun
dred and twenty miles of railroad and were still building.
They also had a few good coal mines from which they ex
pected to get coal in a short time. So far the whole place
was just a great military and naval camp, and the govern
ment's money was keeping the whole thing up. This may
suit the German taxpayers but it would not go long with
Americans. No one seemed to know if there was to be
much commerce or not. Some hoped if the railroad were
extended to the Grand Canal, which runs from Hangchow to
Peking, that they might tap some trade, but the country
through which the railroad passes is non-productive.
(Many changes have taken place here since this visit. Under
almost insurmountable difficulties the Germans kept steadily at it
with one object in view to get there and they did get there, as
out of almost nothing, to their credit be it said, they built up a great
trade. And when their position was assured, the war with the
nations of Europe gave Japan an easy opportunity of ousting them,
and not only taking Tsingtau, but of taking possession of practically
all this part of Shantung Province. Looking at it from the German
side, it is certainly very sad and discouraging to the very enterpris
ing Germans who worked night and day to make a success of this
enterprise and now see it handed over to the Japanese. The only
obstacle in the way of the Japanese is Weihaiwei on the Shantung
promontory, which is occupied by the English and which to Japan
must very much resemble the proverbial wart on the man's nose.)
CHEFOO
We were ashore all one day at Chefoo. The German,
English and American Consulates are on a high point and
are pleasantly located. The grounds are well kept. The
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
business part of the city is at the foot of the hill, com
mencing at the harbor and running across the narrow penin
sula to the ocean, where there is a fine, sandy beach and a
very good European hotel, club houses, etc. Steamers of
fifteen feet draft lay a quarter of a mile out, and those of
twenty-four feet would have to lay off a half mile, but
there is a very good harbor for small boats, junks, etc., and
there is a great number of them, I should say running into
the thousands.
The Chinese customs have a fine stone wharf for small
boats to receive and deliver cargo. On this wharf there was
an enormous amount of merchandise of every kind, some
going out and some coming in. The waterfront is a very
busy place. A great article of export to other ports of
China is bean cake. It is bean from which the oil has been
pressed out and the residue pressed into cakes about the
size and shape of a large grindstone, which is used as a
fertilizer. Silk is extensively manufactured here, but it is
not the finest kind. The mulberry trees are very scarce
and the cocoons feed on the oak leaves which produces a
coarser kind of silk called pongee.
Not much lumber is used here, but what there is of it
is all native wood brought in logs hewn on four sides, from
Northern China and Korea.
This city is not far from the new mouth of the Hoang-ho
or Yellow River, of whose disastrous floods we have read
so much. Its mouth has changed several hundred miles in
a few hundred years. Now it empties on the north side of
the Shantung peninsula, though it has been known to empty
on the south side, many miles apart. Down this river comes
the great commerce that keeps up Chefoo.
I do not think that I have explained that the Customs
of China are under the management of the English. The
Chinese could not trust their own people for fear the officials
would steal the money. They claim that under the present
arrangement the Government gets every cent paid in, it
being honestly collected and paid over. The Chinese Gov
ernment has no government post or mail service. A few
companies in various cities carry letters for short distances,
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
but there is no general mail in China. The European
nations each have a postoffice of their own, and you can
mail your letter in a Japanese, English, German, or French
postoffice, and a letter coming in is sent to the postoffice of
the language in which it is written. The United States
has only one, located in Shanghai. This is causing con
siderable confusion. The Japanese, in Japan, have a very
good system, the same as ours.
(Since this was written, the Chinese have adopted the modern
postoffice under government supervision, and it is a success.
The following figures show how much of a success:
In 1903 the postoffice handled 20,000,000 letters.
" 1906 " " " 160,000,000
" 1908 " " " 225,000,000
" 1909 " " " 275,000,000
" 1914 " " " 549,000,000
Newspapers rose from none to 143,000,000.)
We got chairs and went through the town. There are
no wheeled vehicles here except wheelbarrows and they
like to hear them squeak, so put no oil on the gudgeons on
purpose, and when several of them are being wheeled to
gether they make unearthly sounds. The streets are fairly
well paved, but a little rough although a little wider than
in most Chinese cities, being from eight to ten feet wide,
full of lanes, court yards and alleys.
We wanted to go to a wholesale silk store. First we
had to go through a grocery store into a courtyard with
beds of flowers and shrubs, along the sides of which ap
peared to be restaurants; from here we went through an
alley, three feet wide and crooked, into another courtyard
which was paved, then through another three-foot alley into
a small open square twenty feet each way. On one side of
this square was the store. This will give an idea of how
business is done.
In one part of the city there is a creek which, at this
time of the year, is nearly dry. The houses are built right
up on the bank, and they use the creek bed for a street,
with a small filthy stream running through the middle of
it. There are a great many native houses which are built
mostly of stone, small but very substantial. The houses
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
have to be warm as they have plenty of cold weather and
the snow often lies on the ground for months.
We visited an industrial school conducted by a Mr.
McMullan independently of any society. There seemed to
be about fifty girls all learning Chinese and English, and
half of their time they employed in making silk lace of
very beautiful patterns. Then there was a separate part for
boys where they made brushes, and all the material that
was put into these two products was grown in this vicinity.
TONGKU
We landed at Tongku, which is a new railroad town at
the mouth of the Pei-ho River and opposite the town of
Taku. These two places were destroyed at the time of the
Boxer trouble and are just being rebuilt. The houses are
mostly plastered on the outside with river mud, giving to the
place a yellowish appearance, the same color as the river.
The Taku forts are now just hills of sand. All round this
are the flags of the various nations, generally a bamboo
pole stuck in the ground with a flag on it; Japanese, Ger
man and Russian flags are very much in evidence. Whether
they claim those parts or not, no one knows, but no one
dares to take one of the flags down.
The railroad station looks like a boy's game. There are
five or six sentry boxes on the platform, with a few soldiers
in each, with their national flag over them. The English
were running it the day we went up to Tientsin, but the
next day the Chinese took possession, the sentry boxes dis
appeared and the yellow flag of China was over all the
stations. The reason of this was that the Boxer War had
just come to an end a few days before, when the country
was under martial law, and now it was being turned over
to the Chinese Government really these were very troublous
and exciting times, and the ravages of war were in evidence
on every hand.
PEKING
On the way to Peking we passed through a very fine
country, level all the way, most of it like gardens. Every
where there were evidences of war ruined houses, many of
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them riddled with bullet holes. The whole country seems to
have been laid waste. The railroad was not allowed inside
the wall and, as all the gates were shut at sundown, and, as
we arrived after dark, no Chinese could get in, but they
opened a small door in the big gate to let the foreigners
in. We got rickshaws inside the wall and went to the
Hotel du Nord.* The entrance was a narrow passage way
protected by a big gate or door. The hotel comprised
twenty-two small buildings walled in and all of one story.
In the building, where our room was, there were only two
rooms.
Peking is different from any Chinese city we have seen.
It is laid out like a modern city with good wide streets and
all at right angles, but they are not paved, so the dust was
as bad as the mud would be in winter. There are lots of
wheeled vehicles, mostly carts. These have no springs and
the occupants sit on the floor of the vehicles on matting.
Generally, they have a cover, and veils can be drawn so one
inside cannot be distinguished. Donkeys are much used
for riding. You see some the size of a big dog, often with
a big man on it and a coolie running behind with a whip
to make it go. The carts are queer looking things, having
wheels built up and the axle? projecting outside of the hub
*In case an erroneous idea may be conveyed here as to the hotels
of Peking, I will explain that at this time, sixteen years ago, the
only hotel for foreigners was this one, and it was a hard old place
at which to stay. At the present time the Hotel de Wagon Lits is
as good as can he found anywhere in the Far East, it having several
hundred rooms. There is also the Hotel de Peking, which is quite
good. Of course these would not compare with the skyscrapers of
New York, but they are good enough.
Peking has undergone great changes for the better since those
days. Street improvements, sewers, buildings, and, in fact, every
thing has gone ahead to meet the advanced civilization. Just one
year before we were there the Empress Dowager had decreed that
all Christians should be put to death.
At the present time, just think of the change that has taken
place. When the President, Yuen Shai Kai, opened the Peking Young
Men's Christian Association he told Mr. Mott if he would remain in
China he would assist him to get a Young Men's Christian Asso
ciation in every large city of China. The far-seeing Confucianists
see that the evangelization of China means safety, security and a
certainty of China becoming a great and strong nation. The hand
writing is on the wall.
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about ten inches, so that in passing one it is not well to
drive too close to it. We also saw a freight pack train of
camels all loaded. There were a great number of them
ready for a journey of many hundreds of miles.
The Chinese here are very different from the Cantonese.
They are much larger and darker, and do not talk the same
dialect. The city is walled off into many different parts:
the Chinese City, Tartar City, Imperial and Forbidden
Cities, etc. Like all Chinese cities there are no sewers, and
the water is drawn from wells and delivered to the houses
in wheelbarrows and carts. From the drum tower, where
the drums are sounded for the opening and closing of the
gates, a very fine view of the city can be obtained.
The Temple of Confucius is a very fine building. There
were about three hundred priests here, and when we visited
it they were all repeating passages from Confucius, keeping
time with several drums and at intervals to the music from
a band which we could not see. All their heads were
shaven, and they wore peculiar cocked hats when outside.
At this place there is a statue of Confucius seventy-five feet
high by thirty feet wide. This temple has many buildings
and large grounds with beautiful trees. It is a beautiful
building, highly ornamented in Oriental style, but has no
idols in it.
We next visited the great Temple to Buddha. This, on
the other hand, had many idols and images of various kinds.
The largest and principal one is of three women all in gold
leaf. The grounds and buildings are very extensive, and
there are many gates to go through before you reach the
"Holy of Holies/' but it is not well kept up and is out of
repair.
In the walled city we passed around the Imperial City.
No one is allowed in there, and the Forbidden City is inside
of it, but from the drum tower we got a fair idea of what
it is like. There are many gates and walls to go through
to get to the palace, around which there is quite a forest of
trees and a beautiful large lake. The outer wall is also sur
rounded by a moat of water about one hundred feet wide.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
On the south side of the city we went through the
legations and foreign houses. Great work was going on
building new and much better houses than the old ones de
stroyed by the Boxers. We saw many effects of the siege
in shattered walls and houses full of bullet holes.
We passed through the outer wall and went to see the
Temple of Heaven, which is about three or four miles out
side of the outer wall. A very wide, partly paved road,
which is much out of repair, leads out past it, being one
of the principal thoroughfares from the east. The grounds
are enclosed with a high stone wall, which is three and
one-half miles in circumference. Here again there are many
gates to go through, and a Chinese gate is no ordinary
affair, being a very large building highly ornamented with
carving, etc. Then we came to a large marble platform
about two hundred by four hundred feet, raised about twenty
feet from the ground. Once a year the Emperor comes here,
and changes his clothes in a tent erected for the purpose,
then goes along a roadway two hundred feet wide and
one thousand feet long, all marble (all the buildings, pave
ment, etc., are of white marble) to the altar of Heaven.
This is a very fine building over one thousand years old,
having a beautiful dome all painted when it was built and
never having been touched since, and looking as though it
were done yesterday. There is an altar at which he kneels
and prays for himself and family, then he goes about one
thousand feet further to the Temple of Heaven and prays
for his people and the nation. Part of this building was
burned down a few years ago and rebuilt. Many of the
gold ornaments which had been there were stolen by the
Russian soldiers. The doors are massive and are fastened
with large nails on the outside of which are gold washers,
three inches in diameter. The building is just a large cir
cular edifice supported by pillars, the roof being an immense
dome. The decorations and paintings are beautiful, and the
gardens are arranged beautifully also. There is a building
called the Throne Room in which the Emperor receives the
principal men of the kingdom after the ceremony. There is
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also a palace in which he sleeps all night, and then he leaves
for another year.
On the way back from the city we met many camel
pack trains, mule trains, people in rickshaws, on horseback,
bicycles, on mules and asses, in wheelbarrows, in carts and
sedan chairs, and thousands on foot, all carrying some kind
of load, and the dust from that mixed multitude was
blinding.
TIENTSIN
Tientsin is twenty-five miles by rail from Taku and is
eighty-seven miles from Peking, at the mouth of the Peiho
River, and is the seaport for Peking and of great commercial
importance. It is forty-seven miles by water from Taku,
owing to the crooks of the river. For some time the river
has been silting up, but they have two dredgers at work
and vessels of ten feet can reach this city at high water.
The river is so narrow we had to come down two miles
stern first before we found a place wide enough to turn
round, so navigation is rather difficult there were two pon
toon bridges to come through. Most of the freight comes
up the river in lighters and junks. The city was about
demolished by the troops, and they are busy building it
again. The wall around the city was destroyed and in its
place they have built a fine wide street and a good sewer.
(It must be remembered that this short description was written
a few months after most of the city had been destroyed by the
Boxers and the allied troops. The pontoon bridges were replaced by
substantial, permanent structures, and the river has been straight
ened and deepened so that navigation for vessels of twelve to four
teen feet is possible. In fact, the city is so improved that it does
not look like its former self. We own two half city blocks fronting
on the river and about the center of the concessions, on which we
have our lumber yard, offices and warehouses.)
The lumber imports are veiy great, mostly logs from
Korea. Coming out of the Yalu River I counted twenty
large junks loaded with logs from twelve inches to fourteen
feet in diameter. The deck loads were about fourteen feet
high and timber four tiers wide, outhanging eight feet on
each side, and twelve feet high. The logs are hung in ropes,
and when the junk is on an even beam they just clear the
water; when she lists, they are in the water. It looks like
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a small donkey with great packs on each side. They seem
to be quite secure as I have never seen any out of place.
They discharge at Taku, and are rafted in rafts about
twenty-five feet wide and over one. thousand feet long, and
taken on flood tide to Tientsin, and there all sawn by hand
into the sizes required. Some of the logs are hewn on two
sides, but most are square; a great number of the round
ones are used for coffins. In addition to this there is mer
chandise of all kinds going in. I saw a lot of old boilers
going in to be cut into pieces. I was told the blacksmiths
cut those into anything that is wanted; a great deal being
made into horseshoes, all by hand. The exports are wool,
hides, tea and coffee. The new city is fairly well laid out.
The foreign part was mostly saved, and is well built. The
streets are well paved, and there are some parks and many
shade trees.
There are a great many military men here and lots of
soldiers. The United States is represented by a gunboat at
Tongku.
CHINWANGTAO
One great drawback is the shallowness of the bar and
the fact of its being frozen up for three or four months a
year. They are starting a new port at Chinwangtao, one
hundred miles off. It never freezes and it looks as if it is
going to be the place, as vessels can lay alongside of the
wharf. At Taku the big ships lay so far out that they
cannot see land. Our steamer drew eight and one-half feet,
and had to wait two days to get a tide high enough to
get in on.
The country from Tientsin to Taku is very rich and
fertile. In passing down the river we saw lots of men irri
gating their fields by dipping water from the river in pails
and carrying it to the ditches.
The Grand Canal passes here from Hangchow; I think
it is about fifteen hundred miles long in all and was con
structed many hundreds of years ago. Truly, they are a
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wonderful people, this, and the building of the Great Wall
would take a civilized nation many years to build, but they
can put a few million men to work and never miss them.
They claim over four hundred million, but there is no tell
ing hoo many there are, as there are lots of places which
white men have never as yet reached.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Chapter Five
THE RETURN VOYAGE VIA JAPAN
After leaving China, on our return trip we had a strong
northeast monsoon. We kept in sight of the China coast
until we reached the north end of the Island of Formosa.
We then crossed the China Sea and saw the south end of
Japan, and in going between the islands at the south end
of the Sea of Japan we saw Korea. We then went up the
Japan Sea, most of the time keeping in sight of the Island
of Nippon (Japan). We reached the Straits of Tsugaru
the sixth day from Hong Kong. The Straits of Tsugaru
connect the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean and
divide the Islands of Nippon and Hokkaido. Hakodate is
on the extreme southern end of the Island of Hokkaido,
and Aomori, which is on the north end of the Island
of Nippon, is a terminus of the railroad that runs the
entire length of Nippon.
HAKODATE
Hakodate is a very nice harbor, where ships lay at anchor,
as it is protected from all winds except from the north or
northeast. The harbor is circular, and the town is mostly on
the west side. The streets are wide and well laid out.
From the harbor the town has a good appearance, but
ashore it does not look so well. Close to the water's edge
the houses are low and small. The Custom House is a
good, imposing building, and there are many other very
nice buildings for a Japanese city. There were about
twenty steamers of all sizes and also a great many fishing
schooners and quite a number of sailing vessels, which
make this their home port and headquarters for the West
Alaska fisheries. The regular steamers run from Yokohama
and other ports in Japan to all ports on the Island of Hok
kaido. A great deal of seaweed is exported for food to
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
China. Sulphur is brought in small vessels from the north
of this island and from other small islands north and east
and is trans-shipped here to various parts of the world.
Altogether it is rather a lively place. The population is
entirely Japanese, there being not more than half a dozen
Europeans.
We took a Japanese steamer from here for Otarii, on
this island. When buying our tickets we were told they
had only Japanese food on board and to govern ourselves
accordingly, so we took sandwiches, etc. At supper we
fared all right by using our own bread, but came off rather
short at breakfast as the only things we could eat were rice
and eggs. It would have been impossible for us to eat
the food they had until we had become accustomed to it.
When we arrived at Otaru it was blowing a blizzard
and was very cold as they were having a big snow storm.
A few days before this we had been wearing our white
clothes in a tropical climate so this took our breath away
and it was hours before we got warmed up as the houses
were not heated at all, having only the small "hibashi" to
stoop over, in which was a handful of lighted charcoal. The
streets are very narrow and crooked here on the water
front, but back on the hill they are wide and well laid out.
This harbor, like Hakodate, is exposed to the northeast and
well protected by high hills on all other sides. Great im
provements are going on in the way of making streets
and erecting buildings. A railroad runs from Muroran up
the center of the island, and this city is connected by rail
with a branch that connects with the main line about sixty
miles away. A great deal of coal is shipped from this port.
Six good sized steamers were here from England discharg
ing cargoes of railroad iron, locomotives and cars for a
new railroad that is building from here to Hakodate. Quite
a large sawmill is in operation, having English machinery.
American saw mill machinery and railroad equipment are the
best in the world, but lack of enterprise on our part enables
the British merchants to supply inferior machinery. This
mill is sawing logs brought in by rail from the north of the
island and which are all hewn square in the woods. The
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
wood looks a good deal like our pine. There is a big
demand for lumber and it goes into consumption as soon as
it is manufactured.
This is also a great fishing place. The boats were all
up on the shore and housed in for the winter, the season
being over.
SAPPORO
We took the train for Sapporo, the capital, which is
about twenty-five miles distant. It is situated in a beau
tiful and fertile valley about ten miles from the ocean. The
city was laid out by American engineers in the most ap
proved style, many streets being one hundred feet wide. It
is well built and a very fine city. I saw as many telephone
wires on poles here as I ever saw in San Francisco, and
this is entirely a Japanese city. No Europeans are here
unless it might be a very few missionaries.
We stopped at a house which had been built as a tem
porary summer residence for the Mikado; a few rooms are
set apart for the accommodation of the few foreigners that
come this way. However for a Japanese hotel it was very
comfortable, and we had good American food.
MURORAN
We left for Muroran and passed through a fine, level
valley so wide we often could not see the hills on either
side; then we got into a low, hilly country, all heavily
wooded. Many small mills were cutting lumber, and
ties were being made extensively. The ground being
covered with snow, they were hauling with sleds the same
as they do in Canada and Michigan.
Muroran is situated on the south side of a bay, very
well protected from most any wind and there is plenty of
room for many vessels. The principal industry is the ship
ping of coal, and there is no doubt that this will develop
into a big trade. The town is quite hilly, and the streets
are fairly straight and well laid out. The entire community
is Japanese, mostly poor people who are depending on work
from the coal company. There are many very fair stores
and several hotels. We stayed at the best one, which is
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conducted in regular Japanese style. The bedrooms have
no furniture at all. We got mats to sit cross legged on,
and when night came our beds were made on the floor with
one mattress to lay on and one on the top of us with
a hibashi to warm us. There were no wash-stands, but
every one had to wash at the one stand and the one bath,
in which men and women bathed indiscriminately. The
hotel office has the ground for a floor, and every one is
obliged to take off his shoes there. Then they supply him
with a pair of slippers, which are worn to the bedroom and
left outside the door. If you have occasion to go upstairs
ten times a day the same process has to be gone through.
When one arrives at the hotel the first time the clerk
goes on his knees and makes a very low bow, making one
feel most uncomfortable. There is no furniture in any of
the rooms; even when eating one sits on the floor and the
food is brought in on a tray.
The natives were all engaged in harvesting roots, called
"daikon," which looks like white carrots but much larger
and longer, running from two to three feet long and as
much as two inches in diameter. They are washed clean
and hung up to dry. Then we understand they are taken
down and salted, or put in about the same shape as sauer
kraut. It is a staple article of food, as everywhere we went
we saw great quantities drying at every house.
At this time they had not been used to seeing Americans,
and everywhere we went we had a retinue of from one to
two hundred persons following us. One day we went into
a candy store to buy candy made out of seaweed, and the
crowd filled the street so full we could not get out. The
American Consul from Hakodate happened to be passing,
and, as he talked Japanese, he inquired the cause of the
mob. They said they had two foreigners in the store and
were having fun with them; that the woman had on strange
clothes and wore a hat (a thing unknown in that part of
Japan). He gave them a talk, and we were released. Now
foreigners come and go, and they never even get so much
as a glance.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
This preliminary trip to Hokkaido convinced me that
considerable trade could be worked up between the three
chief seaports (Hakodate, Otaru, Muroran) and America.
I was pleased with the quality of the oak, and bought six
oak railroad ties and took them to San Francisco. This
was the first oak taken from Japan to the United States.
We tried those pieces out by making them into furniture,
which proved to be satisfactory. We then made contracts
to deliver large quantities of ties to the Southern Pacific
Company, who were to start at Guaymas, Mexico, in ex
tensive railroad building the following year. The first cargo
of ties I inspected myself to show the Japanese exactly
what we wanted. To show the freaks of commerce this
year the steamer "Hazel Dollar" took a cargo of Oregon
fir ties from Puget Sound to Tientsin, China, and, return
ing, loaded a cargo of oak ties in Japan for Mexico. After
this we bought a quantity of oak logs and sold them in
San Francisco and Los Angeles. This developed into a
large and satisfactory business, requiring many steamers to
carry the logs in future years.
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Chapter Six
MY SECOND TRIP TO THE ORIENT
We sailed from Tacoma for the Orient again in 1903
on the steamer "M. S. Dollar," with a list to starboard of
about 10 degrees. For two days after we sailed the crew
was busy moving coal and everything that would move,
trying to straighten her up. The third night after dark,
when there was considerable sea running, the Captain made
an attempt to get her on her feet. He put the wheel hard
over and got her up, but no sooner got her straight when
she fell over to port and kept going until it looked as though
she would turn turtle. I told the Captain that it was no
use to try to save the deck load and we had better get rid
of it. So he called all hands and by the time they had
gotten to work she was listing over 25 degrees. It was
impossible to walk on the deck as there was a heavy sea on.
They had great difficulty working, and it went slowly. The
lashings were very tight, and if they cut them the whole
thing would go, so we tried to dig a hole under the lash
ings to get a start. They had thrown over some old dun
nage that was in the way and two large lumber shoots,
when the Captain came and said she had stopped going
over and not to do any more as he would try to shift some
of the things they had moved.
We consulted, and came to the conclusion that some of
the tanks must be partly empty, so he remained on deck and
I went below. We found water on top of the fireroom
plates, and the Chief Engineer got the floor up to make an
investigation and found the engine room tank (that we were
sure was full) half empty, and what had run out of it had
gone into the boiler room tank and filled her bilges. We
got all the pumps going to empty the bilges and the boiler
room double bottom, and started to fill up the engine room
tank, when we discovered leaks in the tank top, which we
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temporarily closed. All this, with what the Captain was
doing on deck, soon got her up to 12 degrees, which was
the best we could do, and she ran with a list from 5 to 12
degrees all the way over.
When we discovered the real cause, we felt like people
who had been walking over a powder mine. But we learned
one thing: that she was a very stiff old ship and would stand
anything in reason.
HONG KONG
While we were anchored in the harbor at Hong Kong a
red cone was displayed one morning from the observatory,
which indicated that there was a typhoon three hundred miles
distant. As soon as it was seen, junks, sampans, lighters,
and every other kind of craft began to make for the har
bors of refuge, of which there are three in this harbor.
There was one near where we were anchored, so we had a
good chance to see the sights. In three hours the harbor
was full of vessels under sail, all heading past us for the
little bay. They kept passing us in this way for three or
four hours when the wind ceased and then small tugs were
employed. They would make four junks fast on each side,
six to eight wide, then others attached behind until they
had from fifty to sixty in tow like a great floating island.
They kept this up until after dark, and at 10 o'clock that
night they were still passing. The next morning the harbor
was clear of all small craft, only large steamers remaining
at their anchorages. As soon as the signal was hoisted the
lighters alongside of our ship quit work at once and scurried
away. I think there were about twelve there, and in a
couple of hours there was not a thing near us. All this
time there was only a light breeze. The approach of a
typhoon seems to terrify them, and they have good cause,
as during one storm over one thousand boats were wrecked
and six thousand people lost their lives. All the families
live on board, and, with women and children, they average
from six to fifty people to a boat.
Although the signals were still up the next day no
typhoon came, but every one was watching for it. I went
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ashore to the Typhoon Bay, as it was called, to see how so
many boats would look. I found it landlocked on three
sides and perfectly sheltered, something over eighty acres
in extent. The boats had been put in the bay in perfect
order, all in rows and as tight as they could be packed, the
end rows made fast to the shore and the others all tied to
them. The whole bay was packed so full there was not room
for another. It would be impossible to tell how many boats
there were but I estimated that there were over two thousand,
which, averaging ten people to a boat, would make twenty
thousand souls. This seems incredible, but I am sure I am
under the mark. Peddlers were busy on shore and on the
boats and were doing a lively business, and so they might,
when one thinks of a town of twenty thousand people and
no store in it. This was only one harbor, and with two
others like it, you can imagine the people there must have
been all crowded together. I was told that in Hong Kong
harbor and Canton River, below Canton, there are over three
hundred thousand people living on these boats.
All we got of the typhoon was a heavy rain storm, the
wind having passed twenty miles north of us.
NANKING
We then visited Nanking, staying there a few days,
endeavoring to sell lumber for the new railroad that they
were just starting.
The only hotel at Shaiquan, a suburb of Nanking, was
called the German Hotel and was kept by a man named
Diasang. It was about the toughest place I was ever in, and
although it was the middle of winter and very cold, the
window in my room was without glass, as there was none
to be had in town. Notwithstanding my discomforts, it
turned out that I had better accommodations than my son
Harold, who had to sleep on the floor of a clothes closet.
TONGKU
Proceeding to Shanghai we left that interesting city for
Tongku, and had a very pleasant trip up the coast. Al
though the sea was like glass when we arrived and we started
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MRS. DOLLAR IN A GATEWAY OF THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
to discharge, we had to cast the lighters adrift very shortly
as it got so rough and they pounded so hard it was impos
sible to do any work. It blew a gale all night but calmed
down the next morning so they commenced work, all hands
moving cargo, to get the ship on an even keel to cross the
bar. They got her to draw ten feet, three inches; but nine
feet, six inches was the most water there was on the bar,
so they had to give it up and we went ashore in a small tug.
We passed Taku on the left bank of the river, a long strag
gling village of mud huts, where there are probably seventy-
five thousand people living. We landed at Tongku a little
farther up the river and on the opposite side.
We proceeded to Peking on the railroad, which is a first
class road, a good deal on the English style although there is
a passage from one end of the car to the other on one side.
The second class cars on this line have plain board seats, and
the third class are regular coal cars, flat with sides on them,
no roof nor seats; when people get tired of standing they
can sit on the floor. When animals are carried they are
put on these cars with the passengers, who are mostly
Chinese.
The country above Tongku is perfectly level and as they
have large engines they haul a very heavy train, and, con
sidering the length of the trains, make fairly good time.
At Tientsin there are a great many large European houses.
From Tientsin we took the train for Port Arthur, which
proved to be a long and tedious journey. However, it was
all new to us, and we were very much interested. We took
a branch road from Tongku, which ran along the south side
of the Gulf of Pechili. The country around the gulf is level
and of a rich black soil. There were several irrigating
canals on which large junks and lighters were sailing.
TUNGCHOW
Tengchow or Tungchow, in 1903, was a coal mining
center with several pits in operation, which were producing
a very good grade of coal. The coal also made a good
grade of coke. This is a very important portion of Northern
China.
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A large English flag was flying from each coal pit.
There is said to be trouble in the company, as some Ger
mans have bought stock in it and are trying to change its
nationality. For a few miles beyond the mines the country
is rolling with low hills, up to Chinwangtao. There was
a good breakwater here on which a double railroad track
was laid, at the outer end of which there are nineteen feet
of water at lowest tide, and three hundred and fifty feet in
from the outer end there are eighteen feet. The company
that owns this dock owns the Tenchow mines, so most of
the coal goes over it. I consider Chinwangtao to be the key
of Northern China. A direct railroad could be built to
Peking (about one hundred and twenty miles), and, as it is
a very rich, populous country, would pay very well.
Taku as a seaport is no good and will never be any good,
as it is silting up all the time, but Chinwangtao has no river
emptying into the harbor and in time I think it will be the
principal Chinese seaport of Northern China. I say Chinese
seaport as I do not mean Russian China. All harbor work
was stopped and nothing was doing except shipping coal, as
the whole place is a military camp. French, German, Japa
nese, Russian and Italian troops and two English soldiers
garrison the place, each one claiming it and all there watch
ing one another. They all had staked out a place and had
their flags stuck up on bamboo poles all over the place, so
it was impossible to know which nation claimed any certain
place or piece of property. All this looked to me more like
school boys playing soldiers than anything I ever saw. It
was impossible to get any ground to store lumber. The
Standard Oil Company's manager was there trying to find a
place to locate large warehouses for oil, but he could not
get a site without provoking an international controversy,
so gave it up, seeing that there would be no chance of
our Government backing him up. The company that owns
the harbor and land is English, a Hong Kong corporation,
but as the English have only two soldiers left it looks as if
they were not going to fight for it. How the other nations
will settle it is a question. The Chinese look on with in
difference and do not seem to care who gets it, and make no
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claim to anything, being completely cowed by the foreign
soldiers. Truly China is in a bad way, and what the end
will be is hard to foresee; it certainly looks as if the Eu
ropean nations will gobble up the whole land. The only
hope for China seems to be to have some leader spring up
that will unite and organize the nation to act as one man,
then they could clean out the foreigners without any trouble.
But apparently there is no prospect of anything but ultimate
division, and each nation as it gets a slice will endeavor to
keep the trade in its own hands and for its own people.
THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
We arrived at Shanghai Quan after dark so could not
see anything until the next morning when we had a good
chance to examine the Great Wall of China, one of the
seven wonders of the world. I must say it is a great sight
to see the terminus of this great work where it enters the
sea. The wall is something over one hundred feet thick at
the base, made up of two paralleled walls about twelve feet
thick at the base and six feet thick at the top, the space
between being filled with earth. This having been dug up
from the outside of the wall makes a great, deep trench.
The parapet on top of the wall runs up higher than a man's
head and is four feet thick, pierced with loop holes. The
back part is causewayed with flat stones, making an excellent
roadway the whole length. It is sixty feet high from the
ground to the causeway and where it crosses a level country
it runs zigzag for greater protection, so that an enemy
would be exposed to a flank fire. It is hard to realize the
immensity of this great work, though we know it is fifteen
hundred miles long, crossing hills and plains, and, in cross
ing mountains it always goes on the highest peaks for
greater defense.
We saw one gateway of solid masonry and as perfect
an arch as I ever saw, when one considers that this arch
was built long before the Christian era and is in such a
perfect state of preservation that I did not see a crack or
a displaced stone in it. All this goes to show what a won
derful people the Chinese were.
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The outer wall is one hundred feet through, the arch
about twenty-five feet high, and the roadway about twenty
feet wide. Inside of the wall proper is a large square about
three hundred feet each way across. This is surrounded by
high walls all around, the same height as the main wall.
The gate going out of this enclosure leads out at right angles
from the main gate, so if the outer gate were forced they
would have the enemy in this enclosure with still another
gate to force. The gates are old cumbersome wooden
structures, strongly put together with large iron rivets.
These are shut every night. The masonry is perfect. The
stones are backed up with brick 16x8x5 inches thick. They
are tearing down the wall in places to get stone and brick
to build dwelling houses, which seems to be too bad.
Outside the wall there were evidences that the Manchus
were not to be despised, as the remains of their walls and
well planned forts are still in a good state of preservation.
A large high tower on the top of every hill for a hundred
miles along the railroad leads one to believe they were ex
perts in the practice of signaling. The Chinese method of
signaling was, to build a projection out from the wall every
three hundred feet, almost like a big buttress, where men
were stationed to pass any verbal message that might be
sent, so that in a short time a message could be passed
the entire length of the wall. In addition to this, there
were forts of about two hundred feet square nearly every
thousand feet apart, or at every corner where the point of
the zigzag occurred.
The old civilization has gone to decay, but the new one
is very much in evidence and very active. The Russians
have built a large walled-in barracks right in the town and
a few feet from the wall, the inside being China proper
(Manchuria being outside where they have built a large
military post with a large force of soldiers). The French
also have not been idle as they have a large encampment
inside the wall and outside of the town.
The trains do not run at night so we left Shanghai
Quan the next morning at 7 o'clock. It was hot and dusty,
and the cars very poor; first class being like our caboose, with
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board seats. On account of the Boxer trouble the train
service was badly disorganized.
Before reaching Talien-ho, a notice was posted in the
car saying that they had torn up the old bridge to build a
new one across the river, and that we could be carried across
the river on the backs of coolies for five cents and our bag
gage taken over for five cents a picul (133 pounds). We
found that there was a 3 x 12 plank on top of the trestle, so
we walked it rather than ride over on a coolie's back. There
was no preparation for taking the passengers across the
river to Newchwang when we arrived opposite it, so we got
a small tug that was towing a barge to take us across for
$1.00 each.
NEWCHWANG
The town of Newchwang is Russian in every sense of
the word. It is filled with soldiers, and as the place is walled
in they patrol the wall as well as the streets, day and night.
The municipal affairs are carried on by Russian officials,
the head man of the Customs also being a Russian. A short
time ago it was reported in the papers that the Russians had
evacuated Newchwang, which was true. Our Consul informed
us that they all left, and immediately commenced to return
in companies of from six or eight to one hundred, then by
the hundreds, until the place was full of them, and no matter
what the government or the press say, I say without fear
of contradiction from any one who knows, that the Russians
are in Newchwang, Dalny, Port Arthur and in the whole
of Manchuria to stay forever, or until displaced by force
of arms.
I asked the Consul if he had kept our Government in
formed, as the papers only reported the evacuation of the
town but never got the news that they returned the next day.
What a joke those nations play on each other!
While I am on the subject I will also give you facts
and my opinion about our chance for trade in Manchuria.
Our principal exports into this section are cotton goods,
kerosene, flour and lumber, their importance being in the
order stated. Now, since the Siberian railroad is completed,
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it is possible to deliver other cotton goods cheaper than our
American product. Oil can be brought from the Black Sea
cheaper than from the United States, and while not of as
good quality, there is no doubt that, as they have the steam
ers available, the Government will insist on their using the
native product. "American flour," on which we so depend
to keep up our trade, has also a short life before it.
The country around Harbin is well adapted to wheat
growing, and the industry has grown to such an extent
that they grind out two thousand barrels of flour daily.
Our compradore, who is agent for Allis Chalmers & Com
pany, has a request to bid for two separate mills, one of two
hundred and fifty barrels and one of five thousand barrels
a day capacity. All the Russians with whom I talked were
quite confident that our flour would be stamped out within
two years. I doubt this statement but it will not be long,
if we can believe half of the accounts of this rich country.
It takes a good deal of wheat to feed an army of one hun
dred thousand men, and I believe they have fully this
number with attendants, etc.
(What changes take place in the world and how little we know
what is ahead of us! The foregoing was written fifteen years ago
and the prediction that the Americans would lose the trade they
were enjoying has fully come to pass. Our lumber and flour have
long disappeared with our cotton goods, and our kerosene oil or what
little is left of this business is on the ragged edge.
At this writing, 1903, Russia appeared to be completely and per
manently established and there to stay. Who could have been bold
enough (at that time), to have even thought that little, insignificant
Japan would be able to oust the big bully out of such an apparently
firm and substantial position?)
TSAO CHAU
At last we came to Tsao Chau. The Russian Govern-
/ment has formed a company of seven million roubles capital
to open up the Yalu River country, that is the dividing line
between Manchuria and Korea. The Russians want to get
firmly established on the frontier, and have a large number of
men logging on the river and floating the logs to tide water.
I have seen quantities of the wood, and I must say it is as
good as Oregon pine. I am told there are plenty of trees
four feet in diameter. These are hewn in the woods either
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on two or four sides, and are then whip-sawn by the natives
at the place of consumption. The great market for this
wood is Port Arthur, Dalny, Newchwang, Chefoo and Tient
sin, and it is against this wood that we now have to com
pete in the ports named, with our Oregon fir.
Now the Russian Government proposes to manufacture
all the lumber required in their own country, and, in fact,
all that is used in the Gulf of Pechili. For this purpose
they have plans out for a mill and are looking for the
machinery and will build at once, the capacity to be about
one hundred million feet a year. They are also getting out
plans for three steam schooners with a capacity of about
four hundred thousand feet each with a draft of from ten to
eleven feet to carry the lumber, and in the event of war to
carry men, supplies, etc., into that Yalu River country.
They claim there is an abundant supply of standing timber,
and as the Chinese have been lumbering there for a great
many years and carrying it out with their junks, I expect
there is plenty of it so far as Russian requirements are
concerned.
The Russians have spent millions in Manchuria, and as
a prominent Russian put it to me: "We have spent millions
upon millions of Russian money to open up and develop
Manchuria, and do you suppose we have done all this for
the benefit of foreigners? This has all been done for the
benefit of our people and we propose to keep it, sure."
And there is no doubt they will. Our Government claims
we must keep the Open Door, and they will keep the outside
door open but they will also make sure that we cannot get
in, either by competition or by cumbersome regulations that
will make it impossible for us to do business. Even under
present circumstances it is not easy to do business there.
Contrast this policy with ours in the Philippines, where
I heard Mr. Taft make a speech before the American Cham
ber of Commerce, saying that the Philippine Islands were
for the Filipinos and not for the Americans. He has made
his word good, and I am told that the American population
there has decreased fifty per cent since last year.
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We had a little trouble finding out about the trains
leaving Newchwang. We had a Russian (none of the officials
talk English) telephone the station master to find out when
the train left for Port Arthur, but that official said he did
not know. We finally got in touch with a higher official
who said a train would leave at 2 p. m. and connect at the
junction of the Great Siberian Railroad at Tsao Chau
with the train from St. Petersburg, which runs twice a
week. The train, however, did not start out until 4 p. m.
It is impossible to get information ahead of time as to when
you can get a train for any place, and this is on the great
highway from St. Petersburg to Peking.
We had to hire a tug to take us from the city to the
station, three miles further up the river than the town, but
were landed about a mile below and walked the balance of
the way. There was no hurry as the train did not start for
two hours after the time they said. The train on the main
line was very fair, as it had sleepers and a dining car, which
for Russia were fine. The waiters and porters all talk some
French, so we got on all right and arrived at Dalny three
days from Tientsin. We went to the hotel, and had a great
time getting breakfast. After waiting one and a half hours
we got boiled eggs, coffee and bread and butter, the last
made in Odessa was similar to axle grease. However, we
were glad to get anything, as the regular breakfast is served
at noon. The people here stay up half the night and rise
about noon.
PORT ARTHUR
From Dalny I proceeded to Port Arthur on business,
but traveling was so difficult and uncomfortable that we de
cided to have Mrs. Dollar and the young people go to Japan,
where I was to join them at a later date.
It was blowing a gale and a sand storm came up making
it so disagreeable that we did not leave the hotel at Port
Arthur. There are no hotels worthy of the name, but we
were glad to get anywhere as the place was very crowded.
We found a hotel where the landlady was French, so we
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had the satisfaction of asking for what we wanted and got
along fairly well.
Port Arthur is a military town situated on a small bay
and in itself does not amount to much, but the military
work going on beat anything I had ever seen. On the
streets at any hour of the day we were continually meeting
squads and companies of soldiers going from and to, no one
seemed to know where. On the top of every hill great
gangs of them were working. It was just a great bee-hive
of industry, all doing the one thing, fortifying the place
at every conceivable point. (No one surmised that in a very
few weeks this would be the center of one of the world's
great wars.)
There is a very good drydock here, but not much room
for merchant ships. Eight to ten would fill the place, but
at Dalny there is plenty of room. There were fourteen
large men-of-war lying at anchor outside the harbor, and
a small fleet of small ones inside. Everywhere there seemed
to be a feverish haste to get ready. To look at it one would
think that a war had been declared.
I had been in many hard and tough places before during
my lifetime, but Port Arthur certainly beats them all for
vice and iniquity of all kinds.
We left Port Arthur in the evening and went through
the Russian fleet shortly after. It was certainly a formidable
sight. The next morning we were at Chefoo, and there
went through the American fleet of twelve men-of-war
poor China had two there. Then at Weihaiwei the English
have a large fleet and at Kiaochaw, seventy-five miles fur
ther, the Germans have twelve to fifteen large men-of-war.
Northern China has probably more warships and men con
centrated than anywhere else in the world. In fact the eyes
of the whole world are turned this way at the present time,
no one knowing what all this preparation means. A short
time ago the Russian and Japanese governments bought up
all the available flour in the Orient, and they had every
bakery shop in Hong Kong and Shanghai running their
full capacity on hard tack.
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Chapter Seven
NOTES OF A TRIP TO JAVA
PANAROCKEN
We left Soerabaya early in the morning on the railway
for Baraboedoer. The first ninety miles were through
a level country, the richest I had ever seen. The soil is
mostly of decomposed volcanic ash, deep and black, with a
clay subsoil. The principal crop is sugar; then tobacco, rice,
and tapioca, for export, and fruits of all kinds for local
use. There are great sugar mills all over the country with
tall, brick smoke stacks that look like lighthouses, all white
washed. In fact, every building in this country is white.
A law compels the natives to whitewash their dwellings,
inside and outside, twice a year for sanitary precautions,
which is said to make them immune from cholera and the
plague. At the time of our visit the place was very healthy,
although we were there in the middle of summer when it
was very hot.
To come back to sugar. A great many men are em
ployed in this industry. We saw them in the fields every
where, cutting the cane, transporting it by small railroads
to the mills, and in many places it was hauled in great,
heavy, two-wheeled carts drawn by two small oxen. The
roads are perfectly level and very good. On all the prin
cipal roads there is an avenue of trees on each side, the
branches of the trees touching on top, so that the sun does
not reach the road at all. As a rule, there are irrigation
ditches on one side of the road.
A man has charge of a short piece of road which he
has to sweep clean every day, burn all dead leaves and refuse,
and also sprinkle his division with water which he dips with
a pail out of the running stream by the roadside.
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Rest houses, built by the Government, are located every
five miles. The houses are built across the road and are
open on all sides. During rain storms teams can drive under
the roof, and travelers can lie down on the bamboo beds
and rest themselves. These buildings are kept nicely white
washed and clean. There are also small rest houses about
one and a half miles apart, between the larger ones, wher
ever there are roads. These roads are generally about forty
feet wide.
Sugar cane is hauled to the mills, and an elevator, like
a slab elevator in a sawmill, carries it to the rollers where
it is crushed. The first rollers are not very close together,
the second are closer, and the third squeeze everything out
of the stalk with the assistance of hot water that is sprinkled
on the cane before it goes through these last rollers. The
refuse cane is then carried to the grates to make steam.
They use extension fronts, the same as we use in some saw
mills. That is: an oven in front of the boilers where the
cold cane goes in and nothing but hot flame goes under
the boiler. I do not understand the process of sugar making
sufficiently to explain it, but the juice is carried in troughs,
whence it is pumped into great boilers, and there boiled
with the exhaust steam from the engines under a vacuum.
After going through several of these, it becomes thick and
is then put into cylinders that revolve very fast. The cen
trifugal motion takes the syrup and impurities out of it, and
the pure sugar is then delivered into a bin, later being put
into sacks, baskets or mats.
The sacks are just ordinary strong gunny sacks, well
sewed up at the end. The baskets, with which our steamer
was loaded, were something new to us. They are about
four feet long, tapering from two feet at one end to about
two and a quarter at the other. They are strongly made
of split bamboo, and are placed small end down and carefully
lined inside with large banana leaves. The sugar is shoveled
in until the mat is full and its top is securely covered with
leaves, then a cover of bamboo is put on and securely sewed
down with bamboo thongs, making a very strong and very
MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
heavy package. They run from five hundred and fifty to
seven hundred pounds when packed with sugar.
In our cargo they averaged three and one-half baskets
to a ton of 2240 pounds, or six hundred and forty pounds
each; but different tare is allowed in different places. The
picul here is one hundred and thirty-six English pounds,
and in China it is only one hundred and thirty-three and one-
third pounds. This sugar was sold on a Java picul basis,
and we got freight on the basis of a Chinese picul, so that
on account of the different customs it is difficult to know
and understand exactly what is meant by a basket of sugar
or a picul.
We found the baskets much larger at Panarocken than
at Soerabaya. They are difficult to stow tight, and it is slow
work finishing up a ship when they get close up under the
beams. The steamer was not quite full, and, even if she
had been, she would have been to her loadline by two hun
dred and fifty to three hundred tons. But with bags or
mats she would have been down to her loadline and still
have room left. The mats are about two and a half feet
square, made of matting and holding from seventy-five to
a hundred pounds of sugar. They are not very strong, and
while they stow well, there is danger of their breaking.
Most of the mills ship their sugar by rail to the sea
board, but many of them haul it with ox carts. There are
very large warehouses at all the shipping ports and very
good facilities for handling it. The sugar ports are, begin
ning with Soerabaya (which is the principal one), going
east Pasuruan, Probolingo, Bezukie, Panarukan and Ban-
juwangi, which is on the east end of the island. Then
going west from Soerabaya, are, Samarang, Cheribon and
Batavia, which is the capital and important as such but has
little importance from a commercial standpoint. On the
south side of the island, about the center from east to west,
is Tjilatjap, the only good port and the only one of any
importance on that side.
Continuing our journey across the island, after the first
ninety miles through a rich country, there were twenty
miles over foothills, planted out in trees of no great value.
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After crossing the foothills we got into another stretch of
rich, level ground.
At Solo we changed cars from narrow to broad gauge.
Two hours time brought us to Jokjokarta, for short called
Jokja. This is where the headquarters of the native princes
are situated. They are paid by the Dutch Government, and
their palaces and grounds occupy six hundred and forty
acres in the center of the city. They have from ten to
twelve thousand attendants, all living within the walls of
this enclosure. We did not have time to visit the palaces as
it takes time to get a permit, but we visited the water castle
built in 1750 for native princes.
This castle has been abandoned since it was wrecked
by an earthquake and is fast going to rack and ruin. It
was surrounded by water and there are many underground
chambers where they would retire during the hot weather.
The walls are thick, and, before modern artillery came into
use, it was a very strong place. The shady avenues around
this city are very fine and give one the impression he is
driving through some gentleman's estate in England.
In going along we noticed that there were no scattered
farmers' or peasants' houses to be seen, as they live in
villages fenced or walled in and completely shaded with
trees, so that you cannot see the houses until you are quite
near them. Whenever you see a banana and cocoanut grove
you may be sure a village is there. Every house has a
small piece of ground in which are banana and cocoanut
trees, which, together with rice, are used for food.
As this island is about the most thickly populated part
of the world you can imagine the number of villages there
are. On the roads wherever we went there was a constant
stream of people going and coming and generally carrying
burdens; the women carry their burdens on their heads,
which gives them an erect and stately appearance. The
people seem to be industrious and are always working at
something. Most of the tilling of the soil is done by hand.
Considerable rice is grown here. We saw it in every
stage from the sowing of the seed in beds before it was
transplanted, until it was being threshed by being pounded
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
in a wooden trough. It was then pounded, to get the hull
off, in a three-inch auger hole in the end of a log a piece
of wood like a capstan bar being used. Some of the people
are engaged in cultivating tobacco, which we also saw in its
various stages. There are some very large factories for the
preparation of the leaf before it is shipped to Amsterdam.
It is packed into good solid bales, four feet square, which
are covered with good burlap.
In connection with labor, it is a remarkable thing that,
although there are a quarter of a million Chinese in Java,
I never saw one of them doing manual labor the natives
do all the hard work. For instance : in the sugar mills, after
the cane goes through the mill and they commence to boil
the syrup, the Chinese take charge of it, under the Dutch
chemist. The retail business of Java is done by Chinese, and
many of the merchants are very wealthy. The authorities
compel them to wear their queues so they will always know
them, but as a great many of them are half caste their pig
tails have dwindled down to the merest string.
BARABOEDOER
From Jokja we left for Baraboedoer. We took the
steam train to a place called Mont elan, twenty-two miles
distant. There are no Europeans here, except a few Govern
ment officials. From there we took a four-horse wagonette.
The horses are about the size of a large Shetland pony, and
are very hard to drive. It takes two men to drive them,
one sitting in front lashing them with his whip, while the
other runs alongside to lash them. The roads were level and
in excellent condition, with the usual avenue of shade trees
to keep the sun off. The distance from Montelan to Bara
boedoer is about eight miles, and there are three prosperous
villages between the towns. We met a constant stream of
people going and coming all the time, but could not find a
single person who could speak English, so we had to depend
on what we saw for any information we got. There is only
a ruin at Baraboedoer and the Government hotel, called a
"passagrahin," which is only used for visitors to the ruins,
and from a glance at the register, there are not many, and
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most of those who do go are from the island. The Amer
ican visitors are few and far between.
When we arrived I tried to pay the driver, but the hotel
keeper did not want me to. He kept saying "Morgen," but
as I was not acquainted with the word we could come to
no understanding. He was quite disgusted, but we finally
found a book giving English words with their Dutch mean
ings, and I found "Morgen" to mean "tomorrow." So by
finding words and using signs we managed to get along.
Darkness comes on very suddenly in the tropics so we had
no time to see anything that night, but the next morning at
daylight we started out.
I must tell about a Java bed. It is usually seven feet
long by eight feet wide, with lots of pillows and bolsters, the
whole covered with mosquito netting stretched on four poles.
There is a sheet over the mattress, but that is all no bed
ding. The netting is supposed to keep you warm enough.
All the floors are cement and some of them are just the bare
cement without any mats or rugs on the floor. All the
houses are of one story.
The Temple of Baraboedoer is a wonderful building. It
would be impossible for me to give even a faint idea of the
immensity of the building or of its sculpture. It is over thir
teen hundred years old, and I think it outrivals anything in
the world of its age. It is built on a hill, say three hundred
feet high, the building being one hundred and three feet
in height to the top. The first base is two thousand and
thirteen feet in circumference, then each story recedes about
forty feet in diameter and there is a walk around each story
of twenty feet in width. It is seven stories high and is com
pletely covered with statues and bas-reliefs, except the lower
story, which had not been finished. It is thought that it
took many years to build and carve, and troubles arising
between the native tribes, it was never completed. Fortu
nately, before leaving, they covered it with earth, which
accounts for its fine state of preservation. In addition,
there was a heavy coating of volcanic ash (it is in sight of
a smoking volcano at the present day), then trees and shrubs
completed the covering. The bas-reliefs are supposed to
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
show all the events of Buddha's life, from before the time
of his birth until after his death.
I noticed several models of ships which looked much
like the ships used by Columbus. The whole is built of a
very dark colored stone and is surmounted by a dome on
which was a spire, long since demolished by earthquakes.
The dome was built up but the Dutch opened it and found
within a very large carved image of Buddha, not completed.
This is still open to visitors. The credit of bringing this
great work to light is due to the English. When they got
possession of the island in 1812, the governor had part of
it unearthed. It was a great work, and two hundred men
were employed for a long time. Afterwards the Dutch
completed the uncovering of it. At one time they had a
number of soldiers in the vicinity who wantonly destroyed
many of the figures by shooting at them, and deliberately
smashed many. But now the Government is taking care of
it. Every one used to go there and help himself to what
ever he wanted. At that time, many persons and museums
obtained a fine lot of relics from the ruins. Several days
would be required to comprehend the extent and magnitude
of the structure.
Two miles from here is Mendoet, another ruin that the
Government is restoring. It occupies a piece of land about
two hundred by four hundred feet, and is surrounded by a
paved court and a mound of earth. Likely, it was walled in
at one time. The building is about forty-five feet square
and probably seventy-five high. Inside the building there
are three images of Buddha, all in a fine state of preserva
tion. The bas-reliefs, and the outside generally, resemble
Baraboedoer, which apparently goes to show that it was
built about the same time and by the same people. There
is a large village surrounding the ruins, but they had no
idea of its existence until a Dutch engineer discovered it
in 1835. It will be a fine monument when the work of
restoration is completed.
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SOLO
At Solo we saw the resident Prince's palace. He had
a menagerie of wild beasts, and three elephants kept for
state purposes. The royalties keep up a lot of empty style,
and the Government uses them for its own purposes and to
keep the natives quiet, but I noticed a battery of large can
non in a square that covers the palace, so that at short notice
a volley could send all the grandeur skyward!
We had to retrace our steps to Soerabaya as we wanted
to see a real, live volcano. We left the cars at Pasu-
ruan, a seaport, which formerly was of great importance,
but since the railways have been built trade has gone to
Soerabaya. There are a number of good buildings and
warehouses situated, as at Soerabaya, on the sides of the
creek or river, where the large lighters load and discharge
their freight. Steamers lay to an anchor a half mile from
the mouth of the river, the navigable part of the river up
to the heart of the town being two miles.
One day while here we heard a great deal of commotion
and on coming near the scene found a large snake had
swallowed a small pig and had been killed by some of the
natives.
The country is very level. We found it difficult all
through the island to talk to the people, but managed to
find some one in most places who could speak a little French
so managed to get on.
At Pasuruan we had quite a time, but finally got started
for the Hotel Tossaira. We went in carts and the hotel
man at the station told us when we came to Passepan to pay
the men off and two others would be waiting for us. The
first went about ten miles and stopped and wanted us to pay
and get out, but as we could not understand them we came
to a deadlock. We would not get out, and they would not
go on. One of them went off and brought a Dutchman,
but we could not understand him any more than the natives.
After a great deal of talk that neither party understood a
bright thought struck the Dutchman. He beckoned me to
follow him to where there was a telephone. He called up a
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town and got a party on the line and then gave me the
receiver; to my astonishment this party could speak good
English. He explained to me that we were at the end of
our first stage, to pay off our teamsters and take other carts
as the horses we had could not climb the hills. So all the
trouble was over and the mob dispersed, as the whole village
had turned out to see the circus with the foreigners.
From here we had two horses to each cart, one in the
shafts and one alongside, but the grade was very steep and
hard climbing. At first the grade was rocky, evidently
lava from some eruption, but the land was cultivated between
the boulders. We now commenced to see lots of Indian
corn, no rice but plenty of bananas. While the road was
steep, it was wide and well made, and kept in excellent con
dition. We arrived at Posepo at noon and had lunch at the
Government hotel. After lunch we got saddle horses and
two men to carry our bags, as the grade was steeper from
here on, but the road was just as good and as well kept,
and the avenues of trees continued. A rain storm came on
us suddenly and we were drenched. We came to a native
house and took shelter until the storm passed over. We
were now five thousand feet high and the weather was de
cidedly cooler than at the seaboard. The house was bamboo
throughout, even the roof was bamboo split in two. One
row with the mouth up and then another row with the
backs up, which made a perfectly tight roof. The smoke
found its way out through the cracks, and consequently into
our eyes. The floor was dirty and the cooking stove was
made of stones and clay. Altogether it was very primitive.
The building was about thirty by twenty feet, and there
were evidently two or more families living in the house,
for twenty people who had never seen Americans before,
came to take a good look at us.
It cleared up and we arrived at the Government hotel
at Tossaira before dark. The next morning we were off
again on horseback to see the volcanoes. It took us four
hours' riding to get to Bromo, which is the active one.
Great quantities of black smoke were rising from it occa
sionally, and from a considerable distance we could hear
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
the most unearthly noise coming out of it. There are two
extinct volcanoes close to this one; in fact, they are all
within three miles of each other. Widoudaren, the first we
came to, looks as though it had cooled down lately as there
is no vegetation on it yet. The same can be said of Batck.
This one looks like a perfect cone flattened on top, the sides
all corrugated into deep ravines as the lava had run down
into what is called the sand sea. Looking down on this sea
it looks just like a lake. Some of the natives had come to
worship the fire god and had built wooden steps of teak
and bamboo to the top of Bromo. As it is very steep we
left our horses at the foot and walked up the stairs. The
top of the rim is very thin, not more than ten feet, and
the crater is so steep no one could walk down. When the
smoke would blow away from the bottom it looked like
great holes, with boiling liquid inside the whole yellow
with sulphur.
The nearest comparison I can make to the noise would
be standing in a boiler room where there were several bat
teries of boilers and all blowing off at the same time. The
ascent from the sand sea to the top of the crater Bromo
is about one hundred and fifty feet and the bottom of the
crater looked to be about the same distance down. All
around were great masses of rock and stones that had been
recently ejected. Other places were stretches of molten lava
where it had cooled off into fantastic shapes, generally cut
ting deep corrugations into the hillside and all accumulating
in a great bank or ridge similar to the result of a landslide.
This is a very wild country and from the Bromo we
could see three other smoking volcanoes, the whole making
a scene of wild grandeur and desolation. One can have no
idea of the force exerted by a volcano unless he has seen
one in eruption, or has looked at one like this, just recently
cooled off.
On the way to the volcanoes we were surprised to see
the hills right up to the top, terraced and under a high
state of cultivation, although some of them were so steep
that it is hard to believe they could be cultivated. Vegetables
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and Indian corn are the principal products, but there is also
considerable quinine grown here.
We were on our way before daylight the next morning
to get the train at Pasuruan for Panarocken where the
steamer "M. S. Dollar" was loading. The country the whole
distance from Pasuruan to Panarocken is level and just as
rich as any we had seen, thereby convincing us that Java is
the richest agricultural island of the world.
The principal productions on this eastern end of the
island are sugar, tobacco, coffee and some indigo, then fruits
of all kinds and rice for the native food. They seem to have
a good telephone system over the island. Foreigners were
closely watched, and we learned that notice of our arrival
at the various places on the island had always been tele
phoned ahead of us, and we had to have closely vised pass
ports. But I understand this regulation has been modified.
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Chapter Eight
THE STEAMSHIP W M. S. DOLLAR" AS A
BLOCKADE RUNNER
During the Russo-Japanese War, in 1904, we chartered
the cargo steamer "M. S. Dollar" to carry a cargo for the
Russian Government from San Francisco to Vladivostok.
She attempted to go through La Perrouse Straits but
found it blocked with ice so there was nothing left to do
but attempt to go through the Straits of Tsugaru. It turned
out that the look-out on the north end of Hokkaido had
seen the steamer try to go through La Perrouse and turn
back, and notified the gunboats guarding Tsugaru Straits to
be on the lookout for her.
She stayed far enough out so that her smoke could not
be seen, and during a dark, stormy night she started to
run through although the Japanese had stationed two gun
boats at each end of the Strait. Remarkable as it might seem,
with all lights out, she passed through without being seen.
The Straits are twelve miles long and three miles wide.
The captain was to get a substantial bonus from the
Russian Government if he should arrive safely in Vladi
vostok, so he was pacing the bridge trying to figure out
what he would do with all this money. His castles in the
'air came to a sudden termination by the appearance of a
search light sweeping the ocean; after passing backward
and forward it rested at last on the ship, so that she was
discovered. The light was kept steadily on the ship until
in half an hour's time a cannon boomed out of the dark
ness, as a polite invitation to stop, which was promptly
done. After waiting some time a boat came alongside and
a demand was made to lower a ladder, when an officer, of
what turned out to be a Japanese man-of-war, that was
going up the Sea of Japan and not looking for them, came
on board followed by officers and armed marines. He
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
asked the captain the name of the ship and when told,
passed the word down the line, "M. S. Dollar," and each
officer repeated it as they had heard she was bound for
Vladivostok.
They took charge and took her into Hakodate where
an examination of the ship's officers was held, but the
captain was the only man on board who knew her destina
tion and he would not tell. All they found was that the
ship's papers showed that her destination was Moji. All is
fair in war, so on general principles they decreed us guilty,
and ordered her to proceed to Yokosuka, near Yokohama,
to be tried by the prize court. To show how complete and
efficient their secret service was, my son Stanley arrived in
Kobe that night and knew nothing of the capture until an
officer placed him under arrest, stating that the next day he
would be taken to the prize court at Yokosuka.
When taken before the court, the judge said: "You got
a letter at the Kobe postoffice from San Francisco; I want
to see it." Stanley handed it to him, and, after reading
it, the judge had a hearty laugh and said: "This letter
is from your father and he tells you this vessel is going to
the Orient; the Orient is a very big place. Your father
must be a very astute old gentleman; I would like very
much to meet him."
The captain stuck to it and would not tell where he
was going and the judge said he would imprison him until
the end of the war, so Stanley advised him to make a clean
breast of it, which he did. The captain was then released,
and the ship and cargo condemned.
Stanley asked the commandant of the Navy Yard if he
could take a souvenir off the ship as she was named after
his mother. He replied, "Yes, with pleasure; what would
you like?" In a joke Stanley said, "The ship's anchors and
chains." The commandant did not see the joke, but said
quite seriously, "Oh, I could not allow you to take them."
Stanley then said, "Well, would you allow me to take a
silver sugar bowl which has my mother's name on it?" His
reply was, "Oh, yes, you can take it with pleasure."
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
So, for the time being, that ended our connection with
this fine vessel. We had her insured against loss from war
risk for $180,000.00, which the insurance companies paid^
The year 1906 was the memorable year for all San
Francisco people, as in April we had the earthquake and
fire that destroyed the city. I arrived in Kobe April 18
and found two of the hotels had been burned, so it seemed
impossible to get a place to sleep. About 10 o'clock p. m. I
managed to get to a friend's house. He got up and prepared
some supper for me, and during the course of the conversa
tion he said a cable had come in stating that San Francisco
had been destroyed by an earthquake and fire, and, as all
communication had been cut off, no further information
could be obtained.
The next day I went to Yokohama and still could obtain
no information. However, three days later, I received a
cable stating that our office and contents had been destrc^od
and that we had opened an office in Oakland. This informa
tion I posted so that Americans could know that Oakland
was intact, as a wild rumor had been circulated that it had
been overwhelmed by a tidal wave. All this did not relieve
my mind much as I was on my way to Tokio, where the
steamer "M. S. Dollar" was to be sold by the Japanese
Government, and since every bank in San Francisco had
been destroyed I was perplexed to know where I was to get
the money to pay for the ship if I bought her. However, I
arranged to get the money in London if I could not get it
in San Francisco.
The Japanese had used her as a troop ship during the
war, after which she was put up at public auction and I bid
her in for $55,000.00. She was turned over to me at the
Naval Station at Sasebo. I got a few men and stores
enough for one day to take her to Moji where I intended
to load her and fit her out. After leaving Sasebo it got
very foggy and we could not see the length of the ship. I
remained on the bridge until after u o'clock. It was a wet,
miserable night and the captain advised me to go and lie
down. I told him I had some kind of a hunch that some
thing was going to happen; however, I went and laid down
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
with clothes, boots and all on. I had only been turned in
an hour when the captain wakened me and said there was
something strange and he wanted me to come on the bridge.
It did not take me long to get there as the thought flashed
through my mind that this something was going to happen.
When we got back on the bridge he said he had seen a
reflection on the sky which looked like a rocket and it was
dead ahead. We immediately took soundings but could not
get bottom. Just then another flash appeared, which we
both decided was a rocket. We checked up on our course
and found it would clear an island by ten miles, so that this
must be a vessel in distress out on the open China Sea. We
had no rockets to answer, but made a flare-up of oakum and
oil. This brought a reply as we immediately heard a
steamer's whistle, indistinctly, in the distance. We soon
came up near to where she was, but it was so foggy and
dark we could not make her out. When daylight came we
found her to be the German mail steamer "Roon." She
had gone ashore on the island, which we both thought our
courses would clear by ten miles. The current had set
both ships off their courses. Fortunately for us, she went
on, for if she had not we certainly would have landed in
her place. We lowered a boat and went cautiously to her,
as there was a considerable sea, but the captain told me he
had two hundred passengers and his No. i hold was full
of water, so I arranged with him that I would take them all
on board and we would try and pull him off. I also told
him we only had one day's provisions for our own crew of
twenty men and that we had no bedding, so he supplied us
with the necessities. We had a hard job transferring all
the passengers on account of the heavy sea and the blinding
rain storm. They were a woe begone lot, all cold, wet and
miserable.
We pulled on the "Roon" for half a day, and could not
move her as she had settled down forward on a pinnacle
rock. I advised the captain to flood his after hold and tip
her up off the rock but he said it was a very valuable
cargo and he did not like to destroy it.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
We arranged to take the passengers to Moji and tele
graph for a German man-of-war that was at Kobe to come
and help him. We got to Rockuron quarantine station
just at dark and the officers would not come on board. So
we lowered a boat and I went ashore, which was such a
breach of etiquette that I was arrested by soldiers as soon
as I put my foot on shore. They started to march me off
to the guard house, and while I could not talk to them I
made signs vigorously that I wanted to go to the com
mandant's house. So they took me there and although he
talked English I certainly had a cold reception, but I
explained to him about the condition of the two hundred
people on board, many of them women and children.
I made no headway until I told him Count Hyashi,
Minister to Spain, was on board. That caused him to come
on board, but he reminded me that I was still under arrest.
I told him I did not care what he did with me so long as
he allowed the people to proceed to Moji. I got the ear of
the Count first, then he interviewed the Commandant, with
the result that after five minutes talking in Japanese the
passengers and myself were allowed to proceed to Moji. We
arrived there about midnight, but the quarantine officer had
telegraphed ahead and the chief of police was waiting with
boats and took care of every one in a very satisfactory man
ner. I wired for the man-of-war to go to the "Roon." He
got there the following day, but failed to pull her off and
a storm coming up he was compelled to pull out. The
captain of the "Roon" later took my advice and flooded
his after hold, and she backed off herself and proceeded on
her own steam to Nagasaki where she was repaired.
The year 1907 was an eventful one. The early part of
the year business was fair, but the latter part was about as
poor as it could possibly have been, as we had a genuine
financial panic. The banks stopped payment and resorted
to the use of Clearing House certificates in the place of
gold and currency.
Affairs got to the point in the coastwise trade where it
was impossible to get a new dollar for an old one. As a
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
result a great fleet of vessels was laid up in San Francisco
Bay, amongst others being many of our coastwise steamers.
In the early part of the year we remodeled our China
business. While it had been, in a measure satisfactory, and
we had been making money out of it, still it was not in
such shape that we could extend and enlarge it as we had
hoped to do. Therefore, in the reconstruction, all this was
planned. At that time we had a small office in Sezchuen
Road, Shanghai. We afterwards moved to more commo
dious offices on the corner of Sezchuen and Nanking Roads,
and at present are located in large new offices on Canton
Road fronting the Bund.
As stated, this was a year of financial panics, but for
tunately we had been prepared beforehand, so it did not
affect our business to any great extent.
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Chapter Nine
AMERICAN COMMISSIONERS ENTERTAINED
BY JAPANESE
On the 24th of September, 1908, a party representing
various chambers of commerce, went to Japan. We sailed
from San Francisco on the steamer "Tenyo Maru." The
party was composed of twenty-eight men and twenty ladies
from Spokane, Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, San Francisco,
Oakland, Los Angeles and San Diego. On our arrival at
Honolulu we were met by a large delegation from the
Chamber of Commerce of that port, and were taken in auto
mobiles to Pearl Harbor where we had lunch served under
the trees. There was some speech making, and we had a
very enjoyable time.
We were then shown around the harbor and an explana
tion was given by the admiral in charge as to what the
Government proposed to do in the way of developing a
naval base on the Hawaiian Islands at this place.
A tug was in readiness and the party was taken around
the lochs so we could see what a fine harbor it was. Any
who desired to go outside on the tug to see the entrance
to the harbor took this opportunity. I was especially in
terested to see how the harbor could be protected and what
the entrance was like. It was still in quite a natural state
and somewhat crooked although very well protected. A
ship entering would be immediately hidden from view from
the ocean. In the afternoon and evening the party was
driven around the city and its suburbs in automobiles.
After leaving Honolulu our time was variously taken
up with meetings. Following is an address I made to the
members of the Honorary Commissioners of the Chambers
of Commerce to Japan on board the steamer "Tenyo Maru" :
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
ADDRESS
This Commission is styled Honorary. I wish to lay
particular emphasis on this word, showing the great respon
sibility that is placed on every member to do his best to
make it honorable in every sense of the word. The invita
tion reads that the object in inviting us was to promote
friendship and good will. You all know it is necessary to
be on friendly terms with those with whom you do business,
otherwise it would not continue; so in our dealings with
foreign nations it is of far greater importance that we should
have perfect harmony and a good understanding, as, I
would say, that just as sure as the center of activity moved
from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, so sure will that
center be transferred to this Pacific Ocean.
This I believe will come during the lifetime of you
young men, and the three nations having the frontage on
this ocean, namely, the United States, Japan and China, will
be the beneficiaries provided that they prepare for it. The
nation that has the best and most steamers will be the one
that will reap the greatest benefit. Japan is doing her duty
in this respect, as evidenced by this fine new modern steamer
we are now traveling on, and the two new sister ships not
yet completed, and by owning a large fleet of tramp steamers
to do the freight carrying.
What is the United States doing to keep up with Japan?
I answer, "Nothing." Our merchant marine is disappearing
from the ocean as fast as it can go. No new steamer to
engage in the foreign trade has been built in the past five
years, and there is not an American tramp steamer afloat
engaged in the foreign trade. We are now reduced on
this ocean to six mail steamers, which is about half as many
as we had a year ago, so I would urge on you when you
return home to assist in every way possible to get laws
passed to permit us to rebuild our merchant marine, so that
we may take our proper place amongst nations.
We have the richest country in the world, our natural
resources are unlimited, and up to the present time we have
been taken up with internal developments. Now the time
BUDDHA
Left Hand Figure in a Group of Three, Temple of Meridoet
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
has arrived for us to reach out for the foreign markets of
the world, and in my estimation there is no country offering
us such inducements as the Orient.
The mastery of the Pacific is a subject that the great
nations are discussing. If we get a merchant marine, the
commerce will be divided between our country and Japan,
but if we decline to take advantage of our opportunity, then
the trade will be divided between Great Britain and Japan
and our great nation will have to take third place. The
Yellow Peril scare was started by Emperor William at the
time he gobbled up Tsingtau, when Germany was fortunate
enough to get two priests murdered which served as an
excuse to seize that part of the Shan Tung Peninsula. Now
there is in China a White Peril which is ably described by a
Chinese author.
It came about in this way: About three days after the
treaty of peace was signed by China and Japan in Shi-
monoseki, France, Germany and Russia demanded that the
Lia Tung Peninsula, including Port Arthur, must be ceded
back to China, Japan having taken it by conquest. The
Great Powers stated they could not allow a foreign nation
to occupy that part of China. Japan was weakened by the
war and could not resist so was forced to give in, but from
that day she began preparations to recover what was hers
by right of conquest. What was the result? Russia imme
diately took possession of this part of China. Germany for
her share got Tsingtau and France got another slice of
Tonquin, while Great Britain, to her everlasting disgrace
be it said, stood with folded hands and saw this injustice
perpetrated, when she was the only nation that could have
prevented it. Vengeance belongs to the Lord. Russia got
her deserts. Next it will be Germany and France. Ger
many has taken the hint, as she has withdrawn her troops
from two hundred miles of railroad and concentrated them
all in Tsingtau.
The Japanese have the name of being tricky. In my
brief experience with them, I have done business of over a
million dollars, and can conscientiously say I have never been
wronged out of one cent. On the other hand, let us see
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
what is the reputation of the American in the Orient. In
trying to start new business relations, whenever a Japanese
or Chinese learns that you are an American, he is imme
diately on his guard, and we have to prove to him that we
are honest before confidence is established.
When we got possession of the Philippines a great
number of camp followers and adventurers went to Manila,
and when Judge Wilfey was Attorney-General he started
to clean up the town of Manila of disreputable characters.
They nearly all found their way to Canton and Shanghai,
where they were welcomed by our representatives. American
morality got so bad that the other nations appealed to
President Roosevelt. He got Congress to establish an
American court in China, and Judge Wilfey was sent to
clean up the towns, which he did in such an efficient man
ner that the bad element had to move again.*
For details of his work I would refer you to the article
published in the September number of the "Cosmopolitan"
for 1916, entitled, "The Worst Hated Man in China."
You will hear the missionaries abused. If you trace
those accusations down you will find they emanate from the
vicious classes dishonest and disreputable Americans. I
have been told by both Japanese and Chinese gentlemen, "if
those (meaning the ones described) are a sample of Chris
tianity we want none of it." They all admit, however, that
most of the merchants and missionaries are good men. Now,
in closing, I have something to say of the men who stir up
class hatred at home, and especially those who do their best
to stir animosity between our nation and the Orientals.
They are vipers, and like rattlesnakes, should be extermi
nated. A great source of irritation has been engendered
by our immigration officials. Their acts brought on the
boycott of American goods, which starting in Canton, spread
over nearly all China, paralyzed our trade, and we have
never been able to fully recover it. At that time our flour
*At this writing (1917), I am pleased to report that the Amer
icans in China and Japan are a very superior lot of men and are a
credit and an honor to our nation.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
trade to Southern China went to Australia, and has been
retained there ever since.
This was brought on by the tyranny and brutality with
which our immigration laws were enforced. At that time
all the officials below the Secretary of Commerce and Labor
were recruited from the labor unions. When the matter
was fully explained to our President, a circular was sent to
all the officials notifying them that if any one ill-treated or
abused an Oriental he would be instantly dismissed. On
this being made known to the merchants in China the boy
cott was declared off. The law is the same, only the unjust
administration of it was changed.
Chinese merchants and gentlemen of high class were
ignominously thrown into detention sheds amongst the lowest
classes of their countrymen. Trachoma is another favorite
method for refusing to allow those to land who are other
wise entitled to land. The officials declare the eyes of the
immigrant are affected and this decision is final, no matter
how many experts or specialists declare the eyes are not af
fected. Take this matter home to yourselves. How would
you like on your arrival in Japan to be thrown into a filthy
detention pen because some ignorant, designing immigration
officer declared you had trachoma, when, if you were allowed,
you could easily prove you had no disease. I mention these
matters so that on your return home you will see to it that
no foreigner will receive injustice at our hands.
Another matter, and I am done. I have learned by
long intercourse and dealings with men of all nations that
because a man has a yellow skin he is not, as many of our
countrymen suppose, a man you cannot trust, dishonest or
disreputable. Some of the finest and best gentlemen I have
ever met are Japanese and Chinese. I am also pleased to be
able to say the same for a great many Americans, but if you
wanted some of the worst men imaginable you need not leave
your own country to find them. So, to sum the matter up,
there is good and bad in every nation under the sun, and
I would ask of you to judge all men fairly and let every
one of us do his utmost to establish friendly relations with
the Japanese nation, and as a result, trade will surely follow.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
On October 12, 1908, we arrived in Yokohama, where
we were given a reception on the hatoba (landing). We
were received by a deputation from the principal Chambers
of Commerce of Japan and also by the Governor of
Kanagawa and the Mayor of Yokohama. They presented
us with an illuminated address and each of our party
received a gold chrysanthemum pin.
At this time the relations between the two nations were
very much strained on account of the school question in
San Francisco, and it was considered very uncertain what
kind of a reception we would receive on this account. Our
Ambassador, Mr. O'Brien, was extremely anxious that we
should be most discreet in what we said. He sent for me
immediately on my arrival and requested me to come to
Tokio. He fully explained the condition of affairs and I
assured him we would be extremely careful, and also told
him that on the way over addresses had been prepared and
a censor committee appointed, of which I was chairman,
and that no addresses would be delivered without first being
passed on by the committee.
The crucial point was reached next day when we were
given a great reception in the Stock Exchange, where were
assembled the business men, not only of Yokohama, but of
the adjoining cities. Addresses were made by officials of
the exchange and other dignitaries, and it fell to my lot to
make the reply on which would depend very largely the
kind of reception we would get.
It so happened that what I said was very favorably
received and was immediately published in all the Japanese
papers, the effect being that the Japanese decided that we
had come on a peaceable errand and there was no doubt
but that our nation was extremely friendly. By exercising
great care in subsequent addresses this opinion was confirmed.
That evening we were entertained by the Chitose Club
and given a real Japanese banquet followed by a theatrical
performance.
The city was magnificently decorated, and surpassed
anything we had ever seen in our own country. There were
scores of arches built across the streets, each beautifully
88
BUDDHA
The Central Figure in a Group of Three, Temple of Mendoet, Java
This Colossal Statue was Carved in 750 Anno Domini
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
decorated with flags, flowers and lights. Thousands and
thousands of flags decorated the arches, and many were
given to us. Each member of the party was presented by
the Minister of Railroads with a case containing a silk pass,
good on all the railroads in Japan.
TOKIO
We then proceeded to Tokio. Every city on the way
was gorgeously decorated. Tokio was ablaze with color.
The great Mitsukoshi department store was closed to the
public when our party visited it. No goods were sold, but
it was beautifully decorated and several bands were in attend
ance. To show to what extreme they went to entertain us,
near the store a covered pavilion was erected where a num
ber of potters made plates and bowls of pottery and asked us
to place our monograms on them. Later they baked these
and sent them to us at our hotel.
The climax was probably reached here at a luncheon
given by Baron Komura, Minister of Foreign Affairs, which
was by far the most magnificent function we ever attended.
When the party proceeded to the banquet hall Baron
Komura took Mrs. Dollar in and the rest followed, each
lady escorted by a Japanese gentleman. The banquet room
was in the garden where a pavilion had been erected for the
occasion. In the center of the garden was a large growing
tree wonderfully decorated with artificial cherry blossoms
which gave the appearance of a cherry tree in spring. The
room was lit with electric lights of different colors repre
senting the many brilliant flowers of Japan. The whole
effect was so unique that it is impossible to describe it
suffice it to say that it was the most wonderful thing of the
kind any of us had ever seen. It was said to have cost
$2500.00 to light it, and all this great expense was gone to
just for this one entertainment.
The proceedings of the luncheon were quite formal.
Baron Komura offered a toast to the American nation and
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
the President, when all the guests rose and stood while the
band played the "Star Spangled Banner." Mr. O'Brien then
offered a toast to His Majesty, the Emperor, and we re
mained standing while the band played the Japanese national
anthem.
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
Chapter Ten
A CONTINUED ROUND OF ENTERTAINMENTS
That evening the Bankers Club gave us a banquet,
Baron Takahashi presiding. At this banquet, by request
of the Japanese, I delivered an address on shipping.
ADDRESS BEFORE THE BANKERS' CLUB
Your Excellencies and Gentlemen :
The subject assigned to me this evening is "Shipping."
I consider this one of the most important that our respective
countries have before them.
I know you don't want to hear any ancient history, but
by way of illustration, permit me to take a few seconds
in tracing the history of shipping as it has affected the
nations of the world.
When the Assyrians were the leading nation their mer^
chant marine was the greatest, centering in the Persian
Gulf and extending their operations to China. After their
decline the center of commerce was transferred to the
Egyptians, who had many ships in the Red Sea as well as on
the Mediterranean. Then the Phoenicians got the largest
merchant marine and became the greatest commercial nation
in the world, the center of their commerce being the great
cities of Tyre and Sidon. Their country was very small,
not much larger than the Island of Kiusha, but their ships
made them great merchants. Then followed in succession
Rome, Spain and Holland, the last two named sent ships as
far as Nagasaki. These in turn declined and the prize was
won by Great Britain, which still retains it by all odds, she
having as much steam tonnage as all the other nations put
together, and to illustrate that it is not the size of the
country that counts, we could put Great Britain in our Lake
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Superior and there would still be room enough for navi
gation.
This brings me to the Pacific Ocean, and I want to make
this prediction, that just as sure as the center of commerce
shifted from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, so sure will
it shift to this Pacific Ocean. When this takes place the
right to this commerce belongs to Japan and the United
States of America, as we are on its shores.
In looking at the map of Asia I cannot help thinking
what a similar position Japan occupies to Asia that Great
Britain occupies to Europe. Japan is well named the Britain
of the Orient, and you are making determined efforts to
increase your merchant marine.
Turning to America, it looks discouraging. But we will
yet have a merchant marine worthy of our country and will
assist you, or should I rather say work hand in hand with
you to develop and hold what rightly belongs to us both.
We once had the largest and best merchant marine in the
world, but various causes combined to change our position.
The Civil War was the principal cause of the change; then
the evolution from wood to steel, and next the development
of our continent in the way of railroads, et cetera, all of
which fully occupied our attention.
You older men will recollect when you learned geography
at school, there was a blank space, about one thousand miles
wide by nearly two thousand miles long, that was marked
the "Great American Desert." That has now been changed
to populous and prosperous cities, with railroads running
through it in all directions. That was the work we were
doing while we neglected both our foreign trade and ships.
Now the time has come when we need foreign trade and
the building of ships will follow.
It is a common thing for merchants to say that it does
not matter what nationality the ship is that carries the
freight. This is a mistaken idea, as the owners of ships are
bound to work up business for their own country. An
owner's financial existence depends on procuring cargoes for
his ships and keeping them going, and it often happens
when the owner can't get cargoes he is forced to buy them
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BUDDHA
One of a Group of Three in the Temple at Mendoet Java
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
on his own account, thereby stimulating and increasing trade.
And, as shown in the first part of my address, the nation
that has the largest merchant marine is the greatest nation.
This has been the history of every nation from earliest
times to the present. So let our respective countries build
up our merchant marines. Let us have fair and honorable
competition.
Competition is said to be the life of trade. The more
honest competition we have the better friends we will be,
thereby strengthening the ties that bind us together, namely,
Trade, Commerce and Shipping; of the three, the greatest
of these is Shipping.
Ship-building and ship-owning is in a constant state of
evolution, and unless we keep up-to-date we become a back
number. A modern steamer is no sooner completed than
some one builds a better and more economical one. You all
recollect when we had the one-cylinder condensing engine.
This was superseded by the two-cylinder compound, which
we thought perfection in the way of economy, but it was
no time till the triple expansion engine was invented, which
uses the steam three times. Now we have the turbine for
fast steamers. It is still in its infancy and experimental
stage, and we will see great changes in it in the near future.
So, to sum up, the individual and the nation that can
build, man and manage their vessels in the cheapest and most
economical way will be first in the world's commerce, and
the nation that has the largest merchant marine will cer
tainly be the greatest, so I conclude by wishing you every
success in upbuilding your merchant marine.*
*What a sad commentary on our Congress. Since this speech
was delivered many bad and vicious laws have been passed to further
tie up the hands of American shipowners, while Japan, appreciating
the importance of a merchant marine, has enacted favorable laws
and has done everything possible to help their shipowners.
The Department of Commerce gives us the results of trade to
and from the United States, as follows:
Before the war, Japanese vessels, 26.05%
May 1, 1917, Japanese vessels, 50.90%
Before the war, American vessels, 26.10%
May 1, 1917, American vessels, 1.97%
Surely comment Js unnecessary with such a showing as this.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
This banquet was served American style. All represen
tatives of the press were excluded, to which they took great
exception, but the bankers wanted to have a heart to heart
talk with the Americans and it was well the representatives
of the press were not there as the Japanese insisted on our
telling them why the Japanese merchants were so unpopular
throughout the world, which we did. The bankers stated
they were of the same opinion, and were doing all they could
to remedy matters. (I am very pleased to say that to a very
great extent this has been accomplished.) This meeting was
productive of beneficial results to both parties.
The following day we were entertained at lunch by
Baron Shibusawa, rightly called the "Grand Old Man of
Japan/' at his beautiful home on the outskirts of Tokio.
His large grounds were beautifully decorated. Luncheon
was served, and afterwards a great theatrical performance
was given us. After the luncheon, the Baron delivered an
address.
A coincidence, which occurred while we were in Tokio.
was the arrival of the American fleet on its way around
the world, which put in at Yokohama while we were there.
This added greatly to the interest in American affairs at
this time.
We were entertained in the grounds of Baron Iwasaka.
His are probably the largest private grounds in Northern
Japan. They are beautifully laid out with small lakes and
streams in the Japanese style. At this time Baron Iwasaka
was President of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha.
On our return to the hotel from this visit we had our
greatest surprise. Four gorgeously decorated and electrically
lighted cars, that had been trimmed at an expense of $400.00
each by the Tokio Railway Company, were waiting for us,
the street car service was suspended, and we were taken all
over the city car system. Both sides of the streets were lit
up in a multitude of colors, and we were told afterwards
that the people were all requested by the police to stand on
the sides of the streets until our cars passed. We did not
know this for some time, but we had noticed the crowds
in passing along and had come to the conclusion that the
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
whole great population of Tokio was standing on the various
streets to see us pass. This was the climax, and none of us
(I think I am quite safe in saying) had previously seen
anything to come up to such a demonstration and perhaps
never will again.
We were then taken to the Chamber of Commerce
building, where a great platform had been erected for our
accommodation in front of the building. When we arrived
the passing of the guilds began in a great lantern pro
cession which was a wonderful transparency. We sat there
for three hours while the multitude passed before us. There
were many thousands of them, sometimes twenty-four
abreast, so one can imagine the number that passed in three
hours' time. From there we went to the theater where
another great demonstration awaited us.
Mr. Asano, President of the Tokio Kisen Kaisha, gave
us a luncheon at his beautiful mansion, and Admiral Togo,
the hero of the Russian fleet battle, gave us a reception at
his residence where we were entertained by the Admiral and
Countess Togo.
We then left Tokio for Kyoto, stopping at the various
large cities on the way. This city, like all the others we
had visited, was beautifully decorated. We were accom
modated in two hotels.
The day after our arrival we were taken to Nodzugawa
at the head of the long rapids, where gaily decorated boats
were provided and we were run through the rapids, which
was a unique experience. A Japanese gentleman was in the
boat with me, and after looking at me for a long time he
said, "I think you are Mr. Dollar." I learned that he was
Dr. Harada, President of Doshesha College, one of the
most prominent men of Japan.
Our becoming acquainted was in a way that neither of
us would forget, because he was one of the passengers on the
steamer "Roon" which I rescued and took to Moji on the
steamer "M. S. Dollar." We have been the best of friends
ever since.
The next evening we arrived at Osaka. The entire city
was illuminated, and presented a beautiful appearance as we
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
passed through on the train. Here we were given a banquet
on our arrival at the hotel where I addressed the assembly.
The large hall was full to overflowing and it was difficult
to make all hear.
ADDRESS AT DINNER, OSAKA, OCTOBER 30. 1 908
Mr. Chairman :
We are very pleased to be in your city tonight for various
reasons. First, on account of your ancient history which
your President tells us dates back about two thousand years,
and still more modern when the present city was established
about three hundred years ago. Our country is very much
younger, as it is only a little over four hundred years since
Columbus discovered America.
Your President has also told us that the civilization of
Japan came from this town as you have always taken an
active part in politics, literature, religion and economics.
In the last named you excel all the other cities of Japan,
and we in America consider the city of Osaka of greater
importance than any other city in Japan from a manufactur
ing standpoint as well as a commercial center.
Out of the goodness of your hearts you have shown us
the most beautiful places in your country, and I am sorry we
did not have more time to see and study your manufactures,
as, being all practical men, we are especially interested in
your city.
When we received your invitation you stated that the
object of our visit would be to establish more friendly rela
tions and that the two nations should get better acquainted
with each other. We followed the text of your invitation
to the letter and intended to confine our efforts to the one
object; namely, to increase the friendship between us. We
had not been in your country more than three days when
we discovered that the friendship existing between the two
nations, especially on your part, was so great that any efforts
we might make would be superfluous. The receptions which
you have given us and the cordial manner in which we have
been received everywhere, from the highest to the lowest,
THE OLD PALACE KYOTO
The Seat of Government when Admiral Perry Opened the Ports
of Japan to the Commerce of the World
THE MAYOR OF KYOTO AND HIS WIFE
Escorting Mr. and Mrs. Dollar and Friends Through Their Garden
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
have convinced us beyond a question of a doubt that the
friendship between us is firmly established.
We have had ovations, which no member of our com
mission has ever seen excelled, in any country. The enthus
iasm which has been displayed all over your country con
vinces us that your reception has been genuine and there is
no doubt existing in our minds but that you are sincere
and that it comes from your hearts. The reception given
us on your streets tonight I am quite safe in saying was
greater than was ever given a body of commercial men in
the modern history of the world.
We thoroughly appreciate, however, that the great dem
onstrations which we have received everywhere are not on
account of us personally, as we would be undeserving of
any part of it, being only merchants and citizens like your
selves, but we understand that the great receptions have
been tendered us on behalf of our country from your nation.
When we found that we could do nothing more in the
way of friendship, we looked forward to see how we could
better our commercial relations. We, as a nation, are ex
tremely anxious to increase the commerce between our coun
tries, and we hope before we leave you to learn something
that will enable us to accomplish this result. We will be
very pleased also to give you any and all information in our
possession and to assist you in arriving at this desirable
result.
The trade between our countries has been steadily grow
ing but our wish is that it will grow faster, and we look to
the merchants of Osaka to a great extent to accomplish this
result.
Seeing that you are the great manufacturing center of
this country, you have justly been called the "Manchester
of Japan." Osaka is the greatest ship-owning port in Japan,
and on account of this you may hope to increase your trade,
as the city that has the largest amount of shipping is always
the greatest, commercially. Being a shipowner myself, I
condole with my fellow shipowners on account of the de
pressed condition of business, but we have reached bottom
and will soon have an improvement.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
In conclusion, I would impress on you this fact, that
before nations can increase their commercial relations they
must be friendly. This Commission has come to the con
clusion that nothing more can be done in the way of increasing
our friendly relations. Friendship has reached its zenith here.
Therefore, all that remains for us on both sides of the Pacific
is to strain every nerve in our power to increase commerce.
We are sorry that we have not more time at our dis
posal to study more fully the conditions in your city so
that we could better understand what you want to buy
and sell.
By this time our party had been worked to death and
we were all worn out. The next day we spent visiting the
sights of Kobe where there was much of interest to be
seen. The great shipyards, cotton mills and various in
dustries, in both Osaka and Kobe gave us a good insight
into the great manufacturing possibilities of this country.
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Chapter Eleven
PERSONAL COMMENTS ON JAPAN
The following is an exact copy of a letter that I sent our
San Francisco office while on this trip. It will serve to show
the great change that has come over Japan during the past
eight years.
Osaka, Japan, November 15, 1908.
The next day Saturday, it was raining, making it dis
agreeable to get around. However, a great many of our
party visited the Stock Exchange and Mint, where a special
cash medal commemorative of their visit was presented to
each. Unfortunately, I was laid up with a terrible cold.
Many of the factories were visited. This city is the manu
facturing center of Japan. In certain lines there is more
doing in Osaka than all the rest of Japan put together, prin
cipally in cotton. They also supply the whole Orient with
matches, but every manufacture is represented here.
They have built a good breakwater, taking in ground
enough to make a very large harbor, but it all requires to
be dredged out, and while they are working at it, it is on
a very small scale on account of the lack of money. Tax
ation is so high that they are practicing economy in every
thing, and work is cut down all along the line. It is most
unfortunate that such an important and necessary work
should lag. There is water enough for a few ships of deep
draft; you will recollect before the war that the steamer
"Stanley Dollar" took a full cargo of barley here. There is
no reason why Osaka should not eclipse and take most of
the trade from Kobe (twenty miles distant) as Osaka is
where the raw material is destined. They bought over thirty
million dollars worth of raw cotton last year. The manu
factured articles are shipped out principally to China, but
a good deal goes to our country. So Osaka should and will
be the principal seaport of Japan in time.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
They are very well situated to handle freight. The whole
city is a series of canals and the lighter goes directly to, or
from, the factory and warehouses, two men moving one
hundred tons by poling the boats as easy as one ton can be
moved in our city, and hundreds of tons will be moved at
half the cost we can move one ton. It occurred to me what
a pity it is that our Channel Creek has not been extended
and an outlet to the Bay made near the Union Iron Works,
thereby giving us great facilities for warehousing and han
dling freight. It looks to be a great disadvantage in the
Orient that our big steamers have no wharves to go to,
but when we consider the quick dispatch we get from the
multitude of lighters which come alongside, and then con
sider that those lighters take the freight right to where it
is wanted without handling, it is easy to see the great ad
vantage this system has over discharging at a wharf and
hauling at heavy expense everything from there to the
factory or warehouse.
This city is a great hive of industry, and when we con
sider that the very highest paid mechanic only gets 75C
gold a day and girls from loc up to 25c, it is no wonder that
they are able to work up an enormous trade, and they will
hold it, too. To be sure, since ten years ago, wages have
doubled, but they can still take a further jump before they
come in competition with our high paid labor. So to com
pete we must look to branches of manufacturing where labor
does not count but where machinery takes the place of labor.
Then again the Japanese are in every country in the world
looking for improved machinery and ways of bettering their
manufacturing. So it is not an easy matter to foresee what
changes are going to take place.
One thing that is grinding down Japan is the very high
taxes they are groaning under to pay their war debt interest.
It is certainly a terrible load they are staggering under.
This has raised the price of living, they claim, 10 per cent
in the past two years. However, the poor people get on
with very little rice and fish, a little calico, wooden shoes
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
and bare heads. Most of the good rice is exported, and
inferior, cheap rice is imported.*
They are paying great attention to education. I notice
many large schools have been built since my last visit, and
as education is compulsory all the younger generation is in
school and a very large number are learning English.
We left Osaka in the evening, on the electric cars, and
had a great ovation at every station along the road. We
only stopped at a very few, but the crowds were there all the
same. At Kobe, the Governor of Hiogo, the Mayor and
civic authorities met us at the station and welcomed us to
their city. The native city was decorated, but not nearly as
well as any other place we visited. There were crowds on
the streets and a great crowd at the station, but in the for
eign part of the town there were no signs of welcome of
any description. So it was very plain, as far as the English,
Germans, et aL, were concerned, we were not wanted. In
fact, personae non gratae, and in conversation later on 1
found they threw cold water on our reception, and said the
Japanese were not glad to see us, that we were not welcome,
and that out of courtesy the Japanese were keeping up ap
pearances, etc., etc.
However, there were enough old men amongst our num
ber who had seen lots of the world and no people could
deceive us for any length of time, and no one can make me
believe that the common people of Japan are not in dead
earnest; and the merchants are to be so greatly benefited by
our friendship that they can't help but be friendly, but there
is no influence or interest that would make the working
classes friendly to us except clearly out of their hearts. At
all events nothing could convince us to the contrary, and our
visit through the country has stirred up more good feeling
than if our country had sent a half dozen fleets, and I think
*It is an ill wind that blows no one any good. The European
War came on. Russia wanted what Japan had, so enormous sums
were poured into Japan's coffers. Strange to say, Russia helped
Japan to decrease her indebtedness caused by the Russo-Japanese
War.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
it a very good sign that the Europeans did not take kindly
to our visit, as they fear to be hurt by the after results,
which I for one feel sure will be greatly to the benefit of our
nation. So I think the money we have expended will be
the best investment we have ever made for our country.
Next day the Nippon Yusen Kaisha fitted out one of
its best steamers and invited the prominent Japanese of
Osaka and Kobe (I think there were probably two hundred
and fifty on board) to accompany our party on a trip. They
steamed down the Inland Sea and back; had a great banquet,
brass band, and everything that would add to our comfort
and enjoyment. We had a splendid time and with all, a
very profitable one, as we had plenty of time to get ac
quainted with the various gentlemen, and much benefit was
derived from a free exchange of views. In my line I had
some interesting talks with the general managers of the
Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Mr. Kondo and Mr. Harada; also
Mr. Kafuka of the Osaka Shosen Kaisha who are building
five steamers for the Puget Sound, Milwaukee & St. Paul
route. They have to commence next May and won't be
ready, so are chartering steamers in England to fill in until
their own are completed. The Kawsawaki Dock Company
built two, and the Mitsui Bishi Company at Nagasaki
three; one or more are turbines, but they will only do about
thirteen knots economical steamers.
They are all very much troubled over the action of the
Interstate Commerce Commission, as they don't know where
they stand, as the proportion they will get for the steamer
haul will be only $2.00 a ton measurement on matting.
Everything else is in about the same proportion. This is im
practicable, but I told them I could not see why Jim Hill
and the Pacific Mail could not carry for nothing and get
the pay out of the rail haul, and then they would have as
much as before, but the Japanese immediately asked, "Where
do we get off on a deal of that kind?" I replied, "You
are only getting half of what you got before and the rail
roads are getting more than they ever had;" so there is a
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
great uncertainty of commerce. They fall back on the sub
sidy, but that won't run their vessels alone. The builders'
subsidy is not as good as it appears, as they have to import
all the steel and pay 25% ad valorem duty on it. This cuts
quite a hole in the builder's bonus. The subsidy figures out
as follows: Say on a 7OOO-ton dead weight steamer, esti
mating her gross measurement at four thousand tons:
Builder's Bonus 10-Knot Boat: Gold Dollars
Gross tons, 4000 @ $10.00 $40,000.00
Engines say 1500 I. H. P. @ $2.50 3,750.00
$43,750.00
The shipbuilder would have to pay in duty approximately
$20,000.00.
A steamer of the above size on the round trip run from
Japan to America, 9000 miles @ 2oc, $1800.00; say four
trips a year, $7200.00. This is operating subsidy.
But vessels of great speed profit much more, as for every
knot over 10, add 20%; so the subsidy on a I5~knot steamer
would be double.
After a ship is five years old the subsidy is reduced $%
a year. A foreign-built ship gets half of the above provided
she is owned by Japanese; over five years old she gets
nothing. They are determined to get a large merchant
marine, thinking that their nation can not be truly great
without one. It is certainly commendable the efforts they
are making when their country is burdened by a load of
taxation which they can scarcely stagger under, and they
are paying out large amounts every year to keep up what
they have and to build more. Compare that with our great,
rich nation. Our Congressmen pass laws that make it almost
impossible to operate the few ships we have. Since we left
home we have not seen one American flag on a merchant
ship, and perhaps won't see one until we get back, unless it
might be on a Pacific Mail boat.
Times have been very hard in Japan, but they all report
a slight improvement. So the bottom has been reached and
it is quite likely that business will revive all over the world.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
At home, since Mr. Taft and a Republican House and Senate
are elected, our people will have more confidence and no
doubt the revival will be faster in our country than in most
others.
Kobe harbor is the same as when here last. There is lots
of room in the bay, but when a storm comes up no work
can be done. Shipping is scarce, not more than half the
usual number. I noticed they were nearly all large steamers,
not many small ones. Evidently the hard times had squeezed
the small ones out.
The transportation facilities afforded us were of the best.
A special train was provided for us on all occasions with a
dining car attached, and all meals were furnished free of
charge, liquors and wines also being furnished. I am very
pleased to report that I never saw so little wines and liquor
used on any trip of this kind, seeing it was furnished free,
and they were very much surprised that practically none
was used. The street car companies always provided special
cars whenever they knew a few of us were going anywhere.
We left Kobe on the "Kosai Maru," Nippon Yusen
Kaisha boat, for Shanghai via Moji and Nagasaki, Novem
ber 7, 1908.
(Signed) ROBERT DOLLAR.
Our party wound up the trip by attending the Emperor's
birthday party. The review of twenty-five thousand troops
was a great sight to see. So ended a visit, the like of which,
I am quite safe in saying, no foreign party ever received
from any nation before.
Mrs. Dollar and I left the party and proceeded to
Shanghai, where we remained two weeks attending to busi
ness. Our offices at this time were at the corner of Sezchuen
and Nanking Roads.
I was invited to attend a meeting of the Chinese Cham
ber of Commerce and explain to them about our visit to
Japan. I told them of the great benefit it had been to both
the Japanese nation and the United States. I stated that
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
when I returned to America I would see whether it would
not be possible to get up a party to visit China along the
same lines on which we had visited Japan.
We then proceeded to Hong Kong and remained there
a week. This was a very busy week as I had a great deal
to attend to. From there we sailed on the "Yawato Maru"
for Sydney, Australia. We had a very rough passage across
the China Sea and the ship sustained some damage so we
were delayed a few days in Manila for repairs.
I looked over the situation here and found many changes
had taken place since I last visited it seven years ago. At
that time the Government became possessed with the insane
idea that the higher the tax they could impose on shipping,
the better. This seems remarkable, since the port of Hong
Kong, their next neighbor, admitted shipping free. The
result was that vessels went to Hong Kong and gave Manila
the go-by, causing the Manila merchants to pay double the
freight Hong Kong had to pay. But shortly before this
visit the authorities had gotten their eyes open and had
reduced their charges almost to their competitor's level, the
result being the reduction of freights, and vessels now go
freely to Manila.
Another serious drawback was the very slow discharge.
A vessel took more than twice as long and the cost is
double to discharge at Manila compared to any Chinese port.
All this is changed now. Though it costs more to stevedore,
the dispatch is much better than it was, and Manila now
begins to compare more favorably with her competitors.
Furthermore, I found a desire on the part of the Govern
ment as well as the merchants to encourage shipowners to
send their ships there. The Government discovered that
shipowners did not have to go to ports unless they would
be assured of the same treatment they received elsewhere.
The result of all this change has been a tremendous increase
in the commerce of the Philippine Islands.
The change impressed me so favorably that I decided to
look into the Philippine trade, as Mr. Taft practically told
me on his arrival to be Governor, that American shipowners
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
were not wanted. He had the foolish idea that the poor
Filipinos would be able to furnish all the ships they wanted,
although they neither had the experience, money nor get-up.
(All this has been fully demonstrated of late years. Where
we are not wanted is a good place to keep away from, which
I did from the Philippines for seven years, but now we are
back and doing a very satisfactory business.)
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Chapter Twelve
A VISIT TO AUSTRALIA-1908-1909
We arrived at Zamboango, the principal city of Min
danao, shortly after dark, the day after leaving Manila; saw
the lights and that was all. Our course took us through the
Sulu Sea and Archipelago and the Celebes Sea and through
several of the Dutch East Indian Islands, thence to Torres
Straits. We called at Thursday Island, which is in the
extreme northeast corner of Australia. It is a small village
of about fifteen hundred inhabitants. The only industry is
the pearl fisheries which is carried on principally by Japanese,
so the settlement is made up mostly of that nationality. They
intend prohibiting them from engaging in the work, but as
the whites cannot dive to the depths that the Japanese can
the industry will likely die out. This is one of the benefits
arising from white Australia.
The channel is well buoyed, but we took a pilot and went
in alongside the wharf, although there is good anchorage
near it. One thing I noticed was five old hulks of vessels
dismasted and partly submerged that had come to grief in
the vicinity. The water is very clear and of a very light
blue color. The town is well laid out with very wide streets,
but still in their natural state. The buildings are one-story
shacks of very light wooden frames and corrugated iron
roofs and sides, giving the place the appearance of a new
mining town that is anything but stable. So if the Japanese
must leave, they would not leave much behind. It is very hot
here all the year round and it is anything but a pleasant
place to live in. The British have a strong fortification here,
the reason for which I cannot understand, as there is nothing
in particular to protect.
From here we sailed along the coast of Australia inside
the barrier reef which extends one thousand miles along
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
the coast, from five to twenty miles off land. This is the
most peculiar freak of nature I ever saw. In most places
the reef is made up of low, flat islands covered with small
trees; in other places it is partly submerged, but always
connected and only in a few places are there deep channels
that a vessel can use. We coasted along three days close
to land and often close to the reef. In many places the
passes are quite narrow and the scenery is beautiful. Our
pilot from Thursday Island went right through to Sydney
with us.
We called at Townsville, three days from Thursday
Island, a distance of about seven hundred miles. This is
quite a smart place, with very good substantial buildings,
fine wide streets, and a population of about four thousand.
They have some very good stores mostly English goods.
When we were ashore it was comfortably warm, but they
told us that the week before had been a scorcher. The gen
eral appearance of the place gives one the impression of
prosperity. There are several good mining camps tributary
to it, also a good cattle country. Our steamer laid to anchor
about three miles out in four fathoms of water. Six coast
ing steamers were inside of the breakwater. There are
seventeen feet of water at low tide, going in, and at the
railroad wharf twenty-two feet. Three dredgers were at
work, and two large scows had a row of drills fitted on
their sides and were drilling holes eight feet apart, as the
bottom is rock and has to be blasted out a very expensive
way to build a harbor, but the only way to do it. They hope
to make a uniform depth of seventeen feet at dead low tide,
and with the six feet rise, twenty-one or twenty-two feet
draft steamers can get in at high tide. Then they will blast
alongside the wharves to twenty-two feet at extreme low
tide so that vessels of twenty-two feet can enter and lay
afloat alongside the wharf. They have a big job ahead of
them as at three miles out there are only twenty-four feet,
so it deepens very slowly.
I have gone into this description fully as they attach
considerable importance to the place, and also because there
is no authentic information obtainable except by coming
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here. At present all large steamers lay off three miles. The
coasting steamers are the only ones that come in. They are
a good deal like the Pacific Coast boats, of six hundred to
fifteen hundred tons net register and fitted to carry pas
sengers.
BRISBANE
From Townsville we coasted along not very far out at
any time, although the Barrier Reef does not extend any
farther south. Brisbane is six hundred miles from Towns
ville and four hundred and eighty-five miles north of Sydney.
The approach is buoyed out, showing several shoals and is
very crooked. The distance on the course is almost double
that on a straight line, and is well lighted by several light
houses and range lights.
The city is about twelve miles up the Brisbane River.
There is a small place about four miles from the mouth of
the river at which there are some meat freezing establish
ments, but nothing more. There is a railroad wharf at
which our steamer landed, and I noticed the price for
wharfage was $2.50 gold, an hour, for vessels over one
thousand tons. The railroad connects this village with
Brisbane, trains leaving every hour. We had only two hours
in Brisbane, but we drove around and saw the residences.
They are nearly all unpretentious and no really fine ones.
All the buildings are roofed with white corrugated iron,
which gives the town a cheap appearance. The business
buildings are solid and substantial, giving one the impression
they are put there to stay; all are of stone and brick. The
public buildings are a credit to the town. Parliament
Building of Queensland, Treasury Building, Land Office,
Agricultural Exposition Building and Postoffice are all fine
buildings. The streets are wide, well paved and clean. Out
side of the wooden buildings the town has a very dis
tinctively English appearance. The people, their speech,
carts, wagons, cabs, railroad equipment, all speak very plainly
of their origin. They look to be a prosperous community,
and there is certainly a great future in store for it. All
they appear to want is people.
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It is a large country with less than five million people.
They have many natural resources and all they need is a
population to develop the great continent. An arrangement
was made with a steamship company to bring in two hun
dred a month. This was denounced by the labor unions,
stating that the country could not stand so many. They
want a monopoly. The unions seem to have control of the
Government, and it appears to have some able men. They
don't appear to have taken to graft as our labor leaders
have done, and while wages are high they are not nearly as
high as in California.
The weather is very much like that of California; being
south of the equator, the farther south we go the cooler it
gets. We left the "Yawato Maru" at Sydney.
PORT ADELAIDE
We next visited Port Adelaide, which is situated to
Adelaide as San Pedro is to Los Angeles, connected by rail,
with a half hourly service. The port is up the river ten
miles. What is called the outer harbor is inside the mouth
of the river, but is only an anchorage. Then there is the
outer anchorage. The inner harbor has several channels
dredged out where ships load and discharge at various docks.
As the steamer "Bessie Dollar" was going into one of those
channels to go to the lumber yard she grounded going
through one of the bridges which was only five feet wider
than herself. She could neither go ahead nor back, so she
stopped all traffic for one tide, when she floated and went
ahead. The bottom was soft. Vessels drawing twenty-five
feet can go into the inner harbor and if the channels were
dredged out properly vessels could go with full cargoes to
any dock.
On the way to Port Pirie we called at Port Lincoln.
This is a small town of one thousand inhabitants. It is an
old setlement but did not prosper until recently, when the
Government built a three foot, six inch-gauge railroad forty
miles back into the country, which opens up a good farming
district. They are now exporting wheat and wool. The
buildings are solidly built of stone and brick, but it is a
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quaint old-fashioned place. There are two banks, a good
wharf with thirty feet of water at which a four hundred
foot steamer can dock. The railroad owns the wharf, or
rather the Government, as all the railroads and wharves are
owned by the Government. They claim it will be a place of
some importance when the farming country is developed,
but everywhere we go we see a great lack of people.
The entrance to the harbor is very good. A large island
is in front of it and it can be entered from either side. It
is perfectly land locked. This port is one hundred and
seventy-five miles from Port Adelaide.
We next called at Tumbay, thirty miles further on, which
is now a small country village without a railroad. Very
little development work has been done, but they have a good
agricultural country back of it; in fact, from the deck of
the steamer we could see a fine level country, white with the
crops of ripe grain. This would apparently be a fine fruit
country, but they have not tried it to any extent, yet.
Wallaroo, which is on Spencer Gulf, was our next port
of call. It has a wharf one hundred feet wide, and much
exposed. As it was blowing a gale of wind it was not easy
to make a landing. Three sailing vessels and a steamer were
here loading wheat; the steamer, about seven thousand tons.
The farthest out berth has thirty feet and the inside one
twenty feet at low water. The total length of the wharf is
half a mile, of which one thousand feet is used to load and
discharge. There are smelters here, and we got one hundred
and fifty tons of copper. The town is small and scattering
and doesn't amount to much, but it is the terminus of a
narrow gauge railroad which runs through a rich country.
Large quantities of wheat are shipped from here.
Germain is a small village, with a wharf one mile long.
There are twenty-two feet of water at the outside berth.
Two square riggers were loading wheat here. Great quan
tities of wheat were piled up in vacant lots in the village,
thirty feet high, and wagons with six yoke of oxen and
some with three teams of horses were hauling in large loads.
No railroads run into the interior although a railroad is on
the wharf, but it terminates in the village. This village is
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backed up by a beautiful rich farming country. A range of
low hills was in sight back of it. They told us it was a rich,
level country producing wheat and fruit. Steaming along
the shore to Port Pirie, eight miles distant, we could see a
fine farming country all the way.
PORT PIRIE
The entrance to Port Pirie is mud, dredged out one
hundred and fifty feet wide and fifteen feet, six inches of
water at extreme low tide. It is crooked but very well
buoyed and marked out. It is dredged wide enough at the
town at one place so that the steamer "Bessie Dollar" turned
around, but altogether the channel and harbor are narrow and
cramped. There were eight steamers here, one larger than
the "Bessie Dollar," and two large square riggers. Con
siderable wheat and wool are being shipped, and the smelter
(second largest in the world) ships a large quantity of lead,
and uses a great quantity of coke and coal. All the mineral
from the Broken Hill country comes here to be treated.
It is a well built town of ten thousand people, with wide
and good streets, but is entirely controlled by the labor
unions. Stevedores commence at 8 :oo a. m. ; at 9 :oo they
have twenty minutes to rest; dinner 12:00 to 1:00; at 3:00
p. m., twenty minutes to rest. Overtime, if less than half
a day we pay half a day. An agitator was lecturing the
men to strike for six hours a day. Timber is piled with one
and one-half inch strips between layers and dried, to save
freight on the railroad, as it has to be freighted some fifty or
sixty miles and they carry it by ton weight. The rates on the
railroads are very high. The Government has no competi
tion, and will allow none so they charge what they like.
Each state has a different gauge, so in crossing a state line
you have to change cars and all freight has to be transferred,
which makes cheap rates impossible. The gauges are three
feet, six inches; four feet, eight and one-half inches, and
five feet, three inches.
Before the confederation, each state had a tariff against
the other, and even now a postage stamp bought in one
state will not be accepted in another. It costs two pence for
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a letter from here to Sydney and from Sydney here one
penny; Queensland postage is one and one-half pence. They
all appear to be at sixes and sevens, and there still is a good
deal of antipathy shown against each other. This state
(South Australia) is two thousand miles long and has only
four hundred thousand inhabitants, but they have two Houses
of Parliament, an upper and lower house, besides the Fed
eral Parliament for all the states.
MELBOURNE
Going into this port by sea I had a good opportunity of
seeing the entrance of the bay and river. Like all Australian
harbors there are plenty of lights and buoys. Melbourne is
especially fitted up with range lights and range beacons so
that a stranger could make no mistake in going in. How
ever, as pilotage is compulsory a captain is not supposed to
know anything. I have a very poor opinion of the pilots.
One of them stuck the "Bessie Dollar" in the bridge at Port
Adelaide; another ran her into the mud going out of Port
Pirie, and still another, in trying to put her in the dry dock
at Sydney, a clear straight course for two miles, landed her
broadside across the entrance, but did not manage to hit
anything. And the worst of it was the captain of the
steamer told him what would happen before he got near
the dock. I told them they should have the dock entrance
four hundred feet wide, then their pilots could get them in
broadside, if they could not end on. However, there is one
thing to be said in their favor, and that is their excessive
charges they can't be beaten.
The entrance is quite wide although half the distance is
blocked by a bad shoal, but it is well marked. Hobson's
Bay is the lower anchorage where sailing ships lie. The
wharves are situated on each side, at the head of Hobson's
Bay.
On the left side going up is Williamstown where there
are a number of good-looking wharves, with railroad tracks
on each. This place is connected with Melbourne by street
cars, and is distant from the center of the city nine or ten
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
miles. On the right side is Port Melbourne, about four miles
from the center of the city. There are only a few wharves,
which appear to be used mostly for mail line steamers. The
Yarra River, which goes right into the heart of Melbourne,
is dredged out twenty-four feet deep, about two hundred feet
wide. They are widening it to three hundred feet. The
distance from the head of the bay to the head of navigation
is from four to five miles. After the first two miles the
wharves commence and are continuous.
The river banks are well protected with rip rap rocks,
well placed and showing a smooth surface. In two or more
places large basins are dredged out which accommodate many
ships, but most of the loading and discharging (including
lumber) is done alongside the channel and alongside wharves.
Lumber is loaded on wagons at the wharves, which are
four feet higher than the ship, the bottoms of the wagons
being level with the floor of the wharf. It is on the same
principle as the railroad sunk tracks at San Pedro, Cali
fornia. The wagons are left to be loaded and horses haul
them away when loaded, replacing them with empty ones.
About as much as one firm can handle is one hundred and
fifty thousand feet a day, but, by loading consignments
separately and at different ends of the ship, much quicker
dispatch can be made.
Much better dispatch, however, can be gotten at Sydney,
where the ship lays to an anchor and all goes on lighters,
and there is no dockage to pay. The yards are all near by
the timber quay so the haul is very short.
Melbourne is probably the best laid out city in Australia;
fine wide streets, a number of small parks and squares with
trees and shrubs, lawns, etc. It is a residential city, and
many fine homes are in evidence. It appears to have a very
good street railway system, although the charges are higher
than in other places. There are many sea beach resorts,
Coney Islands, etc. It was a different looking city than when
we first visited it, as everyone was off on holidays and the
city seemed deserted.
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GEELONG
The entrance to this port is the same as Melbourne.
Turning off to the left, about twenty miles inside of the
entrance, it is dredged out so vessels of any size can go in
at high water. This port is forty miles from Melbourne,
with frequent train service. Little or no lumber is landed
here, but as it has a population of thirty thousand no doubt
some will go soon. A large amount of wheat and wool is
shipped out, and it can be considered as one of the ports
of Melbourne.
The population of Melbourne is about five hundred thou
sand, Sydney a little more, Adelaide about one-third as
many. Melbourne is in the State of Victoria, and nearly
half the population of the State resides in this city. Adelaide
is in the State of South Australia, and has about one-third
of the population of the State. The population of Sydney is
over five hundred thousand, the entire population of the
State of New South Wales being only 1,500,000. So that
one-fourth of the population of Australia resides in the three
cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Besides there are
several other large cities Brisbane, Newcastle, Perth, Fre-
mantle and others.
NEWCASTLE, N. S. W.
We joined the steamer "Bessie Dollar" here, where she
was loading coal. While this harbor is largely artificial, still
in the early days the river was deep enough to allow the
small ships of that time to enter. The Hunter River brings a
great deal of sediment down, and it requires constant dredg
ing to keep sufficient water for the large steamers using the
harbor. The entrance is rocky, but is blasted down to permit
a steamer going out on high tide, (medium) twenty-four
and one-half feet, in spring correspondingly more. The
"Bessie Dollar" went out when the tides were low on
twenty-four feet, one inch.
They have many wharves, but the facilities are not up
to the large amount of business they are doing. The wharves
could do a great deal more business if the railway facilities
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
were up-to-date. They have the old-fashioned English sys
tem, using small-powered locomotives and cars that only
carry six to eight tons each. Some of the new cars carry
ten tons, but the cranes in some cases can't lift them and
two tons have to be shoveled out. The body of the car is
lifted with a crane and tipped into the hold of the steamers.
Three new cranes are being erected that will lift fifty tons.
The manner of handling coal reminds me of doing with
a wheelbarrow what should be done with a four-horse team.
The whole system seems to be wrong. The coal people have
to rent the truck for which they have to pay the Government
$2.50 a week. Then the mines have practically no storage
facilities worthy of the name, and as the coal is all handled
direct from the cars to the steamer at port of loading there
is really no storage capacity, only in the cars, and as they
only average about seven tons to a car it is easily seen how
delays to shipping are unavoidable.
To load the "Bessie Dollar" it took seventy-three hundred
cars to carry her cargo and bunkers, so you can see that we
were depending on the cars being loaded and unloaded several
times and the coal being mined while the ship was waiting.
What they should have is bunkers at Newcastle capable of
holding one hundred thousand tons at least, and also bunkers
at the mines sufficient to store a like quantity, then vessels
could get despatch. Until that is done Newcastle will be a
slow and expensive port for any steamer. Besides all this,
the Government owning and operating the railroads puts a
stop to all progress or improvement in that direction, as the
Government does not differ from an individual or a corpora
tion. When they have a complete monopoly the manager
can sit back in his chair and laugh at all complaints and
say, "Well, what are you going to do about it?'* All this is
a sad commentary on progressive white Australia, when the
longest we ever had one of our steamers in a Japanese coal
port was six days for seven thousand tons, but the ordinary
time runs from four to five days.
The lay days in the printed form of charter party are
colliery working days, that is, a half day Saturday, and every
second Saturday, which is pay day, no work at all. Time
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bunkering is not counted, first day twenty-four hours' notice
not counted, holidays don't count, so from Christmas until
January 5th are holidays, and they tell me that Easter is as
bad. In a book issued by the Chamber of Commerce, which
by the way is very instructive and well gotten up, they speak
of the fast loading done in this port. This may be true of
this port's own record, but comparing it with other ports in
the world, the comparison would be very much against New
castle.
The city itself is well built, good streets and stores right
up-to-date. The buildings are good and substantial. Alto
gether the place gives one the idea of prosperity and solidity,
and shows it has come to stay, and, if the railway adminis
tration would only wake up, Newcastle would be one of the
foremost and best coaling ports in the world. Like all Aus
tralian ports, the port charges are high.
ZAMBOANGA
Zamboango is in Basalan Straits on the highway between
Manila and Australia. It is scattered along the shore. In
the center of the town are the Government buildings, Army
headquarters, the seat of the government of the Province of
Moro; General T. H. Bliss, Governor. We called in here
with the steamer "Bessie Dollar" on the way to Hongkong
from Newcastle. Not having clearance papers for this port,
we were not entitled to land, but through the courtesy of the
Collector of Customs, Mrs. Dollar and I obtained permission
to land, and received every courtesy from the Governor and
the American Government officials.
An old stone fort wall twenty-five feet high and about five
hundred feet square, built some four hundred years ago
by the Spaniards, is on the water front. There are two
wharves, neither of them much good from a commercial
point of view, as all large vessels have to anchor. The
harbor is an open roadstead protected from the west by
islands, but exposed on the north and south sides, especially
to the southwest monsoons, so in winter it is a much better
place than in summer during the southwest monsoons.
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About four miles to the eastward an estuary comes in
back of the town in which there is plenty of water. If
wharves were built and the present excellent road was ex
tended one mile it would make an ideal harbor. If commerce
increases, a steam or electric road could be built making it
more convenient than at present. Now, the chart shows
twenty-seven feet of water at the shallowest place at low
water.
A great deal of work has been done on the roads in the
vicinity, and they have made some excellent ones. If they
only keep up this good work it will be of the greatest benefit
to the community and in the event of trouble a boon to the
military. However, no trouble is anticipated as they claim
the natives are getting satisfied and contented, especially
where they are in close touch with the Americans. The
Moros in the mountains and inaccessible places may give
some trouble yet. If our Government would adopt the
policy that the Romans had in colonizing: that is to build
roads all through the country, this would have a more civi
lizing effect than anything else, besides it would open up the
country to settlement and trade, and then to follow that up
with railroads, troubles would be a thing of the past from
natives at least. There was but one automobile in the city,
which was put at our disposal, so we saw all that was to be
seen in the six hours we stayed there.
By Government statistics I see there is a considerable
export of hemp and copra. For the last fiscal year, hemp,
892,667 pesos, and copra, 399,460 pesos, but it looks as if
lumber would or should cut a very big figure.
MINDANOA
The Island of Mindanoa and adjacent islands are covered
with woods from the ocean side to the tops of the highest
mountains. Such a heavy stand of timber is not seen in any
of the East Indian Islands, except perhaps Borneo. None of
the Philippine Islands appear to have nearly as much as
Mindanoa. It looks as if young, energetic men would have
a fine chance to engage in the lumber trade in this new
country, as the forests are practically untouched, and, if the
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Government would give the proper inducements to get the
business started, I can't see why a large business could not
be opened up. There are some drawbacks, as in all new
countries. Labor is the greatest. They claim the natives
will only work when they feel like it and that is not often,
and the best and most reliable labor for this tropical climate
(the Chinese) is excluded. It looks as if the Government
should allow a limited number of Chinese to be brought in
to open up a new country like this, especially when the natives
won't work, and, in view of the fact that there are not
enough of them any way, to carry on an extensive business.
I see in the Government reports that they will have to await
the natural increase of population to get labor enough.
In this progressive age Americans are not accustomed to
wait that long. We should live for today as well as prepare
for the next generation, and with a view of providing for
futurity we could not do better than develop the resources
of our country by cutting off a certain amount of the tim
ber, building roads, railroads, etc., and prepare for those
who will come after us, thereby opening up the country to
other industries, especially the cultivation of the soil; and
above all to increase the commerce of our nation and make
us a truly great nation. From the short time I had and the
scant information I got, those are the thoughts that came
to me.
Mr. Corwine, of the Industrial Department of the prov
ince, was extraordinarily kind in giving us information and
also in driving us around in an auto, which, in the limited
time, enabled us to see more in a few hours than ordinarily
would have taken a day or two. He gave me the governor's
last report, which contained instructive and interesting in
formation. I see, in the estimates, it is proposed to improve
the wharves at Zamboango. I think it would be a mistake
to spend more money there but it all should be spent in
Masinlac, that is if the Government ever intends making the
change. We never met a kinder lot of strangers in our life
than we came across in Zamboango. I must especially men
tion Mr. and Mrs. Corwine, Mr. W. H. Tidwell and Gov
ernor Bliss.
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Chapter Thirteen
CONDITIONS IMPROVE IN CHINA
We arrived back in Hong Kong on the 6th of February,
1909, visited Canton, and spent several days in looking over
our business interests and in endeavoring to develop and in
crease them.
Hong Kong has improved greatly in the past few years.
When we first visited it we could look from the veranda
of the Hong Kong Hotel over the bay, but now it is built
up solid for one block in front of it. The buildings are from
four to five stories, and all of them are of cut stone which
gives the city a solid appearance. The streets are well made
and kept clean. The hill rises so steep and close to the
water that there will never be street railways except on the
two or three blocks fronting the harbor. The Peak Rail
way, which operates by cable to the top, is perhaps the
steepest road in operation.
From a commercial point of view this is the best port
in the world. It is a free port in every sense, there being
only a small hospital tax charged to each ship about $30.00
Mex. for a seven thousand ton steamer. Pilotage is not
compulsory; in fact pilots are not used or required except
to show the captains where they are to berth, and while all
vessels have to lay at anchor (there being only berths at
the Kowloon wharves for four steamers), the manner and
facilities for handling cargo cannot be surpassed.
The steamer "Bessie Dollar" arrived Saturday afternoon,
too late to do anything, and as no work is allowed on Sun
day she commenced to discharge six thousand tons of coal,
Monday. The following Saturday she sailed with two
thousand tons of cargo, having been in port just one week and
handled over eight thousand tons of cargo. All this accounts
for this port having risen to the second place in the world's
commerce. No quarantine officers, no customs officers, no
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restrictions whatever; just come in and go to work getting
out or receiving your cargo. Compare this with Newcastle,
Australia, where they thought they had done wonders for
us in loading six thousand tons of coal in twelve days, with
its quarantine restrictions, customs troubles, compulsory
pilotage, and compulsory tugboat assistance, all of which are
no more necessary than they are in Hong Kong. In fact,
I consider it less difficult to navigate a steamer into Sydney
than into Hong Kong. So I came to the conclusion that
Australia is a good place to keep away from.
I visited the dockyard of the Taikoo Dockyard Co.
(Butterfield & Swire), who will have the most complete
repair shops and docks in the Far East. Their large dock
is complete, and in use it can take a ship eight hundred feet
long. Then they have three marine railways alongside of
it that can haul up vessels of three thousand tons gross.
Their shops are under construction where they will make
everything required for a ship. They also propose to build
river and coasting steamers. They have spent over twelve
million dollars gold, and everything is most up-to-date and
substantial as far as it is done. The dock is blasted out of
solid rock, and it will take from four to five months before
everything is in working order.
Canton is also growing, especially on the island where
the foreigners live. Many substantial buildings have been
erected in the past three years, and the "shameen" is kept
clean and attractive. In the old city, improvements are no
ticeable, especially the water pipes and sewers, as a few years
ago there were neither. The water was all drawn by buckets
from wells that had been in use many thousands of years.
All the filth had to be carried out of the city's gates, so that
with every precaution (which was not taken) it has been
proverbially known as the "City of Bad Smells" in fact,
it does not smell very sweet now.
The railway is making a great change in conditions. The
railway across the river on the Fati side is completed and in
operation for thirty-five miles, and is doing a great passenger
business. This road it is hoped will connect with the French
railroads in Cochin, so that, ultimately, rail communication
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will be established to Burmah. Its present terminus is at
Fatshan, a large and populous city. All along the line the
population is dense.
On the Canton side of the river and directly opposite is
the terminus of the Canton-Hankow Railroad, called the
Kwong Tung Yueh Hau Railroad Co. They have in opera
tion forty-five miles of road and run four trains a day each
way, with eight large coaches to each train and crowded
with passengers. This part of the road is paying well. They
are busy putting in sidings, erecting buildings and extending
the track. This road will connect with the Peking-Hankow
road at the latter place, which will make it the through line
to St. Petersburg, and therefore of great importance to
China, as when completed it will extend right through the
center of the Empire, which will open up and wake up the
country as nothing else could do. Then there is the Canton-
Kowloon road that is being built to connect Hong Kong
with Canton. Several miles of road from the Kowloon end
is about completed. All this railroad work shows that this
part of China is on the move.
A few days before our arrival in Canton there had been
a disastrous fire in what are called the "Flower Boats,"
which are used as places of ill repute. There are a great
number of them made fast in rows about fifty feet apart,
extending out into the water about two hundred feet. The
boats are broadside on the shore and each row is made fast,
side by side, the whole secured by chains and anchored at
the outer side to keep them in position. A lamp exploded
in one of them near the shore and the fire speedily spread,
first along the shore then out, so that the inmates had the
choice of being burned or drowned. It was reported that
six hundred girls and two hundred men lost their lives, but
the bodies recovered exceeded one thousand. Strange to say,
the police prevented any one going to the rescue and the
victims died like rats in a trap.
No place in the world has as many boats as Canton.
The number of people living in them is estimated now at
seven hundred and fifty thousand. In the evening there is
a solid mass of them about two hundred feet wide and six
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or seven miles long. Every small boat has one family at
least living on it, and the large ones have several. Each
family averages four children. The boats are their homes,
and they make their living by carrying passengers and
freight of all kinds. A great many of the boats are stern
wheelers, the motive power being men on a tread mill.
They run from twelve to forty men propelling each boat,
and they seem to make seven or eight miles an hour. The
river is so crowded with boats of all kinds and descriptions
that it is with great difficulty a stranger can navigate through
them, but like people in a crowded city street the natives get
on without many mixups.
TSINGTAU
I noticed some improvements since I was here three
years ago, and it appears to have recovered from the boom
it had four or five years ago. It is still the neatest and
best kept city in China, and has unexcelled facilities for
handling its big trade all that is required is to develop it
in large volume. An iron mine has been opened up, and
they claim to have a quality of ore that will produce good
steel. They also have good coking coal near by. If they
could get some one to furnish the money to start a furnace
it would be the means of bringing more industries and
would make a place of it. So far they are depending almost
entirely on the products of the soil and not on manufactur
ing. Coal has been developed very slowly. The first mined
was of a fair quality but too dirty, producing too much ash.
The Shantung (German) Railroad is doing a good
passenger traffic, but with the exception of coal the freight
is light. The present proposed terminus is at Tsinanfu.
Seventy miles will be built to connect it with the Pukou,
Tientsin Railroad, which is now being built from both ends,
so that probably in two years this road will be open from
Shanghai to Tientsin, with this connection to Tientsin. The
distances as near as I could get them are as follows:
Shanghai to Nanking, 150 miles (approximate) ; Nanking
to Junction, 300 miles; Junction to Tientsin, 300 miles
Shanghai to Tientsin, 750 miles. Junction to Tsinanfu, 70
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miles; Tsinanfu, to Tsingtau, 230 miles from main line to
Tsingtau, 300 miles.
I call it by the name "Junction," as the connecting point
is not named or definitely located yet. This one railway
system will open up a great and populous country. Chris
tianity and the introduction of railways into the interior is
what will open up China.
I noticed quite a number more regular steamers than
there were three years ago, and they seem to carry a lot of
freight and passengers. The steamer "Admiral von Tripof"
of the Hamburg-American line had a full cargo of freight
all she could carry and a full list of passengers. Many
left the ship at Tsingtau, but an equal number got on.
While we were at Tsingtau the equinoctial gales started,
and it was with great difficulty they got our steamer away
from the wharf with the assistance of a tug. When we
got to the outside harbor it was blowing with hurricane
force, so we anchored for the night, proceeding the next
morning. Although it was still blowing, it had moderated
some. When we rounded the Shantung promontory the
engines raced badly in the head sea.
When we arrived at Chefoo we found eighteen steamers
lying there. There were two large steamers, all the rest
being of the ordinary coastwise size one thousand to
fifteen hundred tons net. No work had been done for three
days, as all the lighters had gone to shelter. It was smooth
enough to work, but the lighters were all aground, the
severity and long continuance of the storm having so
lowered the water in the Gulf that they could not get any
of them afloat, so we went on to Taku with one hundred
tons of Chefoo cargo on board.
I learned that the navigation on the Yalu to Antung
opened March 22. The waters of the China Sea and the
Gulf of Pechili were quite yellow from mud having been
stirred from the bottom during the big storm.
At Taku the water was low on account of the long
continued northerly gale. We crossed the bar and came
to Tongku in a launch, which took us two and a quarter
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hours. We got the train immediately, and reached Tientsin
at noon the 26th of March. At the mouth of the Peiho I
saw considerable loose drift ice on the shores.
TIENTSIN
A Chinese lady called at the Dollar Company's yard, de
siring to purchase lumber. She was Mrs. Dr. Kin, a grad
uate of a New York medical college and well and favorably
known in China. She invited me to visit her place, which
had been founded by the Emperor as an orphanage in 1834.
A stone tablet in the yard testifies to this. The orphans,
three hundred and fifty in number, were removed to another
place a short distance away and the buildings were being
turned into a hospital and medical college for women only,
to be conducted entirely by Chinese. This is the first to be
established in China, and is another instance of the great
change that is taking place.
At present Dr. Kin has a class of thirty-five young
ladies fitting themselves to be doctors. They had been
specially selected, and looked to be a very intelligent class
of girls, as they came from some of the best families in
China. There were several patients in the hospital, and the
dispensary was crowded with women and girls getting
medicine for outdoor patients. In showing us what lumber
was required, she showed us one room with a very good
concrete floor, for which she wanted a pine floor, remarking:
"This is one of the effects of civilization, it has been good
enough for one hundred and seventy-five years but it is not
good enough now."
My visit impressed me by the fact that the Chinese are
reaching out to help themselves. Dr. Kin receives $750.00
gold from the Government every month. She said it comes
from the funds of the Government salt monopoly. When
leaving, she said this was a woman's enterprise and I was
the only man that had had the privilege of being shown
through the building.
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PEKING
I got here late Saturday night and werit to the Presby
terian Mission compound Sunday. Being a stranger to
them all I felt somewhat out of place. However, they made
me feel very much at home, and at n o'clock we went to
the new Chinese Church on the grounds. The service was
altogether in Chinese, but I was interested in all I saw. The
church was comfortably filled. There were about three hun
dred men and boys and one hundred women, all sitting on
the left side of the church. The hymns were all sung to
our old familiar tunes. The congregational singing was
excellent, much better than in an ordinary American church.
They elected an elder, and baptized and received into the
church four men, three boys and three women, and baptized
one infant. Then they had Communion Service. The
women all walked out first and then the men, like the dis
missal of a school. After service the missionary in charge
invited me to lunch, where I met several missionaries.
This mission suffered terribly from the Boxers. The
buildings and contents were totally destroyed, not a brick
remaining on another, and the converts were nearly all
killed, so they are just getting back to where they were.
Their buildings are a good deal better than the old ones.
I was sorry to see a men's building standing vacant for the
want of a doctor. One is here learning the language, and
will open it next year. It is a great expense to teach men
the language, as it takes two years at least before one can
learn sufficient to do much.
I visited the Theological Seminary, which has fine build
ings now, and is just getting started. I then went to the
Union Church for Europeans, where they also had a full
house. After the meeting I met several men of world-wide
reputation: Dr. Smith, who has written several books on
China; Dr. Martin, who has been over fifty years in China;
Dr. Sheffield, who served through our Civil War and then
came here, and many others.
On Monday I called on Ambassador Rockhill, and had
a very interesting talk with him on matters Chinese. One
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
matter of interest in this city that differs from all others
is the different methods of locomotion. Here we see camels
by the hundred carrying all kinds of merchandise and peo
ple; then the horse and pony, either carrying burdens on
their backs, or drawing the peculiar carts with wheels strong
enough to carry several tons.
The carts are short bodied and covered over with blue
cloth, and are high enough for one to sit upright on a mat.
There are no springs of any kind. In hauling loads they
are sometimes drawn tandem by three or four horses, asses
or mules, then others have three or four abreast.
Asses are much used for riding. It seems odd to see a
great big man on a donkey the size of an overgrown New
foundland dog. Then there are horses and coupes, victorias,
and the toniest rigs of modern Europe. I also saw a few
automobiles in use. Rickshaws are plentiful everywhere;
sedan chairs and wheelbarrows are for the common people.
Sometimes one man wheels along six people, and sometimes
trundles along with a big load. Wheelbarrows are the vehi
cles of commerce in the country where there are only paths.
The ever present "John," with the bamboo pole and two
baskets or other merchandise, is always to be seen.
Peking is unlike other Chinese cities, in that it has very
wide streets several ninety feet and generally straight. The
ordinary city has narrow, crooked streets, many very large
cities not having streets wide enough for even rickshaws.
On the way to Hankow, on leaving Peking, the fields
were just commencing to get green. As we approached
Hankow, the grass and grain were a foot high. As the rail
road runs nearly south, the climate changes considerably. The
country looks beautiful, a perfect garden all the way, with
level and rich agricultural land in the highest state of culti
vation, nearly all worked by hand. I saw a man and a
donkey hitched together pulling a harrow, and it is a very
common sight to see one or two men drawing water in
buckets from the wells for irrigating purposes. One fast
train a week makes the eight hundred miles from Peking to
Hankow in thirty hours, running sleepers and dining cars
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Belgian style, not nearly up to our ideas; ordinary trains
run every day.
HANKOW
This city has grown more in the three years since I
visited it last, than any city I have visited. At that time
the Japanese had just gotten their concession, but now it is
well built up; a stone wall the whole length protects it from
the river's encroachment. Several streets have been built
up with houses. The Consulate and Yokohama Specie Bank
are quite imposing buildings. The German and French con
cessions are built up nearly solid, as are also the British
and Russian concessions. There is practically no vacant
ground. The native city has outgrown itself inside the walls,
and there are as many people living outside of it, as the
buildings extend up the Han River about three miles and
well back.
I met a party of the principal Chinese merchants at the
Chinese Chamber of Commerce, which is outside of the
walled city. The President, Vice-President and several
bankers were present. They seemed pleased with the oppor
tunity of discussing matters of general interest to both
countries. They are co-operating with the Shanghai Cham
ber in getting a party of merchants from the Pacific Coast
to visit them.
The Chamber of Commerce building is peculiar; in fact,
it is three very large buildings, and is used entirely in the
interests of trade and commerce. It has a frontage of over
two hundred feet by about forty feet. There is a space of
about thirty feet made into a flower garden; then another
building two hundred feet by forty feet; then another space,
and a rear building, the same size as the other two, all con
nected in the center by a wide covered walk crossing each
building. The buildings are divided into a great many
rooms, large and small, for committee and general meetings
of the different Guilds. All the buildings are of two stories.
The native city fronts on the Yangtsze and the River
Han, mostly the latter, while the foreign settlements are all
fronting on the Yangtsze, from the native city down in
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the following order: British, which is built solid up to the
old city wall; Russian, French, German and Japanese,
farthest down the river. Hanyang is across the Han River,
opposite the old city of Hankow.
The River Han is fully a quarter of a mile wide, but
used so much by junks and boats that blockades occur. Com
ing down it the other day we got into a jam and it took our
steam launch an hour before it could force a way through.
The whole river as far as I could see one and one-half
miles was a solid mass of junks, sampans and boats of
every description; also large lighters and steam launches
carrying freight of all kinds for export and import. The
large junks carry Chinese freight to all the coast ports of
the Empire both north and south of Shanghai. As it is
over six hundred miles to the ocean, with at times a six-
mile current to stem, you can understand how slow and
tedious the trip must be.
Then, many of the craft trade up the river, a distance of
over eight hundred miles from Hankow. They have to be
towed through the rapids, which takes several hundred men
to pull some of them up. When passing along the streets
I saw many hundreds of men carrying a large shipment of
sessimum seed. The sacks weigh about one hundred and
fifty pounds each. On one lot was stenciled a firm's name
in Rotterdam. The police keep the loaded men going down
on one side, and the others return on the opposite side, while
vehicles keep in the middle of the road. The men were as
close together as they could walk, the distance being about
four blocks. You can imagine the number employed. Each
man shoulders his bag at the warehouse and receives a bam
boo check on passing on board the steamer. Returning, he
delivers his bamboo check, for which he receives one cash,
the value of which, at this time, was one thirteen hundredth
part of a dollar. I saw another string going to another
steamer marked Trieste; so the seed is going well over
Europe. This is a commodity of recent production in China,
but it has grown to large proportions in a very few years.
The river at this point rises fifty feet every year. The
water is now four feet above low water, therefore forty-six
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feet from high water. A vessel drawing eighteen feet could
come up the river, but with no greater draft; yet the river
steamer "Tuck Wo/' I came down on, was drawing twelve
and one-half feet and had a full cargo of two thousand tons.
There are thirty-three regular passenger steamers now run
ning between Shanghai and Hankow owned by Chinese,
British, Germans, French and Japanese. The river steamer
business was started under the American flag and for many
years no other flag was seen on the river, but as on the
ocean our great country is completely out of it.
TAH YEH
This word means great smelter, and is the great iron
ore mine of China. It is sixty miles down the River
Yangtsze from Hankow, to the landing called Hwangshikiang.
From this place a railroad fourteen miles long connects it
with the mine. The road is owned by the Han Yang Iron
Works, and is used for hauling the ore and passengers. The
road is level, has few curves and a very fair roadbed. There
are two places, two miles apart, from which they are taking
out ore. One is only being opened, while the other has
been a mine for so many centuries that there is no record
of when it was first worked, but the name has come down
through the ages. I saw them making a roadway, cutting
their way through a hill of slag. From the size of some of
the pieces it looked as if the furnaces had been about the size
of an ordinary barrel. No doubt iron was made here two
thousand years before the Christian era, as the grand canal
was dug 1000 B. C. and the tools with which the work was
done were very likely made at this place. So much for
ancient history.
Now, we find at both mines a solid mountain of ore
rising from the valley about six hundred feet. The moun
tains are of reddish brown color; solid ore running from
60% to 67% of pure iron. They work it from a perpen
dicular face. At one place they were blasting on a cliff
two hundred feet high. When the blasts went off the dis
lodged ore went down to the railroad track, where it was
loaded into the cars. They are using a few compressed air
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drills. But as ordinary labor costs them five cents gold a
day, labor saving devices are not necessary. The mining is all
done by contract, the rate paid being 270 cash a ton of 2240
pounds, being at the present rate of exchange, 10 cents U. S.
gold f. o. b. cars. They have made no investigation as
to the depth of the ore under the surface, as there is plenty
in sight on the surface to last a hundred years.
A more ideal mine could not well be imagined, and it
looks as if it is the best in the world, just twelve miles from
where for eight months a year vessels drawing twenty-six
feet of water can load for any port in the world. The
quality of the ore, the low cost of mining, and the facilities
for shipping, all combine to make it one of the best iron ore
propositions in the world. The Japanese Government has
been buying ore here for some time for their steel works
at Wakamatsu, near Moji. Last year they shipped 135,000
tons, and had a large quantity on the bank of the river
ready for shipment. The rest of the output goes to Han
yang. At the mine the valley is quite narrow, a few hundred
yards wide, and opposite the iron mine is a ridge of lime
stone so pure that some of it is marble. The rock ore is pure
white and in great contrast to the dark colored iron, so side
by side are the two great ingredients for the manufacture of
iron. Then, half way to the landing, is a ridge of dolomite,
which they use in the manufacture of steel.
Loading on steamers or barges is done by coolies with
baskets, as in Japanese coaling ports. They can load from
one thousand to fifteen hundred tons a day. At the present
price of labor it is the cheapest and most expeditious way
of handling it, especially on account of the fifty-foot rise
and fall of the river. It would be difficult to make per
manent bunkers to suit all stages of the river, but coolies
with baskets meet all conditions. Iron and coal are the
valuable assets of China that will be heard from in the near
future.
Everything for the manufacture of iron is in this vicinity,
even coal, though that is undeveloped. The Pinshang coal
mines are so good, they claim to have coal in sight to last
fifty or sixty years without further prospecting. This coal
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
costs about $1.50 gold a ton delivered at Hanyang. There
is a sixty-mile railroad from the mine to the water, and
from there the coal is taken aboard barges and junks for
transport down the Yangtsze.
SHANGHAI
We returned to Shanghai, remaining there ten days.
While there I gave a banquet to the members of the Chinese
Chamber of Commerce, and at that meeting they decided to
send an invitation to the Chambers of Commerce of the
Pacific Coast, to pay them a visit at some later time. As
nothing of this kind had ever been attempted it took the
Chinese a long while to fully grasp the significance of it.
However, I succeeded in convincing them of the benefit it
would be to the two nations.
The following extract from the Shanghai "Times" de
scribes quite fully the dinner which I gave on the 26th of
April, 1909, to Chinese friends:
AN INTERESTING DINNER
On Friday evening last, Mr. Robert Dollar gave an in
teresting dinner at the Palace Hotel, to representatives of the
Chinese Chamber of Commerce. The President, Mr. Chow,
and the Vice-President, Mr. Lee, together with the President
and Vice-President of the preceding year, and several other
leading Chinese commercial men were present. Mr. Charles
Denby, U. S. Consul-General, who had expected to be
present, was unavoidably detained. At the close of the
dinner, Mr. Dollar proposed the health of the President of
the Chamber of Commerce and his associates in the follow
ing speech, which was translated into Chinese by Dr. J. C.
Ferguson :
"I am pleased to have so many of you to honor me with
your presence tonight. His Excellency Sheng Kung-pao
could not come on account of coughing so much, and Mr.
Denby was giving a dinner at his house tonight. As I am
about to return to America, it would not be out of place to
talk of matters in which both countries are interested.
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"The manner of admitting merchants and those entitled
to land in the United States has been changed, so there is
no delay or trouble now. The law is the same as it always has
been, but the administration of it is changed, for which we
have to thank our ex-President, Mr. Roosevelt, so none of
you need be afraid to visit us. Along with Mr. Denby, I
have tried to get a party of our merchants to visit you dur
ing May, but the notice was too short and arrangements
could not be carried out in time. I would request you to
allow the invitation to stand, and I will do my best to get
a representative body of our merchants to visit you either
in September or October, or during April and May next. I
want them to visit you when the weather is most favorable.
Japan derived much benefit from our visit to them last
October, and now a large number of Japanese merchants
are preparing to leave Japan on a return visit to America.
I am extremely anxious that China should benefit as much
as Japan has done.
"The great aim of the Chambers of Commerce in both
countries is to promote and increase commercial relations,
and in no better way can this be accomplished than by meet
ing each other and getting better acquainted. In a few years
the center of the world's commerce will be transferred from
the Atlantic to the Pacific. This will be hastened by the
completion of the Panama Canal, which we hope will be
opened for traffic in four years. So the two great nations
that are on each side of that ocean should now be preparing
to take their share of the trade which naturally belongs to
them, and to accomplish this, one of the first steps for China
to take should be to put her finances on a solid basis. With
out this you cannot hope for great success in the world's
commerce. I know it is a difficult problem, but all the other
nations have had to grapple with it, and China can and will
succeed when she goes resolutely about it.
"In conclusion, I ask for our two countries closer and
more friendly relations, thereby increasing our commerce,
and to accomplish this I can assure you I will do my utmost."
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
Taotai Chow, through his interpreter, Mr. Chu, made
the following response:
"Mr. Dollar, and Gentlemen: On behalf of the Presi
dent, Vice-President and other members of the Chinese
Chamber of Commerce, I have to thank you most sincerely
for the great honor you have conferred upon us to be your
guests this evening, which we take not so much as a compli
ment to ourselves but to the Chinese commercial community
which we have the honor of representing. Mr. Dollar, you
have been amongst us only a short time, but you have
already become known to many of us, and we have been
most favorably impressed by your courtesy, public spirit and
evident desire, both of doing well to your own country and
to advance the interests of the country to which your steam
ships are running, and we have good cause to believe that
your sojourn amongst us has strengthened the great feelings
of friendship between the merchants of the two nations.
China's connections with America are not of recent growth,
as for many years there has been an interchange of products.
China is not yet a great manufacturing country, but we
export to America large quantities of our raw materials
which you need for manufacture, either directly or indirectly.
You, in turn, send us the finest articles you manufacture.
"As China develops, tastes and needs are more and more
in consonance with those of the western nations, and we
naturally hope that the great country in the western hemi
sphere will supply us with still more and more of those
products. So there is no country with which greater trade
could be developed than with America. More especially the
passage between the two nations will be rendered much more
expeditious by the cutting through of the Panama Canal,
which undertaking has already been begun, and we welcome
the undertaking and its success as a sign of the possibilities
of the future.
"In conclusion, again, Mr. Dollar, we express our sense
of appreciation for your kindness to us this evening; in the
meantime, we take the opportunity of wishing you a happy
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
voyage home and the rapid increase of the commercial inter
course between the great commonwealth you represent and
the great country of which we are proud to be citizens."
Taotai Shen Tun-ho followed with an able speech in
which he said that it would be the aim of the Chinese Cham
ber of Commerce to send a delegation to America to visit
the chief commercial centers and thus strengthen trade.
We left Shanghai on our way home, stopping off in
Japan, where I paid a visit to the Island of Hokkaido. I
was looking out for return cargoes for our steamers, and
found that the only way this could be done with any cer
tainty of success would be for us to go into the forest and
buy the oak timber and lumber and have it shipped by rail
to Muroran, establishing there a depot so that whenever
one of our ships was short of a cargo she could call in there
and fill up. This arrangement has worked out very satis
factorily, and a good business was established on the
American side for the manufacture of furniture, interior
finish of houses, shipbuilding, and for many other purposes
which made it of great value to this country.
KOBE
We left Kobe at 6 o'clock p. m. for Tokio, getting a com
partment with a Japanese, his wife and baby. The sleeping
compartments are very small and cramped. Arrived at
Tokio at 9 o'clock a. m. where we endeavored to get a sleep
ing car to Amori, but everything was taken. I had a letter
of introduction to the station master, who had an official to
receive me, he having had telegraphic advice to look after
me. I said that as we had to go, we would take a first-class
compartment and sleep as best we could, but on investigation
found the cars would be crowded and that there would be
no opportunity to lie down. The station master recommended
our leaving earlier by way of the northwest coast, and
although there was no sleeper nor dining car, he could
reserve a seat for us. I accepted his suggestion, as we
would arrive in Amori in time to get to Hakodate on the
same boat as by the other line. When we boarded the train
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
we found he had sent two pairs of new blankets and other
wise provided for our comfort, and Mitsui & Co. had sent
us a basket of eatables, so we got along very well.
The ferry arrived at Hakodate at 3 o'clock a. m., and Mr.
King came on board and took us to his home. At 10:30
o'clock we took the train for Otaru, arriving there at n
o'clock p. m., a long, tiresome ride. The cars were crowded
all the way, and about every man and woman was smoking.
We smelled like red herring and felt about the same, when
we laid down on the floor at midnight in a Japanese hotel.
Friday it was raining very hard and blowing a gale and
very cold. I spent all forenoon tramping round in the mud
and rain attending to business.
Otaru has trebled its size since we were here last. The
breakwater is completed on one side and they are com
mencing on the other side. When it is completed they will
have a good harbor, and it will be a port of considerable
importance.
We left Otaru in the afternoon by train for Sappopa.
We stayed in a Japanese hotel, and as they had forwarded
a table and two chairs, we were able to eat our supper in
American style, but for want of a bed had to get down on
the floor to sleep. Arose at 4:30 o'clock a. m. to get the
train leaving at 5 o'clock for Mororan. Had breakfast and
lunch out of our basket. We had no opportunity of seeing
what progress or improvements had been made, but I noticed
the very fine railroad depot which replaced the old one that
had burned down. Snow was still visible in many places, and
it was just early spring time. The fruit trees were in bloom,
and farmers were beginning to cultivate their fields.
In Hokkaido there is a great deal of the very best farm
ing land to be had anywhere, and it produces great crops
and is already exporting grain and fruit to Nippon and
elsewhere. We left the train at Tumakomi station, where
the Government is erecting a large paper mill to manufacture
paper from wood pulp. We went by a tramway lumber car
hauled by a horse, eighteen miles to Mukawa, situated at the
mouth of the Mu River, which is quite a large stream.
Large quantities of timber and ties had been floated here
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
two and three years ago, to be loaded on steamers in this
open roadstead, but this was found impracticable, hence the
building of a light railroad to haul them to the main line,
thence to Mororan.
To illustrate the strange methods used when the Govern
ment owns the railroads this branch is a private road built
by Mitsui. In a shed they have three nice new Porter loco
motives, but the Government refuses to give them permission
to use them, yet raises no objection to their using horses.
So they have from forty to fifty horses hauling the cars, with
one man to each horse. Another subject came to my notice.
The Government owns the telephones and puts them in when
they get good and ready, telling the public to put in their
applications and each one will be treated with, when they
come to it in regular rotation. As they were about a year
behind, you can imagine the inconvenience to a large firm
changing locations. This has developed a new calling. Men,
who call themselves telephone brokers, flood the Government
with applications for telephones for fictitious persons. These
brokers make it their business to find out who wants phones,
and then sell them the turn of one of their fictitious applicants
for sums varying from one hundred to three hundred dollars,
according to the urgency of the case. Now, the Government
advertises that any one wanting to get a phone must accom
pany the application with $185.00 in advance, and if the
applicant already has a phone in use the modest sum of
$150.00 will be charged for each additional phone. So,
when government ownership of public utilities is proposed,
you need not hesitate to say very emphatically, "No!"
I finished my business at Muroran, and, as it only rained
in showers, had an opportunity of seeing what improve
ments had taken place since I was here three years ago.
The large steel works built by the steel company and the
three blast furnaces erected by the Tanko company, all of
which are about ready to go into operation, have caused a
village to spring up larger than the old one. The old town
has increased to more than double its former size. The har
bor is being dredged and great improvements are visible in
all directions. If this iron and steel plant succeeds this will
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be both a large city and an important seaport. They expect
to get the iron out of the sand from the ocean beach, which
many claim will not be a success. Then, as Japan has no
iron ore in large enough quantities, it will have to be brought
from Tah Yeh, on the Yangtsze, in China. As the Chinese
are waking up, they may extend their boycott or export duty
to prohibit its export. It will be interesting to watch the
progress of this great plant, said to have cost twenty million
dollars (gold). [At this writing, 1917, my prediction came
to pass and so far the enterprise has been a complete failure.]
From Hokkaido we returned to Tokio, where I was
the guest of the Chamber of Commerce.
We sailed for San Francisco on the I5th of May, 1909,
and were glad to be home once more after a trip of nine
strenuous months.
The Japanese were not long in making us a return visit,
as they arrived in Seattle September i, 1909. Their visit
to this country was taken in hand by the Seattle Chamber
of Commerce, headed by Mr. Lowman, who was then the
President of the Associated Chambers of Commerce. The
visitors were taken to the principal cities of the United
States, and the whole trip was carried out very much to
the credit of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, whose men
gave their time, energy and money to make it a success.
Their party was headed by Baron Shibusawa.
For the past two years I had been a Director and Vice-
President of the Chamber of Commerce, and President of
the Merchants Exchange, in San Francisco.
In San Francisco we received and entertained them as
well as we could, but what we did for them appeared to be
insignificant in comparison to what they had done for us.
It would be practically impossible, in this country, to give
them such entertainment as they gave us.
On November 3Oth a reception was held on the steamer,
when they were about to sail for Japan. Baron Shibusawa
delivered an address of which the following is a synopsis:
"In the course of this memorable trip we have visited
fifty odd cities, great and small, everywhere inspecting in-
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dustrial plants and financial establishments, educational in
stitutions and charity organizations. We have met and
talked with thousands of people, including the President,
and many other men prominent in every walk of life.
"We have thus had an unique opportunity of getting an
insight into not only America's industrial, commercial and
educational progress, but also of the great personal factors
shaping the destiny of this republic. We know America
better than when we came, and I trust many an American
knows the Japanese better because of this visit."
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Chapter Fourteen
INTERESTING DESCRIPTIONS OF
INTERIOR CHINA
On the 8th of February, 1910, we sailed for China on
a visit in the interests of the Western Steel Corporation,
which corporation proposed building a plant at Irondale,
Puget Sound. Mr. H. E. Law accompanied us on this trip.
On arrival in Shanghai we had a number of conferences
with the government officials headed by Sheng Kung Poa,
the final result of which was that we were able to make a
very favorable contract with them for ore and pig iron.
The Western Steel Corporation, however, a year later got
into financial difficulties and was unable to carry out its
part of the contract, which was quite a loss to this country,
as the Japanese took our place.
The Emperor and Empress Dowager had presented a
tablet to the International Institute, and on behalf of the
foreigners I was requested to assist in the unveiling. On
the platform I was the only foreigner with twelve mandarins.
It was quite an unique meeting and ceremony, and was a
great honor to me. The hall was crowded with Chinese
merchants and officials.
We left Shanghai, March 25, on the steamer "Bessie
Dollar," going up the Yangtsze River to Hankow, for which
she had a part cargo. The water was low and the pilot
would not undertake to take her up until I agreed to go
myself and take all responsibility, when he agreed to make
the attempt. We got along without any mishap although
there was no water to spare.
We crossed the outer Woosung bar at high tide with
twenty-four feet of water. The water was very muddy. We
passed the crossing twenty-five miles from Woosung where
the river is about ten miles wide, but shoals extend all the
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way across except for one thousand feet where we found
twenty-four feet of water. From here to Tungchow the
river is very wide, land often out of sight on one side.
Tungchow, which is sixty miles from Woosung, is a good
sized city with large flour and cotton mills. It will be made
a treaty port soon and be opened to commerce. The country
about is thickly populated and the land is very rich. Four
miles below Chinkiang we passed the Grand Canal, going
south, and five miles above Chinkiang we passed the canal
going north, so boats navigating the canal have to navigate
the river for seven miles.
We arrived at Wuhu, having made ten and one-half
miles an hour from Shanghai. The customs boat came out
and gave us information about the water. Reported about
fourteen feet at shallowest places, and as we had a customs
river pass from Woosung to Hankow, nothing more was
required and we proceeded. I noticed that a large piece of
land adjoining the city had been laid out in roads, and some
large warehouses had been built by Butterfield & Swire, and
the Standard Oil Company. The river front had been sub
stantially bunded, and it looked as if they expected con
siderable of a foreign colony here.
In delivering and receiving freight at all these river
harbors, each company which has steamers on the river has
a large hulk. At this low stage of the river these hulks are
anchored about three hundred feet from shore and all cargo
is transferred in scows between them and the shore. This
plan is necessary on account of the extremes of high and
low water. At Hankow the variation from extreme high
to extreme low water is fifty feet; at Wuhu about thirty-
five to forty.
At this place the river is about two miles wide. It is
quite picturesque, the hills in the distance, on the left several
pagodas on prominent points, and many small rocky islands
generally crowned with a temple or a pagoda. The green
fields with patches of yellow make it a beautiful sight, and
if we consider the commercial advantages of such a rich
country, it is certainly interesting, and always opens up a
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line of thought to me of what the changes will be when
this empire adopts, even on a small scale, our ways of
doing things.
We loaded a full cargo on the steamer, as the water
was rising as fast as the steamer went down in the water.
The vessel was drawing fourteen feet going up, and twenty-
four feet going down the river. This difference was in the
space of ten days.
I have taken notice of the number of people who go
barefooted. I estimate it to be at least ten per cent of them,
and as there are four hundred and fifty millions of people,
ten per cent means forty-five millions. To give one pair of
shoes and socks to each would mean forty-five millions pairs
so that if the purchasing power of the individuals was in
creased, the trade that would be created would run into such
large sums that it is impossible to anticipate what the result
might be.
Methods of business in the Orient are very strange. For
instance, we engaged a stevedore in Shanghai to discharge
this cargo of lumber, two-thirds in Shanghai and one-third
in Hankow, and to load the return cargo of pig iron.
Instead of engaging the men there, he took forty men on
this steamer to Hankow. They boarded themselves on the
way up, and got pay only for the work at Hankow. So
going up the river, we had over one hundred men on board.
The stevedore did the work by the ton, and how he could
do it for the small amount we paid is one of the mysteries
of his business.
Most of the transportation on this river is carried on by
six companies, which run about two steamers each way every
day. The Japanese consolidated four companies and operate
them as one, getting a subsidy from their government of
nearly enough to pay expenses. The French get a subsidy
from their government of an amount sufficient to pay all
their expenses and five per cent even if they neither carry
freight ncr passengers. The two English companies get
no government assistance, and I do not think the Germans
get any. The Chinese run one line and do a good trade.
It shows what foreign nations think of the importance of
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the Yangtsze River and valley trade when they subsidize
steamers to carry freight and passengers from one Chinese
port to another. It is rather sad to think that when this
trade started the Americans had all the steamers on the
river and the Stars and Stripes was the only flag to be seen.
We passed eight large junks all together, loaded with
poles. Their deck loads extended twenty-five feet on each
side and each had a list until the poles rested in the water on
one side and were clear of the water three feet on the other.
I had never before seen such deck loads.
We passed the Orphan, a lone rock in the middle of the
river about two hundred and fifty feet high, a perfect cone
rising out of the water. On one side is a monastery where
from two to three hundred monks live all the time. It looks
almost inaccessible, and the buildings seem to be just stuck
on the side of these almost perpendicular cliffs. On a wall
that goes along the crest of the high, steep hills that sur
round it two temples were cut out of the solid rock.
This part of the river is most picturesque. On the left
side is a range of high broken hills all jumbled up in great
confusion, showing unmistakable indications of minerals. It
looks as though an examination by an expert would be
money well expended. Little or nothing has been done in
the way of prospecting although we hear accounts of coal
and iron being discovered on the opposite side of the river.
This great valley is a level delta as far as the eye can
carry, and like the valley of the Nile, it floods every year
and the river leaves a rich deposit of silt that fertilizes the
soil and makes it an immensely rich valley, from an agricul
tural viewpoint. I think when the mineral riches are un
covered, it will surprise the world. Some experts have said
they believed there was more coal in the Yangtsze valley
than in the rest of the world.
We arrived at Kiukiyang and anchored for the night.
No steamer should come up without two pilots, one to relieve
the other and to avoid laying up at night.
The next day we anchored for a few hours to give us
an opportunity of visiting the celebrated Ta Yeh mine, which
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has been described. We then proceeded to Hankow, arriv
ing without mishap, but on three occasions the vessel was
within a few inches of the bottom.
From here we went to Peking, a very pleasant eight
hundred-mile ride on the railroad. We later visited our
establishment at Tientsin, whence we returned to Shanghai.
HANGCHOW
We next visited Hangchow, where they were starting to
build a college, and I arranged to give them some material
help in the work.
There being no railway connections at this time the trip
had to be made by house-boat. The railway has been built
from the Shanghai end about sixty miles, and from the
Hangchow end thirty-five miles, leaving yet to be constructed
less than forty miles on which they are working at both ends,
hoping to have it completed and running by next August.
The house-boat was about fifty feet long, fifteen feet wide
and four feet deep, drawing when loaded two feet. The
lower deck is laid on the frames ten or twelve inches from
the outside planking, the upper deck being about six feet in
the clear, so to go below into the best quarters there is a
door three feet wide and four feet high. There is what is
called an officials' room about twelve by twelve, which we
had, fare $12.00 Mex. The rest of the under part is fitted
into small rooms for two, four or six people, in which
there is barely room to turn round. These rooms are fitted
with bunks in the old Klondike style of steam schooners,
when the rush was on. On the upper deck, sufficient space
for a person to lie down, costs 80 cents Mex. This is
covered with an awning and the passengers lie thwartships,
two tiers. The deck being twelve feet wide, they are packed
like sardines in a box and there is no room to move around.
The first-class passengers under deck get Chinese food
and all carry their own bedding. We also carried our own
food and got on very well.
These house-boats are towed by tugs drawing about three
feet of water. When we started we had three house-boats
in tow, but two were left at cities which we passed. We
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passed a Japanese liner of the Osaka Shosen Kaisha, so you
see the Japanese are in all sorts of navigation no matter
how small. There are four different lines of this sort on
the river.
GRAND CANAL
We went up the river from Shanghai about seventy
miles and entered the Grand Canal at Kashing. All this
country is densely populated. We passed many walled
cities, in some places the houses being built solid on each
side of the canal, giving the appearance of going along a
street. The canal varies in width from fifty to one hundred
feet and in some places there are small lakes several hundred
feet wide. Except the regular line of boats all are pulled by
men on tow paths. A tow line is fastened to the end of a
long bamboo pole so as to facilitate passing each other. I
saw some rafts of poles going along, twenty feet wide and
three hundred feet long. The poles ran from two to ten
inches in diameter, all about twenty feet long and all peeled.
So that people can travel the canal banks, there are a great
many bridges across the small creeks that come into it.
Many of the creeks are spanned with a single piece of stone
thirty by eight feet and about a foot thick. Others that are
wider have very fine arches. Those across the canal itself
are especially fine and symmetrical, showing the builders to
have been up-to-date, especially since the canal and bridges
have been in constant use since before the Christian era.
I might say here that this canal is one of the wonders
of the world. It runs from Peking to Hangchow, a distance
of seventeen hundred miles, so that a boat can go the entire
distance, and its commerce at places is enormous. Many
times I have seen rows of boats like wagons on a crowded
street, carrying every conceivable thing. Our house-boat, in
places, had to crowd its way through, bumping some and
crowding others out of the way like one elbowing his way
through a crowded street. One sees all kinds of boats, from
the nicely painted war junk with brass cannons, to the small
sized sampans and canoe for one man. But the one thought
above all others, which comes to us traveling through this
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country is, that wherever we go we see the enormous mass
of humanity, which has never been numbered as yet, as the
census taker is unknown in China.
Along the canal are great groves of mulberry trees and
a great number of boats were dredging sediment from the
bottom to fertilize these trees. Long poles of bamboo with
a grab on the end like a clam shell dredger, on a small scale,
were used in dredging. The boats had two water-tight bulk
heads, and in the center, between these, the mud and water
were loaded, the ends being for buoyancy. The mud was
taken to the bank and carried in buckets to the trees. I
noticed by this being done constantly, it raised the orchards
as much as four feet, in some places, higher than the sur
rounding land.
We did not arrive in Hangchow until evening, having
been twenty- four hours from Shanghai. The mission where
we stayed was inside the city wall, and was a very good,
European style of house. There was a lawn in front, one
hundred and twenty feet square, surrounded by very high
walls. The streets around are from six to eight feet wide,
fairly well paved, but there are no wheeled vehicles in use.
Everything is carried by men. Canals run all through the
city about every three or four blocks, providing easy and
cheap transportation. The streets are narrow and many of
them crooked, and the population is very dense. There is
also present the usual strong smell. There being no sewers
and no water works, the filth has to be carried to boats and
taken out to the country, where it is sold for fertilizer. Water
is taken from innumerable wells and carried in pails to the
houses. The outside city wall is said to be fourteen miles
long, the space enclosed being four miles by three. This
wall is about thirty feet high and is in a good state of
preservation. The city is divided by outer walls, one section
being the Tartar City. All have gates that are shut at
night. The size of the city, outside and inside of the wall,
is about twelve miles from north to south and, probably, four
miles at its greatest width, tapering down to nothing at
each end. They claim eight hundred thousand people.
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%
Whether there are that many I cannot say, but I do know
there are a lot of them.
The gates are massive, a lot of brick and stone being
used. Coming from the outside we go through the first
gate into a space, say four hundred feet square, surrounded
by walls as high as the outside one, then there is a second
gate. The extreme north of the city is at the termination
of the Grand Canal and the extreme south is on the Tsien
Tang River, sometimes called the Hangchow River, which
is about one and a quarter miles wide at this point. We
visited the site for the Hangchow College, about three miles
up the river from the city, and found the situation all that
could be desired. It is about one hundred feet to four hun
dred feet above the river, on a fairly level plateau for the
buildings, and altogether a desirable and healthy place for
a college.
There is a very large pagoda near by, which has just
been remodeled. It was built about one thousand years ago
and is strong and substantial yet. We had lunch with the
priests in charge.
A peculiarity of this pagoda that I have not seen in
others, is the several hundred bells hung from projections
from the walls. Whenever there is a breeze blowing the
bells ring, and as they are differently toned, the sounds pro
duced are very musical.
Both the pagoda and college grounds command a fine
view of the river, which swarms with junks and boats
of all descriptions, at all times. This place is only thirty
miles from the ocean. It is on this river that the "bore"
occurs at spring tides.
I found the elevation of the Grand Canal to be some
forty feet higher than the canals running through the city,
and, instead of a lock, several clay slides or causeways, on
which clay is thrown to make it slippery, have been made
from one system of canals to the other. Small boats with
their loads are hauled up this incline with large windlasses;
hence the reason we could not go direct to the city.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
LING YING TEMPLE
We visited the celebrated Ling Ying Temple, which is
six miles from the city wall, there being a very good paved
path the whole way. All of the country roads are about the
same, and a description of this one will do for all others.
The road bed is about eight feet wide, and well macadamized.
In the center are flat stones four inches thick, from three
to eight feet long, and about two feet wide, two rows being
placed side by side, making the path four feet wide. As
they have been in use thousands of years, in many places
they are hollow, but as the Chinese nearly all go barefooted,
or with straw sandals, the wear is not great, as there are no
wheeled vehicles, everything being carried on men's shoulders.
The road to the temple was crowded with pilgrims going
to this celebrated shrine. Many professional beggars had
built huts on the side of the road, and called loudly for alms
from the passing pilgrims. Restaurants were doing a rush
ing business. The temple grounds occupy several hundred
acres; the land, unlike the level country, is rocky and broken.
On the rocks are several hundred Buddhas. They are
formed by cutting a recess in the rock, there the image is
placed, protected from the weather. None are smaller than
life size, and many are three or four times as large. Many
legends and wonderful stories are told about this temple.
One being that Buddha caused this mountain to be trans
ported bodily from India to this place. The rest are all in
keeping with this.
The Temple of Ling Ying was first built in 326 A. D.
It is situated in a beautiful park of trees in a valley, the
hills on each side being quite rocky. There are caves and
shrines of all descriptions. In 1280 Marco Polo visited this
place. History tells us that, in 1729, the temple was ex
tensively enlarged and put in good order, and the grounds
and gardens also much improved. The main building is
called Central Hall, and its size is two hundred and fifty
feet in length by eighty feet wide. The building at the side
of it is called the Temple of Five Hundred Gods, as it con
tains five hundred idols. They are considerably over life
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AMERICAN SPARS USED IN THE RECONSTRUCTION OF
LING TING TEMPLE
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
size. The building immediately back of the Central Hall
is one hundred and twenty-five feet by fifty feet in area,
and is now the principal temple which the worshippers fre
quent, as the Central Hall was burned in 1861 by the Taiping
rebels. In fact, nearly all the buildings were sacked and
burned at this time, but I was told by one of the priests
that, when they came to this one, they were frightened at
the great number of gods and fled before applying the torch.
The building and images are still in good condition.
His Excellency, Sheng Kung Poa, learning that Amer
icans were about to build a large college nearby for the
education of Chinese boys, was prompted to rebuild the
Central Hall in all its former greatness and splendor in its
day it was the most magnificent of all Chinese temples.
For this purpose he ordered twenty-eight of the largest
round timbers that could be bought in America. They ran,
in size, as long as one hundred and five feet and forty-eight
inches, in diameter, at the butt. They were perfectly straight
and as fine pieces of timber as ever left America. The largest
one weighed over twenty tons. I donated the timbers, and
sent them over on the deck of the steamer "M. S. Dollar"
to Shanghai, where they were put into rafts and taken up
to the end of the Grand Canal, a distance of two hundred
miles to Hangchow. From there to the site of the temple
they were carried a distance of five miles, over the narrow
paved path, by two hundred and fifty men, one hundred and
twenty-five on each side. A bamboo pole for each two men
was tied to the timber by a small rope, the poles angling
slightly, to permit the man on one side, to carry on his right
shoulder, and his associate at the other end, on his left
shoulder; all lifting steadily and together until the word of
command for all to straighten up, when overseers rushed
back and forth along the line to see no one shirked his duty.
The emblem of the overseer's office is a bamboo rod six feet
long, sharpened at one end, with which he prods some in the
ribs or whacks others over the shoulders. They reminded me
of the ox-teamster, familiarly called the bull puncher, in the
old days, in the lumber woods.
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When the enormous weight of the log is lifted clear of
the ground, all the men keep step with military precision,
moving on without any apparent difficulty. This primitive
method of lifting these logs to a perpendicular position
without the aid of steam, was used by their forefathers thou
sands of years ago. It shows how great weights can be
transported and lifted without machinery, and accounts for
the way the great stones in the walls of various cities in
China, and the Pyramids of Egypt, were lifted and put
together.
At another temple a priest told me through an inter
preter, that all the timber required to build the original
temple, which was built nine hundred years ago, had come
from Foo Chow, three hundred miles distant, by an under
ground passage, the end of which was in a well which he
pointed out. This caused me to smile, and the old man ran
away and I thought I had grievously offended him, but he
returned with three candles and a long line. He lit the
candles and lowered them into the well, where he proudly
pointed out the end of the last log, stating that, if they took
that one out, another one would come in its place, and so on
indefinitely.
Dr. Duncan Main has had a hospital here for nearly
twenty-eight years, which we visited. He is a medical mis
sionary and has done so much good that it would be im
possible to describe it. He started on a very small scale,
and has added on and bought more land until he has a
very large establishment. Those who can pay are charged
a good price, and those who are unable to pay are treated
free. There is a constant flow of patients. Next door is
a Chinese hospital, carried on by one of his graduates, a
Christian, who is doing a great work. Dr. Main has also
established a hospital for lepers, which I visited. There
were thirty-five or forty of them in different stages of the
disease. They try to find employment for them as much as
possible, cultivating gardens and doing what work they are
able to do. I saw one man who looked to be over sixty,
but was only twenty-eight. On top of a nearby hill, Dr.
Main has some buildings used for convalescents where they
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
can get fresh air and be away from the stench of the city in
summer. The work is now self supporting. He has a chapel,
in which services are held once a day, and which all must
attend. It is the nicest church inside that I have seen in a
long time. Stereopticon views of Christ's life, with a full
explanation in Chinese are given once a month.
I visited a Chinese wholesale and retail drug manufac
turing plant. In an enclosure were about thirty deer, des
tined for slaughter, and to be manufactured into medicines,
similar, I think, to Radway's Ready Relief or St. Jacob's
Oil. I was told, that with the exception of the horns, the
entire animal is used. They were manufacturing pills by the
ton from various kinds of berries, nuts, roots, bark and
various things I had never seen before.
The Alumni of the college gave us a Chinese dinner at
which were the Senior class of this year and all the pro
fessors, three of whom are Americans, the balance being
Chinese. The old Chinese pastor was there. He was the
first convert to Christianity in Hangchow a very fine old
man. His son has the Chinese hospital of which I spoke.
The young men would be a credit to any college, and were
a fine looking lot of fellows, and many of them are making
their mark. It is of the greatest benefit to the cause of
Christianity, when men get into positions of trust in the Gov
ernment employ. I urged them to endeavor to create a
better and stronger feeling of friendship between the Amer
icans and Chinese nations, telling them that our country was
the best friend they had, in the following remarks:
"It is a very great pleasure to meet so many young men
here tonight, who have received a Christian education and
who have gone out in the various vocations to make their
way in the world. You have been highly privileged and
you should benefit your countrymen by endeavoring to up
lift them, both by precept and example; and I would ask
of you to do all in your power to bring about a united
patriotic China so that your country may take its proper
place amongst the great nations of the world. To use a
common expression, when China wakes up, she will be one
of the greatest nations, perhaps the greatest nation in the
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLI^AR
world, and you can depend on America to assist you to
accomplish that end. No nation is so friendly to China as
the United States, and I ask you to do your utmost to retain
and increase that friendship so that they may assist you in
the desired uplift of your country.
"When that will be accomplished no one can predict what
the result will be, especially in the world's commerce. As
proof of our nation's friendship, I would just remind you
of the calling together of the International Opium Commis
sion, the returning of part of the Boxer indemnity, and the
recent understanding arrived at between our country and
Japan, in which there were five clauses, three of which re
lated to China.
"Mr. Tong Shai Yi has been to America and arranged
to send one hundred Chinese young men to be educated in
America, and the total amount of the returned Boxer in
demnity will be expended in this manner. This will have a
very good effect when those young men take their place in
Government and commercial circles of this country. The
opening of the Panama Canal and the waking up of China
are destined to change and revolutionize the commerce of
the world, and I hope you will all do your part to help
accomplish the great results which we expect from your
empire."
The railroad was open for twelve miles, so we took
advantage of it to go from the city to the boat landing,
six miles distant. This road is patterned after American
roads; the cars are similar, and the locomotives, which are
built in America, are fine, large ones and are run by Chinese.
The roadbed is very good, and is laid with eighty-five pound
rails. The bridges are all of steel. When the railroad is
completed to Shanghai it will open up this country as
nothing else could. The road is well patronized by pas
sengers, considering the short distance opened. They were
running ten large passenger coaches, with trains every two
hours during the day.
We went across by rail from Hankow to Peking, and
from there went to Tientsin, returning to Shanghai. The
day before sailing for home, on April i8th, the Chinese
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Chamber of Commerce gave us a banquet, which was a
grand affair, at which I delivered the following address:
I thank you for the honor you have conferred on me, in
having so many representative Chinese merchants to meet
me here tonight around the festive board; gentlemen not
only from Shanghai, but from many distant centers of com
merce. I am pleased to greet so many of you, as it is by
these meetings we get in closer touch with each other. The
great drawback in this country is the lack of more and
better acquaintance with each other, which would enable you
to understand one another better. The customs and manners
of our two countries are so different that it requires a great
deal of intercourse between us.
In the large transaction, which my associates and I have
just closed with the Han Yang Iron Works, it was brought
about by my getting well acquainted and keeping in close
touch with the managers on this side, otherwise the parties
to the contract would not have been brought together. We
have a slogan in my country, "America for the Americans";
and you have gotten up one in this country, "China for the
Chinese." This I consider right and proper, and I trust it
will draw you together politically as well as commercially.
I would caution you, however, to use good judgment as to
how far this is carried. If it means the keeping out of for
eigners it will cause you great losses and be detrimental to
the advance of China. You need us, and we need you.
What benefit would it have been to Hankow and vicinity if
this deal that I have just referred to had been prohibited?
It means the expending of over two million dollars a year
for fifteen years. I am sure no one can say that the expen
diture of that amount of money amongst the working people
can be other than a great benefit to the country.
If hundreds of other such transactions could be made
in China, the country would be on the high road to pros
perity. But for trade to be lasting it must be reciprocal,
and, while we buy from you, you must buy from us. So
trade must be increased, not only in exports to America but
also in imports from us. I hope that the visit of our mer-
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chants to your country next September will result in increased
trade between the two nations. This is the best way to
increase friendship. We also look forward to good results
from the anticipated return visit to our country of Chinese
merchants.
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Chapter Fifteen
AN EPOCH MAKING VOYAGE
We arrived in San Francisco on the I4th of May, but
our stay was not for long, as we sailed again on August 23,
1910, with a party of business men, thirty in number, sent
by the Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific
Coast, to visit China. This was in acceptance of the invi
tation which I had brought home from the Chinese Cham
ber of Commerce the year before.
The object of this visit was to create and increase the
friendly feeling between China and the United States, and
also to increase our commerce.
At Honolulu we went ashore, where we were entertained
by the Chamber of Commerce. Automobiles were waiting
to take us around the harbor, to Pearl Harbor, the Pali,
Museum, Aquarium and Waikiki, and back to Young's
Hotel for lunch. Governor Freer, ex-Governor Dole, Mr.
Waterhouse and Mr. Wood, Secretary of the Chamber of
Commerce, with several others, received and entertained us
in such a way that we had a most enjoyable day. The
people of Honolulu are noted for their hospitality, but, on
this occasion, they more than did themselves proud.
The next day we sailed, and got down to work again.
Committee meetings were held in the forenoons and general
meetings of the Commissioners and the ladies in the after
noons. One morning I addressed the ladies on the importance
of the mission in which we were engaged, and tried to impress
on them that at times seriousness and tact would be necessary.
A TALK TO THE LADIES
To the Ladies of the Commission:
I have been requested by the executive committee to
address you on the part you can and should take on this
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trip. No doubt many of you came expecting it to be a
pleasure excursion, and nothing more. While I promise
you that it will probably be the most pleasant trip you have
ever had and its memory will last as long as you live, there
is a seriousness connected with it that makes the strongest
of us pause and think.
We are going to a people numbering nearly one-third
of the population of the world. The Empire of China is as
large as the United States, Alaska, all our island possessions,
France, Spain and Italy, and still room left. Our self-
imposed task is to create a better feeling of friendship
between the two nations, and, incidentally, to promote and
increase our trade relations. I hope what I have said is
sufficient to convince you that none of you has ever been
fortunate enough to engage in a work that interests over
one-third of the population of our globe.
So that the magnitude of the work before us may not
discourage you, I will say that a woman in Shanghai formed
a small club, called the Anti-Foot Binding Society. It spread
to other cities and word of it finally reached the Empress
Dowager. She was so impressed with the earnestness of the
members that she issued an edict forbidding in future the
binding of any girl's feet. Now, when a custom, which had
existed for ages past can be changed by the efforts of one
woman, you can well take courage and use your efforts to
get in close touch with the ladies, and you will, I am sure,
succeed in doing much.
The International Institute in Shanghai has been the
means of bringing foreigners and the Chinese together, and
the ladies have a club in which they have induced several
Chinese ladies to become members. At the unveiling of a
tablet in the Institute, I saw several ladies present, which is
a great innovation from the old established custom of seclu
sion for women. I have tried to get some parts of the sub
ject of education assigned to you to investigate and report
on, especially the education of girls, kindergarten work,
music, etc.
The subject of the Chinese woman and her position,
socially and legally, has been assigned to you, and I trust
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HOUSEBOAT "ST. FRANCIS" ON THE GRAND CANAL,
BRIDGE OF ONE HUNDRED ARCHES AT SOOCHOW
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you will make a full investigation and report. You all ap
preciate the fact that, on the education of the masses depends,
to a great extent, the prosperity of a nation. In this, China
is sadly deficient, but she is now fully awake to the necessity
of universal education. Bear in mind that anything you
can do for the uplift of China will bring a reward that all
great men and women are striving for, "to leave the world
better than you found it."
I have to report the passing of a very short week; in
fact, I find that time rushed on so fast that I could not
accomplish as much as I wanted to. One day was given
over to sports, in which both old and young participated
and which was thoroughly enjoyed. On Friday we passed
the one hundred and eightieth meridian; therefore, that day
was dropped from our calendar. We went to bed on Thurs
day night and woke up Saturday morning.
One day I called a meeting of the ladies and suggested
that they organize, to be in a better position to take up
any subject brought to them and be better prepared to
give prompt reports and material assistance. They took
kindly to the suggestion, and elected Mrs. Dollar, President;
Mrs. Booth, Vice-President, and Mrs. Moulton, Secretary.
Several committees were appointed, to which various subjects
were assigned.
The Commissioners have begun to realize the magnitude
of the work we are undertaking. They know now what they
did not know before they left home that they have a man's
job on their hands. They are all, without exception, read
ing and studying the various subjects that will be brought
before us. For myself, I have devoted two-thirds of my
time to answering questions and telling others what I know.
Now, I feel repaid for the time and work I have put in dur
ing the past few years in making a study of China and the
Chinese, and, while all I do not know about the subject is
a hundred times more than what I know, it is a great satis
faction to assist others, even in a small way. Before leaving
home I filled a trunk with books about China that I thought
would be of service to the Commissioners, amongst them
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being a number of copies of the National Review, pub
lished in China, all of which they used as a circulating
library, and which the Commissioners found instructive and
interesting.
In regard to the personnel of the party. I am pleased
beyond measure with the number of able men we have. They
are all well informed men, and there is practically no choice
between them, except wherein one man may be better posted
on a certain subject than another. President Booth has good
material with which to work, and I am sure he will produce
extra good results, although I am not unmindful of the old
saying "A wise man defers boasting until he is taking off
his armor."
JAPAN
We arrived in Yokohama during a rain storm. The
Japanese, wishing to show those who had entertained them
in America some kindness, invited our party to visit Tokio.
They provided a special car on the railroad and had auto
mobiles in waiting at the station in Tokio. After luncheon
at the Imperial Hotel they drove us about the city and then
out to the home of Baron Shibusawa, where his son and
daughter hospitably received and entertained us. The Baron
was in Osaka raising funds for the flood sufferers and the
Baroness was confined to her bed. We were then driven to
the Nippon Club, where we had an excellent Japanese dinner.
After dinner a theatrical company wound up the festivities
with a good Japanese play. We returned on board the
steamer after midnight.
From the railroad on our trip to Tokio we saw evidences
of the recent flood, which had destroyed many homes and
crops. It is reported that there is much destitution and
suffering among the communities affected, and strong efforts
are being put forth to raise money to aid them. Nine of
our Commissioners gave five hundred yen.
KOBE
At Kobe the Commissioners went ashore. Many of them
visited Osaka and took in all the sights around Kobe.
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Considerable headway has been made on the new break
water, and it will not be long before this much-needed im
provement will make loading and discharging into barges
possible when it is blowing hard. At present it does not
take much wind to stop all work in the harbor. I noticed
three dredgers at work deepening the water close to shore
to enable the vessels to lay nearer in than at present. The
present plan of harbor improvement is to build several piers
from shore, so a great quantity of freight can be handled
direct to rail or wagons, without the use of lighters.
Going through the Inland Sea the weather was good,
and we had a good view of it.
SHANGHAI
At Shanghai we visited various industries, one of which
was a woolen mill, three years old and fitted with modern
machinery from Belgium. Most of the wool was Chinese
grown, but they had a quantity of Australian wool and
some South African, which they used in mixing. In this
mill and a paper mill, there were about six hundred hands
employed.
We left the mill to attend a reception at the Shanghai
Taotai's yamen. There we were met by all the great peo
ple of the city. The large reception hall was beautifully
decorated with American and Chinese flags. There were no
speeches, as it was quite informal, and the Americans as well
as the Chinese seemed to enjoy it. Quite a number of pea
cock feathers were in evidence, the owners being mandarins
of various ranks. We got back to the hotel in time to dress
for the grand banquet at the hall in the Chang Su Ho gar
dens. We were taken there in a street car, specially deco
rated with flags and brilliant lights, and electric designs of
the American flag on front and rear. The street car com
pany decorated its line for over three miles.
On arrival at the grounds we found them brilliantly
lighted, some thousands of Chinese lanterns having been
specially made with American and Chinese flags on each.
Large electric designs with the words "Welcome" were over
the doors. The hall seated over two hundred, and at one
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end was a stage where a theatrical troop entertained us dur
ing the banquet. The trimmings and fittings on the stage
were most beautiful, and any attempt to describe it or the
costumes of the actors would fall far short of the reality.
The dinner was semi-Chinese, commencing with birds'
nest soup, sharks' fins, and so on. It was very well served,
and there were many courses.
The speakers of the evening were Consul General Wilder,
on the American side, and Wu Ting Fang for the Chinese,
although there were a few others. All did justice to their
well chosen subjects in addressing this very unusual audience.
There also were great displays of fireworks. Chinese mer
chants told me that no such preparations had been made
since the late Emperor visited Shanghai, many years ago.
The next day, Sunday, a reception was held at the Inter
national Institute in the afternoon, where several addresses
were delivered, and, in the evening, the Press Club gave us a
banquet.
The next morning the party visited a cotton mill, employ
ing six thousand persons, and a silk filature, where we saw an
exhibit of finished silks. This took up the entire forenoon.
After lunch at the hotel, the party started for Hangchow,
in house boats. A boat, with a boy servant, was provided
for every four persons. The Palace Hotel furnished the
help and did the catering. We left at i o'clock in the after
noon and arrived at the Hangchow landing at 10 o'clock
the next morning. There we took the steam train for a
fifty-mile trip to the city, where we were entertained at
luncheon.
All the members of the party enjoyed seeing the world-
famous Grand Canal, and the realization of the age of
China was brought forcibly to them, when they learned that
for twenty-five hundred years billions of people have been
traveling up and down this waterway. The bridges, built
at that time, are still in perfect condition.
HANGCHOW
At Hangchow we were immediately taken to an official
reception and luncheon, and the afternoon was spent in
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viewing the sights of a Chinese city, which only a few of
our party had seen before. In the evening, a banquet was
given by the Governor of Chekiang Province at his official
yamen. It was a magnificent affair, served with all the
splendor of the Orient; it was also a most significant affair,
as foreigners had previously been most unwelcome in this
vicinity, and this was the first time they had ever been re
ceived officially in the province. Speeches were made, and
the Governor asked us to suggest ways and means by which
they could become a manufacturing as well as an agricultural
community.
From early morning till late at night the next day the
time was taken up in visiting temples, lunching at a man
darin's, and a boat excursion on West Lake one of the
most picturesque bodies of water in China. We went to
the temple on the bank of the river to see the famous
"bore" come up the river, which only occurs once in the
spring and once each fall. It is a great sight to watch the
great wall of water twelve to fifteen feet high roll up the
river from the ocean, carrying everything before it.
Then we left for Shanghai. The cars were all decorated,
and the railway company provided dinner for us; in fact, it
would have been impossible for the entire community to
have devised ways of doing more. Every section man on
the road was provided with a Chinese lantern decorated with
Chinese and American flags, and every station along the
route was decorated with flags and evergreens, and crowds
of people were there to see us pass. At the principal cities
on the way receptions were held and presents given to each
of us.
Returning to Shanghai, the men visited various industrial
plants, while the ladies visited missions, hospitals and so on,
and a flourishing Young Women's Christian Association of
one hundred and sixty members.
The last evening we were in Shanghai we were given
a Chinese theater party. The play was on the effects of
opium, this subject being chosen because Americans were
the first to assist the Chinese in the suppression of the
traffic in opium.
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We left Shanghai for Nanking. The station was beau
tifully decorated, and thousands of fire-crackers were set off
to wish us good luck. A band played our national airs, and
the leading men of the city were on the platform to bid us
goodby and God-speed.
The train was a special one of private cars. On the
window of each seat was a card bearing the name of the
American city of the representative who would occupy it.
Each car had a buffet from which we were served with
meals or refreshments along the way. It was very unique,
and I have never seen anything quite like it. I noticed
that every way station, even though we did not stop at it,
was decorated and the section hands were drawn up in line
on the station platforms. We did not stop until we reached
Soochow, fifty miles distant. Here a great crowd met us,
in it being nearly the entire membership of the Chamber
of Commerce, officials and mandarins. The station was
beautifully decorated and a brass band was in attendance.
Carriages were in waiting, and we were conveyed to the
Governor's yarrien, a great big, rambling building. It took
us ten minutes to walk through the intricate passages and
rooms before we reached the audience hall where tables were
set for one hundred and fifty people. The decorations of
cut flowers were beautifully combined with artificial flowers
and many works of art. The Governor made an address,
to which I replied as follows:
Those of us who know a little of your customs, know
that your hospitality is unbounded, but, in the manner in
which you have received us, in the different places in China,
I must say you have excelled yourselves. Our primary
object in coming seven thousand miles to visit your country
was to increase the friendly relations between our country
and yours, and from the enthusiastic manner your people,
from the highest to the lowest, have received us, I am firmly
convinced that this result will be accomplished in a manner
exceeding our fondest hopes.
But we have another object in our visit, and by some
of you it may seem primary, instead of secondary. This
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object is to increase trade and commerce, and in offering
suggestions to you on this subject, I cannot help feeling
like a small boy coming to his great grandfather and giving
him advice, as I am a citizen of the youngest of the nations,
addressing many citizens of the oldest nation on earth. I
also realize that your nation represents one-third of the
human race.
You have a very rich agricultural country, perfectly level
land, and as productive as the best of any country, but you
lack manufactures. No nation has ever become truly great,
measured by our modern standards, that has not engaged
extensively in manufacturing and shipping. A merchant
marine is a necessary part in the development of any great
country. All these things you lack. At a meeting of this
kind, with limited time, it is impossible to accomplish much,
but I would suggest to your merchants and bankers to meet
us at some future time, when we can discuss fully how best
we can increase your trade. We are not here for pleasure
we are here to develop and increase trade. What we want
and must have are practical results, and if we do not get
them, our visit here will have been a failure. So we want
to get in close touch with your merchants, that the much
desired result may be accomplished.
I was loudly applauded by the entire audience when I
finished my talk.
We left at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and our next stop
was at Yuseh, the great silk center. At this place the
crowd was larger than ever, and extended even into the
fields. We gave and received many presents, and proceeded
on our journey. 1
At Changchow, the Chamber of Commerce gave us an
address to which we made proper reply, and each of us was
presented with a package of tea of their own growing, as
this is a tea growing section. They are particularly proud
of the fine quality they produce.
At Chingkiang, after we had attended a luncheon, we
took the train for Nanking, which brought us right through
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to the Exposition grounds without changing cars. The
grounds and buildings are a credit to the Chinese, as this
is their first attempt at expositions. The American exhibit
was very fair.
NANKING
In the early evening the ladies of our party were invited
to a tea at the home of Lady Chang, wife of the Viceroy.
This was the first time such a function had ever been given
to foreigners, but the affair went off in fine order. An
hour was spent here, and the conversation was interpreted
by three girl students from the Mission schools.
Later, the ladies joined us at the Viceroy's banquet hall,
where one hundred and eighteen sat down to dinner. The
table decorations were all that could be desired; in fact, one
could only see a short distance on account of them. I was
fortunately located near the Viceroy's Secretary, Taotai
Chung Mun Yew, the managing director of the China Mer
chants' Steamship Company, the Government line, and
Taotai Wang Chung Liang, the managing director of the
Pukow-Tientsin Railroad. They talked very good English, so
it made a very pleasant party, and I enjoyed the evening
better than any entertainment I had attended in a long time.
The conversation was animated and dealt with the subjects
that are now troubling China, and as they all had their
hands on the pulse of matters deeply affecting their country
and the rest of the world, it was intensely interesting and
instructive. Although we were on a commercial trip, politics
and the policy of China and the nations closely connected
with her prosperity, or in many cases her adversity, always
came to the surface, especially when we came in contact
with the great men of China.
The Viceroy delivered a speech of welcome, and asked us
for advice and criticisms of China. Mr. Hotaling made a
stirring reply, which no diplomat or representative of any
government would have dared make, as he would have in
stantly lost his position. Our Commissioners have been in
China only ten days, and have seen in this short time enough
to convince them of the injustice that is being inflicted on
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CAMELS, ELEPHANTS AND OTHER ANIMALS OF STONE
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the Chinese by foreigners. For instance, on a sign board
of a park in Shanghai is a notice that no Chinese are allowed
unless they are servants to Europeans. This, our Commis
sioners could not understand, especially as the Chinese pay
nine-tenths of the upkeep. Verily, a day of reckoning is
coming.
After the banquet, at i o'clock in the morning, the Vice
roy sent a message to me, stating that if I was not too tired
he would like to have an hour's conversation with me. In
this conversation many matters were discussed that were of
great importance.
A double row of troops, on each side from the street
entrance to the house, presented arms as we went in. A fine
military band played our American national airs. The next
morning we saw a drill of one of the Viceroy's regiments
(he has sixteen thousand troops here). No one was ad
mitted to this but our party, as it was for our special benefit.
Some of our party knew considerable of military affairs
and enjoyed it immensely; as, in fact, we all did. The drill
was entirely German in style. They showed us their bar
racks' gymnastic drill, which was wonderful, as the athletes
were not selected but a company chosen indiscriminately for
each particular drill. One of our party, who was well versed
in military affairs, remarked that had he not seen for him
self he could not have believed that they were so proficient.
After it was over the General took us into the officers' mess
room, where cake, wine and tea were served at a long table
specially prepared. We learned that a soldier's wages aver
aged about three dollars gold, a month, out of which he
boards himself. We were told that now men of good fam
ilies join the army, but up to five or six years ago it was
considered a disgrace to join.
We had another display of New China in the Exposition
grounds. In the large audience hall about one hundred
children from the Mission kindergarten school gave us an
exhibition. There were little tots from five to six years old,
and a class of sixty girls from ten to twelve, who sang Amer
ican songs, played the piano, etc.; then as a contrast, music
of China's old style was rendered. The contrast was very
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great, and showed what rapid strides the new education is
making. The manager told us of the seemingly insurmount
able difficulties they had overcome, before the Exposition
grounds were thrown open to the public. The ability and
energy they have shown in getting up such a creditable
exhibit from people who had never heard of such a thing
before, are wonderful.
We had a reception at the Nanking University, which
is a combination of Methodist, Christian and Presbyterian
churches all American. The union of churches and colleges,
as well as missions, is the proper way; in fact, China is
showing us the way in this respect. It is a great saving of
money, talent and effort, and is getting far better results
and far greater respect from the Chinese.
Professor Davis, the President, delivered a short, concise
address. They have six hundred students, and the buildings
are full to overflowing all the time. They have twelve
hundred communicants in connection with the various mis
sions in the city. There is such a demand for educated
young men that it is hard to get them to take the full
course. High wages are offered them as soon as they receive
only a fair education. The university authorities have had
the foresight to secure large, desirable grounds, and their
future looks bright, while their power for good, as the years
roll on, will be felt all over China.
After the address and informal talks I visited the build
ings and grounds where I found they were erecting excellent,
permanent buildings at a very low cost, which proves that
their management must be of a high order.
The Provincial Assembly of Kiangsi Province, which
corresponds to our State legislature, invited us to a banquet
in their building. They are just getting started in this
venture of constitutional government, so this meeting of
the assemblymen was most important, as they were extremely
anxious to learn from us what has proved good and what is
bad in our form of State government. On our gathering
in their assembly hall the President of the Assembly pro
posed a toast to the health of the President of the United
States. The building was really opened in our honor, as
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this was the first meeting held in it. Many speeches were
made, both in English and Chinese. The banquet was a
wonderful affair, caterers and food having been brought
from Shanghai, two hundred miles distant.
This is the only session that has been held by the Assem
bly, and that in a temporary building; but they will soon
hold regular sessions in their own building, which is built
on modern plans and in the most approved style. All this is
preparatory to the establishment of the Federal Government
in Peking.
We visited the Ming tombs, outside of the city wall,
driving in carriages to the gate and from there being con
veyed in sedan chairs. The last Ming emperor was buried
here over four hundred and fifty years ago, and the first one
of record was buried about eighteen hundred years ago.
For China, the tombs are in a fair state of preservation. A
few of the descendants live there, and have sufficient land
to support them, but according to our ideas of looking after
such historical places they are sadly neglected. Great stone
elephants, camels and dromedaries and various other repre
sentations of animals, line the road on each side. They are
about three times the natural size, and fences surround them
to prevent vandalism by our civilized European and Amer
ican travelers!
I had denounced in very strong terms the vandalism of
parties who had marked these monuments, but our party
put it all back on me when, on investigating one of the huge
dromedaries, we saw the name of the steamer "Hazel Dollar"
carved. Evidently, one of our officers had gone up there
when the steamer was in Nanking and with a chisel had
carved her name in the stone. So they had a joke on me,
stating I had better look after my own people before advis
ing others.
Our hosts again outdid themselves in thoughtfulness
and hospitality, for they actually had tables, chairs, carpets
and refreshments carried out from the city, and we were
served in the temple at the tombs. And all this from a
people so recently said to be antagonistic to foreigners!
With all this display, I am pleased to say that we never lost
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sight of the fact that we were here for a purpose, and kept
strongly before our hosts, the fact that we wanted to establish
trade relations between our countries. I must say that
whenever we talked trade and commerce, ceremonies dis
appeared, and, to use a military term, they immediately
"stood at attention" and listened intently to all we had to say.
HANKOW
At Hankow, I found the Yangtsze Engineering Works
had doubled in size during the year. They have plenty of
work on hand, and now employ fifteen hundred men.
When we were about ready to sit down to the luncheon,
Mr. Wong came to me very much excited and stated that
the caterers had brought the lunch from Hankow with
plenty of wine but not a glass, and there was none within
six miles of the place. He wanted to know what I would
recommend him to do. I replied, "Say nothing, and leave
the matter to me." So when the party sat down I called
their attention to the fact that there was no wine on the
table, being the first luncheon or banquet we had attended
in China without it. I noticed, after I made this remark,
that Mr. Wong turned pale; but I followed it up by saying
that he was the only one who understood American customs,
as it was not customary to serve wines with luncheons in
America.
We next visited the Han Yang Steel Works, and after
seeing the mine at Tah Yei and this big plant, our members
changed their opinions of Chinese industries and of their
management by Chinese. We stood at the end of the roll
ing mill and saw bars, plates and steel rails all coming out
in various merchantable shapes. We learned that there were
about twenty-five thousand men employed in the coal and
iron mines, coke ovens, transportation and in the plant.
They have many tugs, barges, junks and steamers, about
sixty miles of a coal railroad and fourteen miles of an iron
ore railroad. This plant is located in about the geographical
center of China and on one of the greatest rivers of the
world, which, at the works, is about a mile and a quarter
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wide, and up which for eight months in the year vessels
drawing thirty feet of water can go for seven hundred
miles from the ocean.
Sunday was a day of rest only in our imagination, as
we went to Wuchang, to an official banquet given by the
Viceroy of Hupeh Province. He sent two gunboats to take
us across the river and back. His Excellency thought his
yamen was not grand enough, so he rented a very large
building and fitted it up in grand style for this function.
The road was lined with soldiers, and in the halls and the
large court, military bands played as we went in. About
one hundred and fifty sat down to the banquet. The deco
rations were very fine, and the walls were hung with very
large American and Chinese flags. The flowers and silk
trimmings on the tables exceeded anything we had seen in
this line. This banquet lasted about three hours, and when
we returned to Hankow we found a meeting had been
called for the Committee on Commerce, so we drove to the
Chamber of Commerce where we had a talk with twenty
of the leading merchants on trade matters. From there we
drove to a church service, and listened to an interesting ser
mon on what missions had done and were doing for China.
After church we went to dinner at the home of Mr. Wong
Kwong. Certainly a full day for Sunday!
The next morning we visited cotton, hemp, flax and
silk factories and a large grist mill, finding them all large,
modern, up-to-date plants. We also visited a Russian tea
factory, where they made tea into bricks for exportation
to Russia. The tea is ground, steamed and pressed by
hydraulic power into bricks about four by six inches and
one inch thick. It looks like black plug tobacco. This is
quite a tea center.
A large reception and banquet was held for us at the
Chinese race track, two miles outside of the city. Although
we were not aware of it, this proved to be the grand event
of our trip. The buildings were very large and commodious,
and the grounds were laid out in shrubs and flowers. In de
scribing this entertainment I want to say that it is impossible
to do it justice. I asked a newspaper reporter if he could
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
describe it, but he said it was impossible. In driving out
from the city the road was so crowded that the carriages
had to go slowly, and when we neared the place, the crowd
was so great we had to go at a slow walk, with frequent
stops, until at the approach to the grounds, a passage was
cleared by soldiers.
A triumphal arch, commanding a fine view of the grounds
had been built three stories high. This was full of people.
It was brilliantly lighted with electric globes of different
colors, and presented a gorgeous appearance. From the
verandas we had an opportunity of seeing the crowds which
extended around for a radius of half a mile. It was as light
as day from the brilliancy of the lights and the fireworks.
Military bands, as well as native ones, and bugles and drums
made music and noise to please all classes in the crowd.
The reception rooms presented an animated appearance,
and the large banquet room was packed to its utmost
capacity. A Chinese dinner was served, the entertainment
being furnished by the Hankow Chamber of Commerce.
The Vice-Chairman made a very good, carefully prepared
address along commercial lines, which was well received
by our party. Mr. Booth, in introducing me as speaker of
the evening, said an introduction was hardly necessary as
they all knew me. He paid me a very flattering compli
ment in saying that I was not only a man that said things
but did them, and in the development of American trade
in Hankow I had played a conspicuous part. I confined my
remarks to the Yangtsze Valley, as follows:
Before proceeding, I cannot permit the opportunity to pass
without thanking you for such a princely reception and, I say
without fear of contradiction, that no commercial body of
men in the history of the world ever had such a reception.
I will endeavor to confine my remarks to a talk as a
business man to business men, and consequently they must
be practical. The object of our visit was set forth in the
invitation which you sent us. At the end of it you say, "To
promote good will, and the growth of trade between the
two countries." You have divided it into two parts: the
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first part has been dealt with fully everywhere we have gone;
our receptions have been sincere, enthusiastic, and even this
early in our journey, I consider it has been accomplished.
The second part is not so easy and will tax to the utmost
all our thoughts, ability and energy to accomplish.
As I am addressing an audience in what you are very
proud to call the Chicago of China, and which I accept as
a great compliment to Americans, I will confine my remarks
to the Yangtsze Valley. Seeing that one quarter of a billion
people live in this valley and its tributaries, I confess to have
taken a subject so great, that it is entirely beyond my ability
to do it justice. Hankow trade has been increasing by
leaps and bounds. Trade statistics show that during the last
fifteen years trade has increased tremendously. This, in
some measure, is the result of railway communication, which
has only begun in a small way, and as we look forward to
Hankow being the railroad center of China, it being at the
head of deep water navigation, it will certainly be the great
commercial center of China.
The reason for this is not far to seek, as this is one of
the richest agricultural valleys in the world and capable of
producing in abundance everything that man requires. Up
to the present time you lack large manufacturing plants,
but, with your agricultural productions and your natural
resources, you will be able to manufacture for the whole
world.
In time your river must be made navigable all the year
for vessels drawing twenty-five feet of water. This, I know,
may seem an almost impossible task, but greater things
have been done. I have given this subject some thought,
and I consider it an absolute necessity that the work be
done. There are only two shallow places to be overcome,
and as soon as trade develops as we expect, the necessity
will be more apparent. So do not be discouraged, as men,
money and energy can accomplish anything within reason.
The United States is engaged in a much greater under
taking at present (I mean the Panama Canal) ; and I expect
to live to come up this river some January or February, in
one of my vessels drawing twenty-five feet of water.
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As to the future prospects of this great valley, I have
often thought over what they would be, but I am free to
say that the possibilities are so great that it is beyond my
comprehension. As to agriculture, the high state of culti
vation could still be bettered by fertilizers, the crops increased
fifteen to twenty-five per cent, and much more remunerative
crops raised. I commend this suggestion to your careful
consideration. A few years ago sessimum seed was almost
unknown. Now, your exports of this commodity are very
great, last year exceeding one hundred and twenty thousand
tons. No doubt you will also go into cotton growing on a
large scale, especially when your cotton mills will be built
in numbers and on a large scale.
But when we consider your minerals, we are lost in
wonder. A German expert claims there is more coal in this
valley than exists in the rest of the world. I think it quite
safe to make the same estimate of your iron ore. Now with
those two minerals lying side by side in a country of cheap
labor, and an abundance of it, the day is coming when the
production of steel from this country will exceed that of
all other countries.
Railroads are wanted to open up and develop your coun
try. You have an example before you of what the Pei Han
Railroad has done for the country through which it passes.
When this road was built, there was no freight to carry,
except in harvest time. It is now taxed to its utmost
capacity. The South Manchurian railroad has been double
tracked, and it also, at times, cannot carry the freight offered.
One and a quarter million tons of beans, alone, came over
that road for export in 1909, and as you continue building
additional roads you will find these conditions will continue.
I consider the Province of Szechuan the greatest mineral
bearing country in the world, and with its forty-six millions
of people, as soon as the railroads run through there, we shall
hear from it. It is practically unknown to the world now,
except to a very few travelers.
From what I have said, you will readily understand that
you have a gigantic task on your hands. It will take all
the energy you are possessed of, and you must have money
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V. K. LEE
General Manager Han Yang Iron and Steel Works
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
to do it with. One very important factor is what we call
"Captains of Industry" to direct all those great works. I
am pleased to say that you do not require to go abroad for
them as from personal experience I know you have them
right here.
However, I wish to say to you, all these great under
takings can only be accomplished by lots of hard work, and
you must be up and doing, as your valuable heritage is of
no value unless you develop it. The United States also
received a valuable heritage, and by persistent hard work it
has developed into a rich country. You have as good an
opportunity as we had. So you have a prospect ahead of
you that no other country has, provided you grasp the op
portunity. The making of New China is in your hands.
After the speeches, all went on the verandas to see the
fireworks. A tower of bamboo poles had been erected, about
sixty feet high, and from this the various pieces were set
off. None of us had ever seen such a display. We have
been told by different classes of people that there had never
been such a reception given to any one in China, and the
significance of it is that Hankow is destined to be the greatest
commercial center of China.
We left Hankow in a special train provided by the Cen
tral Government. At the beautifully decorated station, fire
works were set off, and the principal merchants and citizens,
as well as a representative from the Viceroy of Hupeh
Province, in which Hankow is situated, were there to bid us
God-speed.
On the way, we noticed that the harvest was about over,
and the farmers were preparing the land for next year's
crops. Our party was much surprised to see such a rich
agricultural country which, with the exception of one slight
elevation, is perfectly level the entire eight hundred miles
from Hankow to Peking. One fact is apparent to all that
it is a very rich country mostly of alluvial soil, but having
been under cultivation for thousands of years it now needs
fertilizing on a large scale. This would increase the crops
very much.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
PEKING
When we arrived at Peking, the appearance of the city
was so different from that of any other we had visited that
it could not help causing surprise. Not a flag or piece of
bunting was in evidence, and there were articles in the
papers that the Japanese were complaining bitterly that their
party of distinguished business men, who had just preceded
us, had not been well received. However, the Imperial
Railroad provided a special train and took the party to see
the Great Wall of China, providing a very nice lunch. We
learned that the Hankow people paid all our hotel bills,
so we sent them eight hundred dollars to be used by the
Chamber of Commerce. The day after arrival, we were in
vited to see the Summer Palace, situated twelve miles out
of the city. This was a rare sight as it is closed to visi
tors. The grounds cover several hundred acres, having a
lake about a half mile long by a quarter mile wide, in the
center. They have been laid out, and buildings have been
erected, regardless of expense. We were shown the apart
ments of the late Empress Dowager, her reception and throne
rooms. The painting of the Empress has been veiled since
her death, but it was unveiled for our inspection. Boats
were provided for us on the lake, and the Barge of State
was opened for us.
The barge is built of cement and stone, two stories high,
and without question it is a most remarkable craft. When
not afloat, it looks like a marble palace, and is about eighty
feet long and thirty feet wide. The first floor is about four
feet above the water, and there are stone steps on each side
leading into the water. Marble pillars support the next story,
and a small tower surmounts the whole. At first, I could
not believe it was afloat, as the appearance of solidity was
such I could not think of its being other than a palace of
marble. The rudder is of cement, and as far as I could see
under the water it was all cement. It is used on all great
state occasions. The appearance of the whole place, grounds
and buildings, is that of an evacuated fairy land.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
When we got to the gate over twenty foreigners were
waiting outside, and when the door was opened they forced
their way in amongst our party, although we had never
seen them before. Each one of them was armed with a
kodak, and, when in the throne room, a boy of their party
was detected by an attendant taking an ornament. We re
quested the Chinese to allow our party to go alone, so that
we would not be blamed for the misdeeds of others.
In the evening we attended a reception of the Legation,
given by Minister Calhoun in our honor, at which all
Americans in the vicinity were present. Later, the same
evening, we went to a banquet given by the Press Club of
Peking where there were about sixty foreigners and Chinese
present.
On Saturday, the men of our party were invited to the
Imperial Palace, in the Forbidden City, to be received by the
Prince Regent. We drove in carriages to the palace court,
as near as carriages are permitted to go, then passed several
gates and courtyards before we came to the reception room,
where we were received by the court officials, and wine and
cake served. From here, we marched two abreast to the
Court room, through two gates, and across courts paved with
large, flat stones.
The throne room was small, and at one end was the
throne chair on a raised platform. We lined up in front of
the platform; our Minister, Mr. Calhoun, and Dr. Tenny
as interpreter, stood in front of the line, and in a few min
utes, the Prince Regent entered by a door leading to the back
of the platform, which was closed by a curtain. One at
tendant held the curtain back so His Highness could enter,
and another followed him, one standing at each side during
the conference, which was carried on by Mr. Calhoun and
the Prince. He inquired if we had been well received and
if we were pleased with our visit.
Mr. Calhoun explained that our visit was strictly on
business and had no political bearing; that we were just
ordinary business men from the Pacific Coast desiring to
increase the trade and commerce between the two nations,
and create a stronger bond of friendship between China and
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
the United States. The audience lasted about ten minutes,
after which the Prince retired and we filed out. We learned
that we must not turn our backs on him, hence his leaving
first. There were twenty-six in our party, this being the
largest number that has ever been granted an audience, and
this is the first time that ordinary business men have been
presented to the Chinese Throne. We returned to the re
ception hall where we sat down to a luncheon, and had an
interesting unofficial talk with the officials on subjects
political and commercial.
We then proceeded to the Foreign Office, to a formal
luncheon, where we were received by the various Ministers
representing the different boards. I sat with the Minister
of Communications and Mr. Liang, who really runs the
bureau, and had a two-hour interesting talk with him on the
railways of China, a subject in which I am very much
interested.
In the early evening, Ambassador and Mrs. Calhoun
entertained us at a reception at the Embassy, and later we
were given a banquet at the hotel by the Provincial Senate.
Sunday, we tried to keep free, but the Chinese would
not have it, inviting us to an elaborate luncheon at the
Botanical Gardens. Large tables were placed in four rooms,
and about two hundred sat down. After luncheon the
guests were taken around the gardens in chairs and rick
shaws. My old friend, His Excellency, Shen Kung Poa,
requested me to remain and meet the Ministers of Foreign
Affairs, Commerce and Communications. We had a con
ference which lasted until 5 o'clock. Our conversation was
mostly general, including international affairs, commercial,
railroads and finance. In the evening we were entertained
at a beautifully decorated banquet, given by the Chamber
of Commerce.
TIENTSIN
We left for Tientsin the next morning on a special
train provided by the Government, which included all their
best carriages, even one used by the late Empress Dowager.
We were received at Tientsin by officials and merchants,
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ATTACHED TO TRAIN OF AMERICAN COMMISSIONERS
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
and carriages were provided to drive us to the hotel. The
afternoon was spent in visiting the schools and museum.
The manual training school was most interesting, showing
what work is being done with outcasts in teaching them
trades. The result of their work pays the running of the
institution. At 6:30 o'clock we were driven to the Viceroy's
yamen where an elaborate banquet was prepared for us.
The room easily accommodated the two hundred guests. It
was thirty feet high, and other rooms, with floors raised four
feet, open on the main hall and surround it on three sides.
These rooms are all beautifully furnished with Brussels
carpets and Chinese decorations, blending old and new China.
As the Viceroy of Chili Province is the ranking Viceroy, he
was the most important personage we met outside of Peking.
Li Hung Chang and Yuen Shai Kai, each occupied his place
in their day. They were two of the most distinguished of
China's great men. As we drove into the court, great num
bers of soldiers lined the way and presented arms. A mili
tary brass band was in attendance, making it a very grand
affair. The banquet hall was gaily decorated with flags and
flowers. The dinner took three hours to serve, as is usual
with great Chinese dinners, and the speeches were congratu
latory and of welcome.
The next morning we visited the university, and at noon
had luncheon at Li Hung Chang's Memorial.
In the evening we went to a banquet given by Mr. Sun.
One feature of this function was the illumination of the
grounds, which consisted of differently colored incandescent
lights placed in rows about two feet apart on each side of
all the walks. The Government had given him a number
of soldiers as a guard of honor, in addition to a military
band.
Wednesday, we left on a special train to visit the
Tongshan coal mine, belonging to the Chinese Engineering
& Mining Company, which is a modern, up-to-date and well
equipped mine of soft coal. In all the shops and mines
there is not a piece of American machinery, it all being of
Belgian manufacture. They have installed great electrical
plants, and as it is conceded that the American installation
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
is the best, it would only have required a good, practical
man to be on the spot to have gotten that business. We
also visited a cement plant entirely fitted out with Belgian
machinery. At present this district vies with Hankow as
to which will be the great industrial center of China. Tien
tsin, however, has an eighty mile rail haul either to Tongku
or Chinwangtao, and this latter port must be deepened and
extended before it can become one of the great ports of
China. At present a steamer can load to twenty-two feet,
but this can only be done by working her at high water.
However, as the bottom is very soft and easily dredged,
this is not a serious matter. As this is the only ice-free
port on the north side of the Gulf of Pechili it is of great
importance to the Chinese Government; in fact, to all people
doing business in Northern China.
As to the future prospects of this district, it is not difficult
to predict that they will be great. Iron has been found
eight miles from the coal mines, and if it proves to be of any
great extent or value, Tientsin will be a great rival of
Hankow. The conditions are ideal for development as the
country is perfectly level and railroads can be built at a
minimum cost.
On returning to Tientsin, my business friends had a
private dinner ready for us. The party consisted only of
those interested in business, six Chinese ladies and Mrs.
Dollar also being present. At midnight we went aboard the
steamer "Hsing Ming," and sailed for Chefoo.
CHEFOO, FOOCHOW AND AMOY
At Chefoo they had made great preparations to receive
our party. Two Chinese cruisers and several launches were
bedecked with flags. At the landing, evergreens and flags
were in evidence, and a long, double row of soldiers pre
sented arms as we drove through their ranks in rickshaws.
We had a conference with business men lasting most of
the afternoon. All matters of commercial interest to both
countries were discussed. We found trade had decreased
here, and our share of it had fallen off more than that of
any other nation. Without railroad communication to the
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
interior, general trade will decrease still more, as the Ger
mans from Tsingtau, through their railway communications,
are cutting into this trade and the Tsingtau trade is increas
ing rapidly.
At 5 o'clock in the afternoon we had a reception at the
American Consulate, which was a friendly and informal
affair, and from there went to a banquet. We sailed at
midnight for Foochow.
We were due to arrive at Foochow in the morning, but
were delayed. When we got in, we learned that a reception
committee had been waiting for hours, with house-boats and
tugs. We went directly to a banquet which had been pre
pared for us. The streets were crowded with people, and
we had barely enough room to pass in our chairs. One
noticeable feature, was the number of small school children
dressed in white, every other one having an American and a
Chinese flag, alternately.
When the banquet was over at i o'clock in the morning,
we were surprised to find the children still lined up to see
us pass out to the various private houses to which we had
been assigned, and where our kind hosts made us as com
fortable as if we had been at home. There were one hun
dred and thirty present at the banquet, which was headed
by Viceroy Sung of Fukien and Chekiang Provinces. The
Tartar General Pu was at the table. It appears the Prince
Regent was not very sure of the loyalty of the people, and
sent the Tartar General here, as he is said to be over the
Viceroy. There were a number of officials, some merchants,
and some from the Provincial Assembly. We found the
members of the Assembly always glad to receive ideas from
us, as their legislature is in its formative state and there are
many perplexing questions arising.
I find in this city, as in all other important cities, that
there is a Japanese daily newspaper printed in Chinese,
which is moulding the minds of the people in the Japanese
way.
As usual in Chinese rivers, the Min River was full of
boats, junks and other craft. We met many rafts of poles
coming down. These poles, it is said, take about fifteen
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
years to grow, and there is continual reforesting going on.
The poles are all carried out of the woods on men's shoulders
to the river, where the rafts are made and floated to Pagoda
anchorage, from distances of eighty to one hundred and
eighty miles, where they are loaded in junks and shipped to
all Chinese ports. They go by the name of Foochow poles.
It is difficult to estimate the extent of this trade, but it must
run into hundreds of million pieces each year. The fir of
the Pacific Coast feels this competition keenly. Going up
the Min River from the ocean to Foochow, something over
thirty miles, is one of the most picturesque sails in China,
and was very much appreciated by our party.
At Amoy, a reception committee came aboard and es
corted us ashore, where a number of Chinese merchants were
waiting to escort us to the Bank of Communication, where
we were served with refreshments and an informal reception
was enjoyed. Thence, we were conducted to the Chamber
of Commerce, and were formally introduced to a number of
the members.
We then returned to the river, passing great crowds
along the streets, and went aboard a tug which took us to
the limits of the harbor, thence we proceeded a quarter of a
mile on land to the Nan Pu Temple, one of the most cele
brated in China, which was rebuilt about four hundred years
ago. A luncheon was served here by the Chamber of Com
merce, at which Taotai Kno and Major General Hung par
ticipated. A feature at this luncheon was the presence of a
number of retired Chinese merchants from the Philippine
Islands. One of them had lived in Manila for fifty years.
This was the first city that brought the immigration
question to our notice. They claim, that as in San Fran
cisco, the Chinese are now suffering in Manila from the
mal-administration of the law. It was temporarily passed
over by the statement that the Commission was going to
Manila, and would investigate. No doubt this is only a
commencement of what we will hear in Canton. An in
scription was cut in a huge rock at the temple, commemo
rating the visit of the American fleet, and alongside of it a
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place had been prepared to commemorate our visit. Consul
General Julian M. Arnhold did his utmost to make our
visit to Amoy pleasant and profitable.
CANTON
We arrived at Hong Kong in the evening and sailed
for Canton the next morning on the steamer "On Lee,"
which was put at our disposal by her Chinese owners. We
landed at the Admiralty building, which had just been com
pleted. It is a fine, large, modern structure for headquarters
of the navy in Southern China, and is located fifteen miles
from Canton. We were met by a gunboat the Captain
bringing us a message from the Admiral giving us the
freedom of the port and welcoming us to Canton. This gun
boat convoyed us to Canton.
On nearing the city, we could see the illumination, and
as we got close enough we found it to be the finest of the
many good illuminations we have seen since our arrival in
China. Both electricity and lanterns were in evidence. On
landing, a great many troops were drawn up in lines on
both sides, and as we marched through their ranks, they
presented arms, the bands striking up American tunes.
We were met by a representative of the Viceroy, who, un
fortunately, was confined to his bed. The Tartar General,
Admiral Li, Taotais and representatives of the Chamber of
Commerce were all in line to receive us, so we felt at ease,
as we had been a little anxious on account of the immigra
tion and boycott troubles. About one hundred and fifty sat
down to the banquet, where short addresses only were made.
Two gunboats took us to the hotel in the shameen (is
land) where we arrived shortly after midnight. The next
morning we visited the temple of five hundred genii, where
Marco Polo has a very prominent seat. We then visited the
ancestral temple of the Chan family, where we had a two-
hour conference with Canton merchants and where a luncheon
was served. This is one of the most beautiful temples in
China, and with the added decorations it was a grand sight.
Mr. Waldron, of Honolulu, replied to the Chamber of Com
merce address of welcome, and I gave an address on the
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question that most interested the Cantonese, immigration into
the United States.
Mr. Ng Poon Chew, of San Francisco, interpreted it in
his usual able manner, which brought forth great applause
from the Chinese audience. On account of the size of the
hall and the great height of the roof it was difficult to talk,
but I got the audience to gather close round and all heard
very distinctly. From what we could learn from the Chinese,
they were quite satisfied with my explanation, and it dis
posed of the subject. Following is my address:
This is the question of questions before the Chinese and
American people. It is many sided, and has its wrongs and
its rights on both sides. As to the treaty itself, which is the
foundation of the relations between the two countries, talk
ing for the American side, we have this to say, that: inas
much as it will be up for revision in a short time between our
governments, and seeing that at that time it will be left to
the diplomats of both nations to decide what is the best for
both countries, we are quite willing to leave the entire mat
ter in the hands of the distinguished Chinese and Americans
who will be chosen by our respective governments to make
a just and suitable settlement of all the points at issue.
Therefore, we think it would be out of place at the present
time to discuss this phase of the question.
As to the treatment of the Chinese in San Francisco who
are entitled to land, this matter has not been ignored or
neglected by our people. Three months ago a committee
of fair-minded men were appointed, three by the Merchants
Exchange and three by the Chamber of Commerce, and a
thorough investigation was made. I devoted a week of my
time to this work, being Chairman of the committee. I felt
in undertaking this work that the Chinese were not being
properly treated. I cannot do better than read my report of
the committee, which was sent to the Commissioner of
Immigration, the Secretary of State and to the President:
"We interviewed the Chinese Chamber of Commerce,
the Six Companies, the Chinese daily newspaper, and Chinese
merchants, and on the other side we had conferences with
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
H. North, Commissioner of Immigration, and several of the
immigration officials; and finally we spent a day meeting
the "Chiyo Maru" and another steamer, to see what sort of
reception the Chinese had. We followed them to the station
at Angel Island, where we saw the passengers examined,
and through the courtesy of the officials were shown through
the entire buildings and plant, and were given every facility
to see the treatment of the Chinese in every stage of the
examinations, and the manner of their treatment before and
after deportation. After an impartial consideration of both
sides of the question, we find that cause for complaint exists
to some extent, but on the whole it has been exaggerated.
"We found the examinations to be unreasonably severe,
and to answer the questions asked, correctly, was an im
possibility, and as the applicants have to prove their own
case (in criminal cases the criminal is considered innocent
until he is proven guilty here he is considered guilty until
he proves himself entitled to land), their own evidence, if
taken literally and compared with the witnesses, would be
sufficient to exclude every man, woman and child from
landing.
"For instance: the eight or ten-year-old son of a mer
chant is asked his grandmother's maiden name on both his
father's and mother's side, the names of people living a block
or two distant from his home, their children's names, age,
sex, etc. Then the father, who has not been home for years,
is asked to corroborate his son's statement, which is simply
impossible.
"We find those attempting to land have great difficulty
in getting witnesses to go to the station to testify. One
young man, a native son, had been two weeks waiting. The
witnesses arrived when we were there, so he would have no
trouble in landing. This refers only to those witnesses who
live around the bay. But many arrive whose witnesses live
in distant States. The papers in their case have to be for
warded to the representative of the bureau nearest to where
the witness lives, and in the event of change of residence or
pressure of business of the official, it makes it a very long
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and tedious wait. The system of examining the witness is
so complicated it seems to us that it is impossible for any
person to enter who is not entitled to.
"The buildings, manner of caring for and feeding the
immigrants are all that could be desired, and in justice to
those in charge we congratulate them on the conditions as
we found them.
"We were informed that those arriving in the first-class
cabin had their examination commence at Meiggs' Wharf,
which was completed as soon as possible, so that they had no
delay in landing, and not one in a hundred was detained.
The Chinese have furnished us with details of forty-five
cases, all during 1910. Some of them look bad for the
officials, but as we only got the Chinese version and not the
inspectors/ we do not think it fair to comment on them, but
for the sake of commercial good-will and justice we think
the Government should investigate. If they desire it, we
would give them the numbers of the cases, and in the mean
time our consuls should be requested to allay the irritation in
China, assuring merchants and students who are entitled to
land that they will be allowed to land without any indignities
being offered them, and that the department will see to it
that instructions are carried out, not in letter only, but in
spirit. In view of the fact that a large number of our most
influential merchants leave this Coast to visit China next
month, we consider the foregoing important. We ask justice
and a square deal for those who are entitled to land, the
same treatment they give us in landing in China.
"We offer the following recommendations:
"First That a more reasonable and rational method of
questioning be adopted.
"Second That all witnesses, white or Chinese, who live
in San Francisco or neighboring towns, be examined in San
Francisco, as a witness who has no particular interest in the
person, might go to testify in San Francisco, but would
refuse to go to the island, especially as it often happens the
case would not be reached the first day the witness went,
thereby necessitating his making two or more trips.
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"Third That examinations be expedited by sending for
witnesses, as the party being locked up has not the means
of getting them."
I think that the Chinese should be examined in Canton
or Shanghai by the Taotai and a proper American Govern
ment officer, whose certificate shall be final, and any person
having that certificate should be allowed to land without
further examination. I cannot, however, caution you too
strongly to have your Government officials see to it that no
fraud is perpetrated, as the fraudulent certificates issued
some years ago by corrupt Chinese officials and certified to
by mercenary American Consuls, who, along with their in
terpreters, all got suddenly rich, were the cause of all the
present trouble.
On my visit to Angel Island I saw several Chinese women
that had been brought over by their owners for immoral
purposes. They were caught and ordered deported. No
doubt they were brought from China through the connivance
of our officials who would receive money if they landed. It
has become a notorious fact that the wives of merchants
have trouble in landing, while women of other classes have,
in too many cases, no trouble getting ashore. The Chinese
can have no complaint against the exclusion of this class, as
our laws prohibit their importation from any country. I saw
some white women among the Chinese who had been ordered
deported. In the cases of bona fide students for some time
past none have been refused admittance. Many are going
from Shanghai, and there has been no trouble. The Young
Men's Christian Association there writes to the Association
in San Francisco, and a paid representative goes to meet the
immigrant on the steamer and gives him all the assistance
required. This information is no hearsay, as I have given
it my personal attention.
In conclusion, I earnestly ask you to stop the fraud at
your end and we will do our utmost to see that it is stopped
at our end, and that any Chinese who are entitled to land
shall be landed, without delay or any indignities being offered
to them.
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After the luncheon chairs conveyed us to the terminus
of the Hankow-Canton Railway, where we were ferried
across the river to the terminus of the Fatshan Railroad at
Shek Wai Tong, where a special train was in waiting to
convey us to the end of the line. The cars and all the
stations were decorated, and firecrackers were set off at every
station as we passed.
At Fatshan a building had been erected and neatly orna
mented specially for us to take tea in. For such a short
visit it appears incredible that they should have expended
so much money. The crowd was so great it was with
difficulty that the soldiers were able to keep the way clear
for us and the locomotive had to go slowly in leaving to
avoid running over people. We got back to the hotel in the
early evening. A gunboat was sent to take us from the
railway to the shameen.
Sunday, the Tartar General's wife and Admiral Li's
wife gave a special reception and tea to our ladies. This
was unique, as such an affair had never been given before.
The men were also invited to meet the officials, but there
was no mixing of the men and women as it would have
been too radical. However, we were very glad of even
this break in old-time Chinese etiquette, in that the highest
class ladies should meet the ladies of our party. Two of
the Chinese ladies wore the Manchu head dress, which
showed up conspicuously over the head dresses of the other
Chinese ladies.
In the evening we attended church in the Medical College,
a small room, but packed full of Europeans. After the
service, we had dinner at Dr. Todd's home where we met
some of the missionaries, amongst them, Miss Noyes, who
had put in over forty-two years in educational work at the
boarding school. In this compound there were two hundred
and sixty girls, from seven to twenty years of age. They
have graduates at work in almost every province in China.
We also visited Dr. Noyes' school and Theological Seminary
at Fati, across the river from Canton, where they have
thirty-two men in various stages of educational advancement.
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Many ministers and teachers have gone out from these insti
tutions.
The next morning I visited the Canton Christian College,
four miles down the river, on the Hunan Island side. They
have a big tract of land, and with the buildings they have
and those under way, they will be' well equipped. The
Chinese merchants are erecting two dormitories, and money
is coming from America for houses for the teachers. The
fees from tuition pay the expenses with the exception of the
European teachers.
From the college, I joined the party at the Provincial
Assembly building, which has just been completed. The
members gave us a luncheon. This being the last public
function we will attend in our official capacity, Mr. Booth
said it was fitting that, as I had had the first word in the
inception of this trip that I also should have the last. So
he called on me to say a few words to the Assembly which
were as follows:
First, I wish to thank my fellow Commissioners for
giving me the privilege of saying the last word. Two years
ago I took the liberty of saying the first word to the Presi
dent of the Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, which
resulted in asking the Canton and other Chambers of Com
merce to join in inviting us to visit you. That invita
tion stated the object of our visit: First, to create a better
feeling of friendship between the two nations, and second,
to increase trade and commerce between us. While I
appreciate that I am addressing a legislative body, we are
here strictly in accordance with the invitation, as commercial
men and not politicians, and we wish to make this plain to
you as we did to His Highness, the Prince Regent, and to
all who have entertained us.
We feel sure that the first part of our invitation has
been accomplished, as no party of purely business men has
ever had such a reception in the history of the world, not
merely from merchants and officials, but what we consider
the most significant, has been the reception from all classes.
This has convinced us that from the highest to the lowest
our reception has been sincere, and from the heart.
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
As to the second part of the invitation this will require
time to develop, as trade and commerce grow slowly, but, on
our return to America, we will endeavor to interest our
merchants to visit China with a view to extending their
trade. And we would especially ask your merchants to
visit our country, with the object of extending their dealings
with us.
In conclusion, we say to you that we will take home the
most pleasant recollections of our visit, which will last as
long as we live. We feel, that what you have done, has not
been for us as individuals, nor even as representatives of the
Pacific Coast, but as representatives of the United States
of America, of which we are the humble representatives.
We all unite in the confidence that peace, harmony and good
will shall ever remain between China and the United States
of America.
HONG KONG
We returned to Hong Kong the following day, and were
invited by the Chinese Young Men's Christian Association
to a reception at its rooms, which would have been a very
pleasant affair, had not the immigration question again been
brought up by the President of the Merchants' Association.
Mr. Booth replied that at Canton I had gone fully into that
subject, and as my address had been published both in Eng
lish and Chinese, he referred them to our statement as
printed, as this represented fully the views of all the Com
missioners. As far as we were concerned, this ended the
discussion.
The President of the Young Men's Christian Association
gave a fine account of the progress of the Association.
There are over two hundred members, and their rooms are
entirely too small as the membership is increasing daily.
The day following our visit they received a cable from New
York, stating that they would be given $75,000.00, if the
Chinese would give $25,000.00 to make up $100,000.00.
Immediately, acceptance was wired, and the directors present
subscribed $13,000.00 on the spot, so Hong Kong will get
a fine, new, modern Y. M. C. A. building. This being a
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British colony, it seems remarkable that the money should
come from America. Not only here, but in the various
large cities of China, the money to make Y. M. C. A. work
possible has come from America. (A fine new building has
since been erected.)
The next evening we went to a banquet given by Chin
Gee Kee, who is the head of the Sun Min Railroad on
West River. He lived in America for forty years, and
raised all the money to build the Sun Min Railroad in
America, in his dealings with the Chinese there. No Eu
ropeans have had anything to do with it, either financing
or operating. All our Commissioners were present at this
banquet. Ng Poon Choo delivered one of his characteristic
speeches that brought the house down with applause.
Now that the trip, or rather the visit, is over, we can
sum up the results. First, as to creating a better feeling of
friendship between the two nations. This has certainly
been accomplished, as it would have been impossible for any
body of men to have given us the reception we received all
over China, unless they were extremely friendly to us as
Americans and represented our country. And while our trip
was commercial and not political, we could see a great deal
of the latter injected into it by our hosts, at the different
cities we visited, and the great international game that is
being played in Peking, in which America for the first time
seems to be taking an important part. It looks as if our
visit at this critical time was opportune and of great benefit
and advantage to our country politically, although it was
not so intended. What we have accomplished cannot be
told at present as it will take time to develop. We have
learned, however, that our success in developing trade will
depend to a great extent on our ability to interest our mer
chants at home in this trade, which can only be increased
and developed by either the principals or their best men
personally investigating. No other way will ever produce
great results. We are all satisfied that by this method a
great expansion of our commerce can be secured both in
imports and exports. It appears as though our exports will
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demand more effort, as European competition is very keen,
but we have met nothing to discourage us and a great deal
to encourage us toward accomplishing the desired end.
At the last meeting we had in Hong Kong, they put the
question to the entire membership to express their opinion
as to missions and missionaries in China. (In starting out
it was the general opinion that missions and missionaries
were a detriment to the commercial interests of America
and China.) At this meeting I stated to them, that as they
had seen the missions and missionaries and had learned a
great deal of the commercial interests of China, I would
like very much to have them express an opinion.
A motion was introduced and unanimously carried, that
the missionaries were of great commercial importance to
China; in fact, without them it would have been impossible
to have obtained the reesults, commercially, that we have
obtained.
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Chapter Sixteen
COMMISSIONERS SEPARATE TO
REUNITE LATER
Our party then broke up, some going to Europe via the
Suez, while others went to Manila and Shanghai, where we
were to meet later. Mrs. Dollar and I went directly to
Shanghai where we visited for ten days, and were tendered
dinners and luncheons daily, the most notable being at the
residence of Choa Chu Kuan, at which were present not only
the ladies of his family, but other ladies, which was contrary
to custom but which we thoroughly enjoyed. Among the men
present, were the President of Kiangsu Provincial Assembly,
the Governor of Mukden, Manchuria, and other Chinese nota
bles. We had met the President of the Assembly at Nanking,
and although our conversation was carried on through an in
terpreter, we had an interesting discussion on constitutional
government the all important subject before them at the
present time. They are all very anxious to learn from us
all we know about the various branches of the legislature.
To some extent they are in the dark as to exactly what they
will ultimately do. They are working out the rules for
both the Assembly and the Senate, but the exact relationship
between them has not been determined.
But a much more important subject, on which there are
various opinions, is the exact relationship between the Em
peror and the Senate and the Grand Councilors. A great
many holding high positions will have to step down and
out, to make room for the constitutional government, as
when it is in complete working order, the day of official
dom is over. That is, the official as he is at present and
only understood by the Chinese themselves. And I am free
to say I cannot understand why so many are employed and
what many of them do to earn their money. In most cases,
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the salaries they get are inadequate, and the balance that
they require they have to make up on the outside. The
feeling between officials and merchants is not very friendly,
and I can see the breach has been widened very much of late.
I ENTERTAIN MERCHANTS OF SHANGHAI
Two days before leaving Shanghai I gave a banquet at
the Palace Hotel to twenty-four of the principal merchants
of Shanghai and other cities. One of the guests in a speech
said there had never been such a party in China before.
The Presidents of the following Chinese Chambers of Com
merce were present: Shanghai, Canton, Hankow and Tien
tsin, the four largest commercial cities, and three others
were represented by their Vice-Presidents. The distance
between the cities farthest apart, that were represented, was
two thousand miles, and they had never been united thus
before. At this banquet they decided to form a Consolidated
or United Chamber of Commerce, so that all of them could
act through a central organization in Shanghai. So, if our
visit has done no more than to accomplish this, we are well
repaid. This is the first and most significant move towards
a United China. I made a short address, to which H. E.
Chou replied and which was interpreted by Mr. Chu Li Chi.
He said, words failed him to tell me how much they appre
ciated my visit at this time, knowing that I had not long re
turned home. This visit necessitated Mrs. Dollar and myself
coming to China twice in one year, traveling twenty-eight
thousand miles to do it, and that I had consented to leave
my business and home comforts at their written and cabled
requests. He assured me of their high appreciation for what
I had done to promote friendly relations between America
and China. All of which they would not forget.
My address is below.
On behalf of the Commercial Commission, it gives me
great pleasure to welcome here tonight such a representative
body of merchants from so many different provinces from
Chili in the north to Kwang Tung in the south. It is a
great satisfaction to me and it must be to you, to know of
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the great success of our visit. I see, that in the Japanese
papers, it is now admitted that our visit has greatly in
creased the friendship between the two nations. But what
we will discuss at the meeting next Friday will be the final
means to increase the trade between our countries. I wish
to call your special attention to the reciprocal aspect of the
case; for our trade relations to be lasting we must have
free exchange of commodities. We must buy your products
and you must buy ours. From a shipping or transportation
point of view, it comes more forcibly home to us that, if we
come to this country and load our ships with your freight
and you do not buy sufficient from us and we have to bring
our ships from America empty, then we must charge you
almost double freight, so you will see that you are as much
interested as ourselves in furnishing cargoes both ways. The
following will help our commercial relations:
1. The loaning of American money to your government.
2. The formation of a bank as proposed.
3. The establishment of exhibits in both countries with
a competent man in charge.
4. The establishment of your merchant marine in foreign
trade.
All those things will help, but the most essential is for
your merchants and ours to visit each other's country and
get acquainted and study each other's wants, and in no way
can this trade be developed as by the individual efforts and
energy which is essential to the development of commercial
relations.
Immigration. I did not intend to mention this subject,
but as my friend, the President of the Canton Chamber of
Commerce, His Excellency Chang Pat Sze, Assistant Min
ister of Commerce, has brought it up, I must reply. But I
cannot say more than I said in my address, which was pub
lished in all the Chinese papers. I can assure you, however,
that no bona fide merchant will have trouble in landing in
America.
I ask you to drink a toast, which at this time I consider
appropriate, as I am addressing gentlemen from all parts
of China "A United China."
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On November nth, as arranged, our party arrived from
Manila. I called our meeting together and asked Mr. Moore
to preside, with His Excellency Chang of Canton to act as
joint Chairman with him. This was a fortunate stroke as
Mr. Chang is a very distinguished man, comes from Kwang
Tung Province in the extreme south, and is very popular
with the Chinese; also on account of the immigration
troubles. This made the meeting a success as it created
enthusiasm. I outlined the various subjects that during
the past week I had discussed from time to time at various
meetings, at which His Excellency Shen Tun Ho was the
moving spirit. He has been most energetic.
The subjects for discussion were:
1. Bank: one-half Chinese capital and one-half American.
2. Exhibits in China and America.
3. Exposition 1915.
4. Reciprocity.
5. Merchants of both countries to visit each other.
6. Building a steamer : one-half capital from each country.
7. Uniting the Chambers of Commerce of China.
The Shanghai Secretary, Chu Li Chi, read the report of
the committee, composed of different Chambers, which is
below. As to the first paragraph, half of the capital of
three million taels was subscribed by the Chinese and our
committee on banks agreed to submit a report to the bankers
on our side. The second paragraph was approved, and will
be submitted to our Associated Chambers of Commerce at
the January meeting.
Questions to be brought up for discussion at the con
ference :
i. Banking Corporation Scheme. To start an American-
Chinese Banking Corporation with a capital of say ten mil
lion Shanghai taels or Mexican dollars, one-half to be sub
scribed by Americans, and the balance by Chinese, and to be
registered at Washington and Peking under American ordi
nances, with its head office in the most desirable port on
the Pacific Coast. This said bank, besides doing its regular
business in ordinary mercantile loans against delivery orders,
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can also be the agency of the Chinese Government loans
for the construction of railways, organization of industrial
enterprises, and the development of resources. It may also
extend its business in the nature of a loan and trust com
pany if the circumstances warrant. As China at present
needs capital for developing her resources, and the rate of
interest is higher in the Orient than in the Occident, and
also owing to our system of government and the uncertainty
of their banking laws, the wealthy Chinese and high officials
would rather entrust their deposits with the foreign reg
istered bank than with one purely Chinese. In view of these
points there are enormous possibilities of profit to start
such a bank, with no possibility of loss in the hands of
honest experts. The matter, however, will be more fully
discussed at the meeting.
2. Establishment of Exhibition Halls. With a view to
promoting trade between America and China, it is desirable
that the American Chambers of Commerce provide halls
(at such ports along the Pacific Coast convenient for im
port from China) for the exhibition of Chinese products,
to be sent from time to time by the Chinese Chambers of
Commerce if they think it expedient. The said halls, under
the supervision and assistance of the American Chamber, to
be managed by an English-speaking Chinese whose duty is
to give information and answer any questions regarding
the products. He is also to correspond and report about
the business conditions and markets, from time to time,
between America and China, so as to keep the Chambers
of Commerce of the two nations in close touch and well
advised. On the other hand, the Chinese Chambers of Com
merce will also provide a similar hall, say at Shanghai, to
be governed and managed exactly in the same manner, for
the disposal of the goods sent by the American Chambers
of Commerce.
3. Appointment of Commercial Delegates and Canvassing
Agencies. For the furtherance of trade between America
and China, it is advisable to mutually send commercial
delegates as canvassing agencies for the two countries. The
American delegate will stay in China with headquarters, say
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at Shanghai, and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce will
undertake to provide him an English-speaking assistant, an
office and also letters of introduction. His business is to
travel with samples of American products from port to port,
for advertising and securing orders from industrial mer
chants. The Chinese delegate will stay in America with his
headquarters at the most desirable port along the Pacific
Coast, and he will do in the same way and be treated in
like manner by the American Chambers of Commerce.
These are practical suggestions which can be carried out
economically with great success. We hope that the Amer
ican Commissioners will give them their favorable considera
tion and take prompt action.
Reciprocity was discussed, and it was made very plain to
all that each country must buy from the other. To prosper,
trade cannot be one sided. With the above object in view,
merchants must visit each other's country and get acquainted
so that trade may be increased.
The building of a freight steamer to fly the Chinese flag,
for which one-half the capital should come from China and
half from America, will be taken up by the Chambers of
Commerce with the Minister of Commerce, to see what the
laws are, and with the Minister of Communication to see
if the grand ''chop" would be rebated.
Mr. K. P. Chew, on behalf of the Exposition, spoke as
follows :
When the Commissioners were in Nanking last month,
this subject was roughly discussed and met with general
approval among the merchants as well as the representatives
of the Exhibitors' Association. Later on, the subject was
again brought before the public by His Excellency Sheng
Tang Ho. His articles in the local press at Shanghai and
other ports have not only drawn the people's attention, but
created interest throughout the Empire. It is now univer
sally recognized that an institution of this kind properly
managed would go a long way to promote the commercial
relations of the two countries.
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The visit of the members of the Associated Chambers
of Commerce of the Pacific Coast to China is an epoch-
making event in the history of commerce. Through their
visits to our cities, they have gathered whatever facts that
are necessary for their purposes. On the other hand, our
merchants have, through their personal contact, acquired also
valuable information from them. It is a mutual proposition,
but it lacks a permanent character. The International Com
mercial Museum would maintain not only what has been
accomplished, but it would gather further information about
the market and serve as a medium to promote commerce.
The scope of the institution must be broad. Several
museums must be established in China and in the Pacific
ports. In the museums there should be a complete exhibi
tion of product, system of manufacture, method of transpor
tation, etc. There should be a Bureau of Information where
general information and specific information can be obtained
by the merchants, as well as by the interested parties. There
should be in each country, and in the respective languages,
a newspaper as the origin for the development of American
Chinese commerce.
The organization for administration of the museums
should also be international. There should be a central
board, whose members should be composed half of represen
tatives of American Chambers of Commerce, and half of
Chinese. By such organization, uniformity may be obtained.
Luncheon was served in the same room in which we
were having our meeting, but we were so busy with speeches
and business we did not have time to finish and had to hurry,
arriving on board the ship that was lying at Woosung ready
to receive us, at the exact time she was scheduled to sail.
The Chinese came in a body to wish us bon voyage. Every
one, Chinese and American, was delighted with the great
success of our visit from which we hope for great results.
GENERAL REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND COMMERCE
We find that the imports into China for 1908 were
$248,538,000; for 1909, $263,666,000; an increase of six
per cent, or $15,128,000. Of these amounts, imports from
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America were, for 1908, $25,984,000; for 1909, $20,541,000;
a decrease of twenty-one per cent, or $5,443,000. Exports to
America for 1908 were $15,009,000; for 1909, $20,440,000;
an increase of thirty-six per cent, or $5,431,000. In other
words, our sales to China have decreased twenty-one per
cent, but our purchases from China have increased thirty-six
per cent.
Our sales to China in 1905 were forty-eight and a half
million dollars, while last year they were only twenty and
a half million dollars, a decrease of about one hundred and
forty per cent; which illustrates the old saying, "that trade
follows the flag," as American ships last year only carried
nine-tenths of one per cent of the commerce of China.
These figures bring out very forcibly the fact that we
are buying more from China than they buy from us; and,
while their trade is increasing with other nations, their pur
chases from us are rapidly decreasing. The question which
has occupied the minds of the Commission is how this state
of affairs can be changed. The conclusion we have come
to is: For our merchants and manufacturers to send their
best men to China to work up trade, or better still, for the
principals of the firms to go and make a personal investi
gation first, taking plenty of time, to thoroughly understand
the conditions, then, if they decide that a profitable trade
can be carried on, send the best men they have to work it
up. We cannot too strongly recommend this, as the possi
bilities are unlimited.
Please keep in mind that in going to China you are
going to over one-quarter of the inhabitants of the world,
and as they are just changing from the old to the new way
of doing things, now is the opportune time. Other nations
appreciate this far more than we do. For instance: France,
Germany and Japan each subsidize a line of steamers fly
ing their flags to engage in the coastwise trade between the
Chinese cities of Shanghai and Hankow, not to speak of the
subsidies they all pay for a direct mail service from their
countries to China. That is how much they value the trade
of China. The United States takes no interest in this trade,
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as to get a letter to or from China it has to pass through
three Japanese ports; and the deplorable fact is, that, in the
early days of the navigation of the Yangtsze River, Amer
icans had all the trade, as all the steamers on the river were
under the American flag; now there is not an American-
owned steamer on the river.
To some of you the name of this river and our former
prestige on it may not appear important, but when we say
to you that one-sixth of the human race lives on this river
and its tributaries, we hope you will see its importance as
we have by personal examination. As to whether the trade
is of sufficient importance to go after, we would call to your
attention that no country in the past ten years has progressed
as China has, and it is difficult to keep informed of the rapid
changes that are taking place. Fifteen years ago they had
ten miles of railroad, now they have six thousand miles; in
1908, the postoffice handled twenty-two and a half million
pieces of mail, while in 1914 it handled five hundred and forty-
nine million pieces; China has adopted a constitutional form
of government, our style of education, and reforms too nu
merous to specify here. The postoffice and the railroads are
about the best barometers of trade, so the above figures are
significant. Another example of the rapid development:
Three years ago soyo beans had never been exported to
Europe; this year they expect to export one and a quarter
million tons, valued at thirty-seven millions of dollars. Ses-
simum seed was unknown five years ago; this year Hankow
will export over two hundred thousand tons of this valuable
grain, bringing into the country over twelve million dollars.
None of these products went to the United States.
From our observations on this trip, we cannot overlook
the important part missions have played in the development
of trade in China. Unless they had pioneered and opened
the way, the foreign trade would be a very negligible quan
tity. In this connection the thousands of Chinese young
men who received their education in mission schools many
of them that we met occupying high places in Government
and commercial positions bear testimony to the great
amount of trade and commerce.
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In view of the foregoing we make the following recom
mendations :
First It will only be by the individual, personal efforts
of our merchants that we will get our fair share of the
commerce of the Pacific.
Second We respectfully demand of our Government a
change in our navigation laws and inspection regulations,
so as to permit us to use American ships in the development
of this great trade, as, without ships, our commercial develop
ment is hopeless. If the Government will not assist, then
the least it can do is not to hinder nor prevent us from
getting our fair share of the trade, but, encourage rather
than discourage us.
Third Further, we would endorse and recommend our
Government's policy of the Open Door and the integrity
of China, as essential to our best interests and the develop
ment of our commercial relations.
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Chapter Seventeen
LEAVE FOR THE ORIENT AS SPECIAL
DELEGATE OF P. P. I. E.
The first part of the year 1911 we spent at home, having
a great deal to look after in our growing business. For some
time back, I had been a director of the San Francisco Theo
logical Seminary, at San Anselmo, Cal., and also President
of the Port Society. In June, the meeting of the Interna
tional Sunday School Union was held in San Francisco, and
I was selected Grand Marshal of twenty thousand Sunday
School workers that paraded here, each man carrying a
Bible in his hand.
On October 4, 1911, we sailed for the Orient on the
steamer "Siberia," for I was a special delegate of the Asso
ciated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific Coast and the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
On arrival at Tokio, I presented to the Government
officials the importance of their taking a prominent part in
the exposition which we intended having two years hence.
I was fortunate enough in being able to persuade them to
participate.
I first convinced Baron Sakatama, who traveled with me
on the voyage over, of the advisability of taking part; and
then his father-in-law, Baron Shibusawa, Minister of Foreign
Affairs. The President of the Chambers of Commerce of
Japan also gave me valuable assistance.
REBELLION IS FORERUNNER OF THE CHINESE REPUBLIC
On arrival at Shanghai we found the Chinese rebellion
was two weeks old and had gained large proportions,
especially in Hupeh and Hunan Provinces. The center of
the disturbance was at Wuchang, across the river from
Hankow and Han Yang. The first move made was the cap-
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ture of the city, the deposing of all officials, the beheading
of all who had not escaped, and the establishment of a gov
ernment of their own.
All the soldiers and many of the officers joined the
revolutionists, so they started out with a nucleus estimated
to be from three to five thousand well trained officers and
men. Evidently, they had carefully prepared their plans,
as the first move after capturing the capitol of the Province,
Wuchang, was to cross the Yangtsze River during the night
and surprise and capture the Han Yang Iron & Steel
Works and the Government Arsenal, which was only sep
arated from the works by a wooden fence, as, up to a short
time previous, they were both owned by the Government.
This latter move was most important because the arsenal
was well stored with arms, including a large number of
machine guns; in fact, everything that an army required,
including materials for making explosives and shells. This
arsenal has been kept running to its utmost capacity ever
since.
There is a hill behind the arsenal which commands the
surrounding country, including Hankow, Han Yang and
Wuchang. Here, they mounted the heaviest guns they had
captured, thereby commanding the entire district within
range, which I think was about four or five miles. With
this as a base, they drove the Imperial troops, after several
engagements, down the river bank and across Seven Mile
Creek, which is seven miles from the native city of Hankow.
In taking the native walled city, they left the foreign con
cessions intact, as they had notified the various powers that
they would not molest or interfere with any foreigners. All
the buildings outside the walled city and up to the con
cessions were burned and destroyed; also the terminus of
the railroad, and for fifty miles the railroad was captured
and the track blown up at the tunnel. The Government had
to send troops, principally from Peking, eight hundred miles
away, which took some time. Meanwhile, the revolutionists
were not idle, as they were gathering men from all parts,
practically the whole of Central China being with them. It
is a fact that I have not met a single Chinese yet who
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does not claim to be a rebel. Officials of the Government
do not proclaim it abroad, but they will take you in an inner
room, if you have their confidence, and in a low tone of
voice tell you they hope the rebels will win. I am surprised
at not finding a single person on the Government's side
that is, amongst those outside of the military. When the
Government reinforcements arrived the fighting began in
earnest. Being ably officered and well disciplined, the Gov
ernment troops gradually drove the rebels back toward
Hankow. Eye witnesses told me that the bravery of the
troops on both sides could not have been surpassed, but the
rebels lacked a sufficient number of experienced officers, and
in many cases, on the field, men in the ranks had to tell
others what to do. The carnage on both sides was fearful,
and the Red Cross hospitals were soon filled to overflowing,
but there were not enough doctors or nurses to care for the
wounded. No time was given to bury the dead, and as
the same ground was fought over twice, sanitary conditions
were fearful. Each side was entrenched so the dead were
mostly in the vicinity of the trenches, although it was said
there were bodies scattered everywhere on the fields from
Hankow to Seven Mile Creek.
At the present time both armies are on the banks of the
Han River, which is about a quarter of a mile wide. Latest
reports state that the walled city has been destroyed by fire
in order to compel the rebels to cross the river. In the
meantime the Government artillery had turned their guns on
Wuchang, and Admiral Sah's fleet had come up the river
within range and shelled the city. From last accounts the
place was in a fair way to be totally destroyed.
On the way down the river, Kiukiang, Wuhu and Nan
king were all taken by the rebels and the guns of their forts
turned toward the river. They have sunk several torpedo
boats and captured several steamers with ammunition and
coal, so it is quite possible that the fleet may run out of
coal and ammunition.
This morning the Woosung fort went over to the rebels.
This fort is probably the largest and best in China, as it
completely commands the Yangtsze and Whangpo Rivers,
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and has entire control of the traffic going up the river, as
well as to Shanghai. At the same time the Kiangnan
Arsenal and Dock Yard, at Shanghai, were taken possession
of, together with the old city.
The casualities reported are only a few killed and fifty
wounded. The Shanghai-Nanking Railroad station is out
side the settlement, in China proper. Very unwisely, the
foreign consuls sent some foreign volunteer soldiers to
guard it, thereby breaking the neutrality laws by taking
sides with the Government against the rebels. Had this
unwise and indiscreet act been persisted in, the rebels would
have started a fight against the foreigners, but on the arrival
of a company of rebel soldiers the Europeans withdrew to
within the setttlement where they belonged. In this rebellion
there is no danger whatever of any trouble arising between
the Chinese and foreigners unless it is brought on by indis
creet acts such as this. This is a time above all others
when tactful and level-headed men are required to direct
affairs, and it looks to me that if the foreigners are drawn
into it, it will be through their own fault.
Orders were given for all to display the white flag of
the rebels, and this noon the city's streets were one mass
of white flags. In the forenoon, from two hundred and fifty
to three hundred United States soldiers landed and marched
through the principal streets of the city. They were cer
tainly a fine looking lot of fellows; their marching and drill
seemed to be perfect, and they created a very favorable
impression. It was evidently done at the request of the
Chief of Police, as he preceeded them, to show the Chinese
that there was a force of armed foreigners at hand.
The financial situation is bad, as all native banks are
closed to prevent a run. The foreign banks are going to help
them, and all will stand together as our Clearing Houses
did three years ago. In the meantime, in order to carry
on their business they are opening accounts in the foreign
banks, in which they have perfect confidence. That business
is affected goes without saying, and as this city commands
the Yangtsze Valley and all the hostilities are on its banks,
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the rebellion has paralyzed a great deal of the trade. Every
one is hopeful that when the trouble is settled China will
enter on an era of prosperity.
In Szechuen, where the rebellion started, we do not hear
much, but in Canton, Kwangtung Province, they foolishly
declared a republic of their own but that is now held up.
While we consider a republican form of government the
best, I am convinced that this empire is not ready to become
a republic yet. In fact, it will take many years of education
before it will be safe to put the ballot in the hands of the
people; so I think the only safe way would be to establish
a limited monarchy and retain the present Emperor and
Prince Regent as nominal heads. This, I think would work
out with the Provincial Assembly in each province, and the
Senate or National Assembly in Peking, making the min
isters responsible to the National Assembly and the people.
All this to an American may not look like much of a
change, but it means the complete upsetting of Chinese cus
toms that have been in vogue for thousands of years, and
ousting the officials who have been fattening on the spoils
gained from oppressing the poor people in this country.
Calif ornians can better understand this by comparing it to
our State Legislature. What a change and revolution it
would be if the spoils system and perquisites were all
abolished. It would put our politicians out of business and
an entirely different class of men would be in the legislative
halls. But, in this country, it is much more far reaching, as
the practice has been going on for centuries, and the men
who will now take command will be young men educated in
and accustomed to the ways of foreign nations, with an
entirely different idea of government than that held by the
incompetent and antiquated Manchus, who have been run
ning the government in the old style, on the "squeeze" sys
tem. The whole system is wrong, and to correct it they
must start the reforms at the bottom and work upward. I
was very pleased to learn that one of the progressive men,
Alfred Tzee, had been appointed Ambassador to the United
States. I know him personally, and his ideas are progressive.
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DOING THE PHILIPPINES
AS A GUEST OF THE GOVERNMENT
Finding our business cut off by the revolution, I imme
diately proceeded to the Philippines to see if business could
not be drummed up there. Arriving in Manila I found an
air of prosperity all over the city, and every one stated that
business was good and the bankers reported collections easy.
This is the only city in the Orient today that can make such
favorable reports. I have inquired particularly if it was only
a spurt and if it would last, but every one thinks that it is
permanent, and, while I do not think so much prosperity
will continue, it looks to me as if the Philippines are on the
road to permanent and steady improvement.
The city has improved in many ways, notably in build
ings and streets, and great improvements have been made
in the port charges. Now, a ship has no port charges unless
she lays at the wharf, and then only one-half a cent, gold,
on American net registered ton, per day. Pilotage is only
necessary when a captain does not know his berth, and not
compulsory, and pilots are not required at all when leaving
port.
Governor Forbes directed the Commissioner of the Bu
reau of Navigation to take one of the Coast Guard steamers
and accompany me to any part of the Islands I wished to
visit. We left Manila on the Coast Guard cutter "Luzon,"
and went first to Calipan, on the Island of Mindoro. There
is a stone and cement pier with twenty feet of water at
low tide. It is a very pretty place, and attractive on account
of its tropical vegetation. The Government building and
the Governor's residence are commodious and comfortable,
and well located on a hill. There are not more than five
hundred inhabitants probably less than on any of the larger
islands. The island is about one hundred miles long by
forty miles in width. On the southern end of the island is
a large sugar plantation, which is managed from San
Francisco.
From Calipan, we went northeast to Binahain, Province
of Ambos Camarines, on Ragay Bay. We also landed at
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Camico Cove, a few miles away, where they were logging
with carabaos, hauling out small blocks of molave (a wood
that is almost as hard as ebony) for keel blocks, for ship
ment to the Government drydock, in Hong Kong. The
hewing was rough and poorly gotten out. They were
rehewing the blocks before shipping.
The village was en fete, as a priest was coming that
afternoon, and at night they were to have a dance and fiesta;
in the meantime all work was suspended. At both these
places there is plenty of water for a steamer of any draft,
within three hundred feet of the shore. For miles a nice,
gravelly beach extended both ways. We sailed from Camico
for the coal mine at Batan and to see the lumbering at
Rapurapu, both islands being close together off the south
east cornor of Luzon. On the way, we passed through the
Straits of San Bernardino, which separate Luzon from the
Island of Samar.
I took a steam launch from Batan to Rapurapu Island,
four miles distant. There was considerable surf on and
it was impossible to approach close to the shore, but as I
was determined to see what was being done, I had the launch
go in as close as possible and I waded to the shore. It was
raining in torrents at the time, and I could not get any
wetter with salt water than I was with the rain. The lum
bering here is done in such a primitive way I cannot see how
it can be of any commercial value. (The timber was not
good and was poorly gotten out, so I came to the conclusion
that failure was indelibly stamped on the face of the enter
prise, which I later found to be the case.)
We went aboard the "Luzon" again and proceeded down
the west coast of the Island of Samar. The Straits of San
Juanica separate Samar from Leyte, and they possess even
more beautiful scenery than the Inland Sea. The channel is
crooked and narrow, in some places being only two hundred
feet wide. The nipa huts of the natives, surrounded by
banana, hemp and cocoanut trees, lined the shores all the
way. The country is of volcanic origin and the sharp peaks
of the hills showed up picturesquely.
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We landed at Taclobon, the capitol of Leyte, and looked
over the town. The principal industry is the preparing of
hemp for the market. They ship it from here to Cebu, to
be forwarded to various parts of the world. I found that
the Chinese were the merchants and the solid men of the
town, and that they had some very good, modern, hydraulic
presses which baled the hemp well and quickly. A Chinese
boss is over the Filipino laborers, who do all the work.
The Americans have made excellent roads running many
miles into the island, and we noticed several automobiles for
hire quite a sight in this out of the way place. The tele
graph system is very good, every place of any importance
having a telegraph office, postoffice and school.
We went from here to Cebu, returning by San Juanica
Straits and passing around the north end of the Island of
Leyte, thence through the Biliran Straits, where at one
place it was not wider than one hundred and fifty feet, with
a strong tide running through. One notices very large
churches in every village, in marked contrast to the small
huts of the natives.
CEBU
The town of Cebu is on the Island of Cebu. The Island
of Macton lies about a mile off, making a straight channel
up to the city of Cebu. The Island of Cebu is about one
hundred and fifty miles long by an average width of thirty
miles. A railroad runs twenty miles north, and forty miles
south of the city. Cebu presents a fine appearance from a
ship's deck, that is from a commercial viewpoint. There is a
fine concrete sea wall, about two thousand feet long, with
eight hundred feet yet to build. The upper end, at low water,
has eighteen feet of water, the center twenty-four feet and
the north end will have thirty feet when it is completed.
The Custom House is a large three-story building, sufficient
for a city of half a million inhabitants. There are several
very large warehouses of the most substantial construction,
all of concrete and built on made land, with a dock space of
two hundred feet. A fifty-ton crane has been installed, and
railroad tracks extend along the fronts of the docks, so that
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vessels can get good dispatch and at a minimum cost. It
is one of the most complete little ports I have ever seen. It
is also practically a free port, as it only costs nine pesos to
enter and clear, and there are no tonnage dues or wharfage
charges. A pilot can be picked up seven miles out when a
steamer is coming from the north, but it is not compulsory
to take a pilot, as the channel is excellently marked by
buoys, beacons and lights; in fact, I cannot recall any other
port so well arranged.
The exports, in their order, are hemp, copra and sugar.
Many small steamers and small schooners make this their
home port and gather the products from adjacent islands
for export from this port, and, as it is quite central, it
should grow to be a large port. There seems, however, to
be some difficulty in getting the farmers to increase their
production, and it may take some time to get them out of
the old rut of producing only what is actually required for
present necessity. A small piece of cotton cloth is sufficient
to clothe the family, and it takes but little to supply their
wants.
If the Chinese were allowed to come into the country in
limited numbers, it would revolutionize it in a short time
and make the islands a Paradise.
Cebu, like all old Spanish towns, has narrow, crooked
streets, a big plaza and an old fort. There are about sixty
thousand inhabitants. The Americans have macadamized
many of the streets and built several good roads through the
island. We went over one of these roads in an automobile
for a distance of ten miles and found it to be level and
smooth. In that distance we passed a succession of villages,
which made it appear as if they were a continuation of the
town of Cebu. This island has more population than any
of the group for its size, there being five hundred to the
square mile, with a total of eight hundred and fifty thousand.
We visited a native sugar mill operated with a carabao.
The entire machinery consists of two upright rollers, about
twenty-four inches in diameter and three feet long, between
which the cane was passed, the juice falling into a wooden
trough that had been hollowed out of a tree. This was
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carried in buckets to a large kettle to be boiled, and later
put into a trough shaped like a canoe, where it was worked
with a shovel until it was broken up, when it was put into
bamboo mats and sent to the seaports for export. With this
primitive method of extracting the juice, from thirty to forty
per cent of it is left in the cane.
In preparing copra, the cocoanuts are quartered and the
shell removed. If for sun-drying, it is broken into small
pieces and spread on the ground on mats, and is frequently
turned over until dry, then put in gunny sacks. If it is to
be dried by a fire, bamboo poles are spread out three feet
from the ground, on which the copra is spread, then a fire of
cocoanut husks is built under the poles and kept going until
the copra is dry, or rather smoked, for it is really more
smoked than dried, and is blackened, while that dried in the
sun is fairly white. It could all be dried in ordinary cheap
fruit dryers and come out perfectly white, and, as there is
plenty of fuel in the husks, the expense would be small.
In a park at Cebu near the water front is a monument
erected to the memory of Magellan and the priest who said
the first mass at this place four hundred years ago. Magellan
was invited to a conference with the chiefs on the small
Island of Macton, opposite the city of Cebu, where he was
murdered by the natives. The monument marks the spot
where the deed occurred and can be seen from the deck of a
vessel a few miles out at sea.
Mr. Alfonso Zarate Sy Cip, manager of a Chinese firm
Joaquin Castro & Company), gave a banquet in our honor,
at which twenty were present. There were only two Chinese,
the others being the leading merchants of the city. The
manager of Stevenson & Company gave us an automobile
trip ten miles out of the city, and the Collector of the Port,
Mr. Bennet, entertained us at luncheon, so we were well
taken care of.
The city seemed to be kept fairly clean, except in the
business section, where the offices are above the warehouses.
NEGROS
We arrived at the mouth of the Danao River, Island of
Negros, and found it very shallow even two miles from
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shore. After getting into the river in our launch, we had
plenty of water, although we grounded several times while
coming from the steamer. The river is about two hundred
feet wide, and the lumber from the Insular Lumber Com
pany's plant is brought down in barges, which carry two
hundred to two hundred and fifty thousand feet. At present
these barges are towed to Manila by ocean-going tugs. They
had been using the old Erie Canal barges, but these were
scattered along the river, some keel up and others high and
dry. The transportation end of the business did not look
prosperous. In trans-shipping at the mouth of the river
there is no shelter; but four miles east is the small island of
Suyac which has a sheltered anchorage on its southeast side,
with five fathoms of water, where loading could be carried
on at any time.
The Insular Lumber Company has two mills, one on each
side of the river. The larger mill has two fourteen-inch
band mills with all improvements and is a complete, up-to-
date mill. As there are no planers at the mill, all the lumber
is shipped in the rough. Most large logs are very defective
in the heart, and they told me a block in the center of most
of them had to be burned. They were sawing red and white
lauan, the former being called "Philippine mahogany" when
shipped to America.
ILOILO
We spent one day and two nights at Iloilo, which is a
port on the river, protected at its mouth by two breakwaters.
There is good anchorage off the mouth, but during the
southeast monsoons it gets rough and necessitates the stop
page of loading. The warehouses are on the bank of the
river, and, to give quick dispatch, sugar is loaded from the
wharf on one side and from the lighters on the other side.
As much as fourteen hundred tons has gone aboard a vessel
in one day, but the average is about six to eight hundred
tons. On the lower reach, where three steamers can lie at
one time, there are twenty-four feet of water at mean low
tide. There are fourteen hundred feet of first-class concrete
seawall, and there are yet to be completed sixteen hundred
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feet more. The Government builds six hundred feet a year
and keeps the channel dredged. Many modern warehouses
are under construction by progressive English firms.
The streets are distinctly Spanish narrow, crooked and
muddy and reflect little credit on the city fathers. The
only roads worthy of the name are those built by Americans,
which extend for several miles in each direction outside the
city. We went over these roads in an automobile, and they
are as good and as well kept as those of any country. The
old Spanish roads can only be described as miserable mud
trails, and there are not many of them.
There were a number of small, trim fore and aft
schooners in this harbor and vicinity, which goes to show
that this is a trading center for the adjoining islands. This
being a sugar port, it was booming, and every one was
prosperous and correspondingly happy.
We left Iloilo by rail for Capiz, on the opposite side of
the Island of Panay, a run of about four and one-half hours.
The railroad is well built and appears to be well managed,
and the company is doing what it can to induce people to
cultivate the soil so it can get more tonnage to carry. They
are going to a great deal of expense in demonstrating how
the soil can be better cultivated and in showing what crops
will bring the most money. There were some very creditable
exhibits at various stations along the line. A man in charge
gf an exhibit told me it was uphill work and very dis
couraging. In the interior, cultivation is an exception, al
though the land is suitable for either rice or sugar, for it is
difficult to get the natives to work the land. Capiz is a
quiet, provincial capital, with municipal and provincial
buildings; the latter are of reinforced concrete and are nearly
completed. Again I have to remark that what the Govern
ment has done, it has done well and substantially, in roads,
bridges or buildings.
We visited the Industrial School, which occupies an old
court house and offices. They are commodious and appeared
to be well adapted for the purpose. Girls are taught cook
ing, needlework, drawing, painting, etc., while the boys are
receiving a mechanical training. We watched them at work
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in the garden, and noticed that the student carefully avoided
all manual labor or anything that resembled it, the servants
doing the work and carrying the water for irrigating. It
looked to me as though they were not being taught that all
work is honorable, and that the great essential in this world
is to learn how to work. Most of the merchants in town
were either half or full Chinese, and the best work on the
Government building was being done by Chinese. The con
tractor told me it was impossible to get the Filipinos to do it.
We visited the Baptist Mission, where we had dinner,
and also visited the orphanage where they have sixty children
from three to twelve years old. The large building is suit
able for a school, and the children, as well as the surround
ings, were neat and clean and reflected credit on the manage
ment. The children were having dinner while we were there,
and they had plenty of good food and seemed happy and con
tented. Altogether, we were very favorably impressed. They
told us that the Protestant church is increasing on the
Islands, and that their church was full at every service. We
visited the Roman Catholic church, a very large building,
and were told that it was crowded at every service, so these
people are evidently good church-goers.
We visited the home of a wealthy sugar grower, for the
purpose of seeing how he lived. Like all Filipino houses,
it was very large and unoccupied on the ground floor, the
next floor having the living rooms and bedrooms. All the
rooms were much larger than those of the average American
house, I should say about twice the size.
The harbor of Capiz is three and one-half miles from
the city, with a narrow, crooked channel and only fifteen
feet of water, so it is of no importance.
In conclusion, I would say that the Island of Panay is
very rich and a good place for agriculture, but labor is
required to develop it as there is too much land not in use.
MINDORO
We next visited the Island of Mindoro, where we went
to see one of the largest sugar mills at Mangaren. It is a
small town that employs about fourteen hundred men. At
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present there are five hundred acres planted. They are ex
pending large sums of money and have one of the best mills,
fifty thousand acres of land of the best soil, a fine location
and great possibilities. The wharf is too small for tramp
steamers, but it is proposed to extend it some three hundred
feet. The harbor is perfectly protected and easily approached,
as there is plenty of room and water, although there are
some shoals marked on the chart. Soundings should be
taken.
From here we sailed for Manila after a most enjoyable
trip, during which I accomplished all I set out to do. Had
we gone by a regular line steamer it would have taken from
two to three months to have visited the places we did in
eleven days. We covered about seventeen hundred miles.
The result of this trip was the establishment by the Dollar
Company of a permanent office in Manila, and of our steam
ers making the Islands a regular port of call.
MANILA
On our return to Manila we saw one of the much talked
of fiestas, which was being held to commemorate the three
hundredth anniversary of the founding of the College of
Santo Lomo. There were many fine floats and banners,
men without number in all kinds of uniform, but not one
American flag was visible. The procession was preceded by
the American constabulary and even they did not show their
colors. To an American it certainly seemed strange.
In looking over the loading and discharging of coast
wise vessels at Manila, I find there is no improvement in
the way of quicker work than there was ten years ago.
Winches, as a rule, are not used, unless it is to lower or
lift cargo out of the hold, to be landed on deck, whence it
is invariably carried to or from the ship on a single plank
in about the most happy-go-lucky manner one could imagine.
The Government has taken the regulation of rates into its
hands. As the Interstate Commerce Commission at home
has cut some of the rates in two, it will compel shipowners
to force better dispatch.
The lumber rate from Zamboango to Manila will serve
to illustrate. The rate is fixed at $8.00 gold per thousand
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feet, for lumber, the distance being five hundred and eight
miles. A mill owner boasted to me that he actually gave a
steamer sixty thousand feet a day loading. This was a
record. A steamer carrying eight hundred thousand feet
has been away at Zamboango, from Manila, five weeks, so
that the small, petty way of loading and discharging makes
business impossible. We will have an opportunity of finding
out how they can handle * copra, as we have five thousand
measurement tons to go on board.
The Government very kindly put a steam launch at my
disposal to go from Manila to Batan, twenty-five miles
across the bay, to visit a lumbering establishment. The mill
is new and there is some construction going on. The entire
output is sent to Manila. The buildings presented a neat
appearance and their employes are well housed. The plant
appeared to be in a healthy and ship-shape condition. One
thing that struck me very forcibly was the number of men
employed in many places in the mill. I saw as many as three
men doing the work that one American does at home.
I have built many logging roads, but I never saw one as
difficult as the one owned by this lumber company. I was
one of the organizers of the Mount Tamalpais Railroad and
we thought it a great undertaking, but this road is even
more difficult. The camp is nine hundred feet above the
ocean and only four miles away. The company certainly
deserves the praise and commendation of the Government
for opening up and developing such difficult logging opera
tions in a timber country, that to an ordinary lumberman
would seem to be impossible. Going beyond the cutting,
into the forest, the timber was better and the country more
advantageous for lumbering. I was especially interested in
the actual logging operation in such a rough, broken place,
as in all lumbering this is where the money is made or lost.
The equipment was of the very best and most up-to-date,
all of it coming from the Pacific Coast. The method of
handling the logs was the same as in the States of Wash
ington or Oregon, except that changes had to be made to
suit the conditions of this country. With us one donkey
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engine takes the logs from the stump to the railroad; here
they use more relaying.
For instance, one donkey was bringing the logs from the
stump to the edge of a big ravine; then another brought
them across the ravine by an overhead wire and trolley;
then a third donkey loaded them on the cars, and still another
hauled them from the stump to the track. From the fore
going you will see that logging is not a cheap proposition.
The railroad was laid with forty-pound rails, and the track
and bridges were well built and substantial. I inquired
about the title to the right of way, and was told they had
no title and that any one could homestead a claim across
their track, fence it off and shut their wind off. It is enter
prises of this sort that will ultimately be the backbone of
these islands.
In this connection, I heard the Speaker of the Filipino
Assembly say that he was opposed to the Government selling
large tracts of lands, and wanted them kept for the Filipinos.
From what I have seen of them, it will be in the dim and
distant future before they will be in a position to start an
enterprise like the one I have tried to describe.
A TALK TO THE QUILL CLUB, MANILA
At a meeting of the Quill Club in Manila, I made the
following address on the evening of December 22, 1911 :
I have been requested to talk to you on shipping, and
Manila as a distributing center.
Before commencing, I wish to compliment the Club on
the beautiful table decorations, and also to congratulate you
on the absence of wine.
In order for you to make Manila the distributing port
for the Far East you must be able to compete with Hong
Kong and Shanghai, the present distributing centers. You
must make it easy and cheap for ships to enter your port
and discharge and load cargoes. You must cheapen the
cost from ship to shore; the delays to ships must be avoided
by providing better facilities for handling cargoes. When
this is done, you will be able to demand of the shipowners
the same rate given your more favored neighbors.
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As you are probably aware, shipping men have a differ
ential against Manila. This you can eliminate by providing
plenty of lighters to give the ship quick dispatch, or if the
ship comes to your wharves you must provide facilities for
getting rid of the cargo, so that she will not be delayed.
There is no way that cargo can be handled as quickly as by
lighters, and when a ship comes to the wharf, an ordinary
cargo steamer has to pay about thirty dollars a day for the
privilege.
When the Government builds other wharves, I would
suggest that the Merchants' Association request it to build
them much wider and to provide each of them with a rail
road track on the outside of each shed. The sheds are now
so close to the steamer that a large vessel has difficulty in
lowering cargo between the ship and the shed.
Furthermore, when heavy cargo is to be loaded or dis
charged, it has to be carried from the railroad in the center
of the wharf to the outside. By having a sunken track on
the side of the wharf, all heavy merchandise and machinery,
especially bulk cargoes, could be loaded directly on cars
and stored in the warehouses which are proposed to be built
on the fill. This will decrease the cost of handling com
modities such as iron, cement, flour, machinery and all heavy
bulk cargoes, and will effect a saving to your merchants.
Coming more particularly to shipping, it is a shame to
our Government that there is not a direct steamship line
between San Francisco and Manila. I consider it nothing
short of a national disgrace that passengers, and especially
mails, have to be peddled through various Japanese and
Chinese ports before they ultimately reach Manila in twice
the time that should have been occupied.
A steamship line running direct should be paid full and
liberal compensation for services rendered in carrying the
mail. I am opposed to subsidies, as I do not consider them
necessary when the service can be rendered without costing
the Government anything, as was proposed some years ago,
by turning the transport business over to a company who
would agree to run a line of steamers twice a month from
San Francisco to Manila on a time schedule, not to exceed
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sixteen days on the voyage. It was proposed that the Gov
ernment give this line the carrying of all Government freight,
troops and passengers at a price less than what it costs now.
By doing this, the steamers would be able to carry out this
service without any special compensation. The transports
now in use could either be laid up or engaged in other
service, as they are too slow to maintain a reasonably fast
service across the Pacific.
When I looked into the prices shipowners in the coast
wise trade charged you merchants I considered it outrageous,
but when I came to investigate the unreasonably slow dis
patch that steamers were getting I came to the conclusion
that they were not charging you quite enough. In all
seriousness, I say that this condition of affairs is a great
handicap to the commerce of these islands, and should be
remedied at once by you merchants giving the vessels cargoes
as quickly as they can handle them, and take incoming
cargoes away from the ships as quickly as they can be dis
charged; also, you in turn should force the shipowners to
handle cargo as expeditiously as is done in other countries.
I would also say in this connection that the aids to navi
gation, in the way of lighthouses, buoys and beacons, are
much better than we have on the west coast of America, and
reflect great credit upon the Government of the Islands. I
would also call your attention to the great work the Gov
ernment has done in the way of providing such a fine harbor
and docks here, and the fine harbor it has made at Cebu,
where a Custom House has been built that is worthy of a
city of a quarter of a million inhabitants. In Iloilo a good
deal of work has been done and a great deal is under way,
so that in the near future those two ports will be a credit
to the Philippines.
What the Islands want. There is dense ignorance in
the United States of the condition of affairs on the Islands,
and a process of education is absolutely necessary to dispel
the prevailing lack of knowledge. In this connection I
would say that you have taken a step in the right direction
by sending Mr. Stewart as your commissioner to accomplish
this result. It is a common fallacy that these islands receive
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a large sum from the United States Treasury Department
to keep up the Government. I would remind Mr. Stewart
to convince our people that this is not the case. Of all the
states, and especially of all the cities that should be inter
ested in your welfare, California and San Francisco, I am
sorry to say, show a general lack of interest in your affairs.
On my return home I will do my utmost to change this
indifference to active co-operation with you. We are espe
cially interested there in Oriental trade; as a proof of this
we sent a Commission from the Associated Chambers of
Commerce to Japan, and they in turn sent a Commission to
pay us a return visit. Last year the Government of China
sent an invitation to merchants to visit them from our coast,
and I now carry with me an invitation for the Chinese
merchants to visit us next year. We have provided an
itinerary for them which covers twelve thousand miles by
rail in our country, and involves the visiting of sixty-three
of our largest cities. I mention this to remind you that you
have never sent us a public invitation to visit you, neither
have the merchants of the Pacific Coast ever sent you an
invitation to visit us. Therefore, the lack of interest seems
to be mutual.
I would ask you, gentlemen, to think seriously of this
matter and endeavor to create a closer friendship between us.
I now come to a matter which is of vital interest to us
all; that is the 1915 Exposition in San Francisco. The
directors of the Exposition appointed me a Special Com
missioner to the Empires of Japan and China to endeavor
to induce them to make large exhibits. I met with the
authorities in Japan and had a favorable reception, and hope
before I leave for home to accomplish good results. I then
went to China, but as my mission was to the Government
and, on account of the revolution, I failed to find the Gov
ernment, I did not accomplish anything.
A significant fact in this connection is, that our people
did not commission me to speak to you on this subject,
knowing full well that your interest would be sufficient
without any words of mine, and that the Philippine Islands
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will make one of the best displays, if not the very best, of
all the countries that will participate.
From the talks that I have had with your merchants, I
am quite confident in saying that it is unnecessary to urge
you to accomplish these results, and I will go back to the
directors of the Exposition and report to them that every
thing will be done in the Philippine Islands necessary to
have an exhibit, of which all will be proud.
I thank you for your kind attention and would say that
I trust that you will take my remarks in the spirit they are
given in a sincere desire to see prosperity in the Islands.
In conclusion, I would say that no people could have done
more to have made my stay more pleasant than you have.
This applies equally to the Government, the Governor Gen
eral and you merchants, and you can rest assured that on my
arrival home I will do what I can to forward your interests.
We left Manila for Hong Kong, spending Christmas at
sea, and arriving back in Shanghai on the ist of Jan
uary, 1912. So ended another active, successful and event
ful year.
PEKING
Little could be done here in a business way on account
of the revolution, so I visited our Ambassador in Peking and
endeavored to get him to cable our Government to recognize
the Republic, as at this time it was a foregone conclusion
that the revolutionists would win, but he did not see it at
that time. I took the matter up with President Taft, but
nothing came of it, as we were working with the British Gov
ernment and it would not consent. While at Nanking, I met
and conferred with the new reform Government, and when
in Peking I called on the old Manchu Government, and,
strange to say, was on good terms with both parties.
At Nanking, the military was everywhere in evidence,
and the city was well guarded. The troops were being
constantly drilled, and companies of solders in heavy march
ing order were to be met on almost any road. At the
yamen, where the officers and headquarters of the revolu
tionists were located, soldiers were on duty with fixed bayo-
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nets, and it seemed most difficult to get in although I had
no difficulty whatever. I was accompanied by the Minister
of Foreign Affairs, but I noticed at two places he had^to
show his passport, and he passed me in. Inside, the offices
were quite temporary affairs, fitted up with modern office
furniture, roller-top desks, safes, carpets, etc. Like all
Chinese buildings, the yamen was without chimneys and
there was no way of heating it, but since the officials have
adopted American clothes and they must have heat, stoves
have been put in and the pipes shoved out the windows,
giving to this venerable place an appearance entirely out
of keeping with the highly ornamental Oriental surroundings !
When the President learned I was in the yamen he sent
his secretary to bring me to his quarters, which is the only
European style of building in the yamen. This place was
formerly occupied by Lady Chang, and was where she re
ceived the ladies of our Commercial Commission two years
ago.
The President, Sun Yet Sen, received me very cordially.
I had a letter of introduction from Y. C. Tong, but he said
he knew enough about me so that an introduction was super
fluous. Our conversation was principally on the recognition
of the Republic by the United States. He was extremely
anxious that our country should take the lead as he was sure
the others would follow. He was very anxious for recog
nition from the various nations, as in the official eyes of the
nations the revolutionists are only rebels. I pointed out that
it would be easier after the abdication, because it would
force the hands of the other nations to recognize his Gov
ernment. This he said he hoped would take place within
two days' time; in fact, he had information it would take
place the next day. He expressed satisfaction that American
citizens were taking interest in the welfare of his country
and that it would not be forgotten in the time to come. He
was very pleased that Ambassador Calhoun had sent Dr.
Tenny to investigate and report on the conditions of the
new Republic.
I spoke of the proposed visit of Chinese merchants to
our country and also about the 1915 Exposition in San
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Francisco. He said China must have a very good and large
exhibit, but in the troubled state of affairs no definite ar
rangements could be made at present, but he would keep it
before him and would see that it was attended to when the
Government was fully established and in proper working
order. He wore an ordinary officer's khaki uniform with
out ornamentation of any kind. The man impressed me as
one who realized he had a tremendous undertaking on his
hands, so much so that the earnestness of his expression was
tinged with sadness. He was a fine appearing man of
medium height and looked to be about fifty years of age.
His secretary and an officer stood within the door of the
room while we were talking, and heard what was said.
With the exception of Wu Ting Fang and Chang Chien,
I met all the members of the Cabinet, who are comparatively
young men, say from thirty to forty years of age. Tang
Shoi Yei is a very sober man, and like Sun Yet Sen does not
talk much but is an attentive listener. Chang Chien, Minister
of Commerce, I did not meet, although I had met him on
several other visits. I have been trying to get him to head
the merchants who are to visit our country, as he is probably
the most progressive man in China. He was offered the
office of Minister of Commerce by both Governments.
An arrangement was made to form a coalition govern
ment; the strong men of Yuen Shai Kai's party joining the
strongest men in Sun Yet Sen's cabinet, which would make
a very strong government headed by Yuen Shai Kai, as
President. It looks as though he will be military dictator
for some time to come.
I went from Nanking to Hankow on one of the largest
boats on the run. It was most comfortably furnished, and
I was the only first-class passenger, which goes to show to
what extent the revolution has cut into business. There were
a number of Chinese on board, but not nearly the usual
number.
TIENTSIN
We proceeded to Tientsin, where, on my arrival, I was
invited by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to attend a
reception to be held in my honor on the 2nd of February.
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The large audience room was filled to overflowing with
Chinese merchants and a few foreigners. The American
Consul General and the Vice-Consul General were present..
The President and the Vice-President of the Chamber of
Commerce and the most important men of the city received
me. No people could have done me more honor, or rather
more honor to the nation I represented, than they did. They
paid me the most unusual honor of rising when I rose to
deliver my speech, and they remained standing until I had
finished talking.
The address I delivered was as follows:
Before commencing I wish to thank you for the elaborate
decorations in this hall, and on behalf of the nation I have
the honor to represent I acknowledge the courtesy you have
shown in having the proportion of over three American flags
to one Chinese flag.
I have two subjects on which I wish to speak. First, the
invitation of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of the
Pacific Coast of America to the Consolidated Chambers of
Commerce of China. Second, of the Panama-Pacific Expo
sition which sends a message to you.
As to the first subject: On my arrival at Shanghai, I
told the Chamber of Commerce of the invitation, but, on
account of the revolution, they asked me not to officially
present it then as they would be unable to accept. On my
return to Shanghai I will present and recommend its accept
ance the date to be agreed on later when the war is over.
Arrangements were completed before I left America for
the party to leave Shanghai in March and go over our rail
roads for a distance of twelve thousand miles. A special
train of sleeping, dining, saloon and baggage cars will be
provided which the party can occupy the entire time of their
visit. Sixty-three of our largest cities will be visited, and
all our great manufacturing and educational establishments
are to be shown.
Our late visits to Japan and the visit of our Commis
sioners to your country last year (I was a member of each
party), were productive of much good. Hence, our extend-
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ing the present invitation to you, knowing that still greater
good will come from it.
The other subject is the Panama-Pacific Exposition. This
the people of our country intend making the greatest expo
sition the world has ever seen. Over forty million dollars
of your currency has been provided. The Exposition
grounds will be located on the Golden Gate, so that the
largest steamers can lie at wharves which are to be especially
built for this occasion. Railroad tracks will be laid from
these wharves to every building, so there will be no trans
shipment of exhibits, which can be returned to the wharves
in the same way after the Exposition is over, at a minimum
expense.
We especially want Chinese exhibits on a large scale, as
it is intended to make the exposition of a distinctly Oriental
character, and an effort will be made to erect a permanent
building where Oriental wares and products may be on
permanent exhibition, with a man in charge who will try to
develop and increase the trade between China and America.
On account of the uncertainty of the Government at
present, I will be unable to lay this matter before the Wai
Wu Pu, but it will be done at some future time.
I will close by bringing you a message of peace and
good will from America to China, and assure you of our
continued friendship. Also I will be most happy to assist
in every way I can to bring peace and prosperity to your
country. I returned to Shanghai and on February 24th
addressed a meeting of the Consolidated Chambers of Com
merce of China in the large audience room of the Palace
Hotel. The following is a translation from the China Press
of Shanghai:
The Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific
Coast of America have commissioned me to present to you
an invitation to visit the United States of America, which
reads as follows:
"To the Consolidated Chambers of Commerce, of China:
'The Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific
Coast, at a meeting held today, decided unanimously to
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GUARDIAN OF GATE OF "HEAVENLY PEACE'
Entrance to the Forbidden City
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
extend a cordial invitation to the Consolidated Chambers of
Commerce, of China, to send a delegation of fifty to the
United States, to arrive in San Francisco on or about the
29th of March, 1912.
"It affords us great pleasure to notify you of this action,
and to say that it will gratify the business men of this
community, to be able to extend our hospitality also, remem
bering the kindness and courtesy conferred by you upon our
delegation that visited China in 1910.
"We are aware that much good will come from the pro
posed visit of your representative delegation, for China and
the United States have ties of friendship and great interests
which both countries desire to promote. Our delegation
gained much information in China, and the knowledge then
acquired cannot but prove beneficial to your country.
"We assure you that your delegation will see much of
the United States, and that it will be our purpose to arrange
the itinerary in all its details, so that each and all of our
industries shall open their doors freely and gladly. Our
men of affairs and business will, to the fullest extent of their
ability, strive to make the time you spend in this country
both pleasant and profitable.
"THE ASSOCIATED CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE OF THE
PACIFIC COAST.
"H. M. Haller, President.
"C W. Burks, Secretary.
"San Francisco, October 3, 1912."
I should have given you this invitation on my arrival
here last November, but on account of the great trouble and
trials you were going through, I deferred until peace had
been restored. Now this happy result has been accomplished,
I take great pleasure in publicly congratulating you on the
result.
You will notice that the time stated in the invitation is
too short, and I would suggest, if you see your way clear to
accept, that the date of your visit shall be fixed by mutual
consent later on.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Before leaving San Francisco, arrangements had been
made for a special train of sleeping and drawing cars to carry
your party through a large portion of our country and ninety
days would be required from your arrival in San Francisco
until your return to Seattle.
During this trip, we will endeavor to show you our large
manufacturing and educational establishments, and we would
suggest that your party be made up of representatives of
all of your great manufacturing, agricultural and industrial
enterprises.
Our Commissioners, who visited you sixteen months ago,
were greatly benefited by what they saw and delighted with
your hospitality, and we hope for a like result from this
visit of your merchants to America.
But the great object that we have in view is not only
an increase in our commerce (we are sure that will follow),
but an increase of friendly relations, and now that we can
call you our Sister Republic, I feel that we will be drawn
closer than ever before, and I wish you every success in
your great undertaking.
At the request of Dr. Reid I gave a lecture at the Inter
national Institute. The hall was full of Chinese with a
sprinkling of foreigners.
Following is my address, delivered February 28, 1912:
Chinese commerce, for a nation having a population of
four hundred million, is insignificant.
Dr. Reid asked me to talk on Chinese commerce. It
occurred to me that I could take one specific branch, or
treat the subject in a general way; I chose the latter.
In agriculture, I could have taken up the soya bean,
sessimum seed or cotton, and any one of these subjects would
have taken up all the time at my disposal; minerals and
manufactures are even more diversified.
Your mineral wealth is practically unlimited, but your
mines are undeveloped; in fact, you have no idea of the
extent and importance of your minerals, as practically no
prospecting worthy of the name has been done. In a general
way, it is conceded by experts that you have the largest coal
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
fields of any country in the world; in iron ore, enough is
known to predict that you have the richest and largest
deposits in the world; copper and other valuable minerals
are known to exist in large quantities.
Your mineral exports are on a small and insignificant
scale, for you do not produce nearly enough for your own
use. In 1910, you imported, principally from Japan, nearly
one and a half million tons of coal, for which you paid in
good Chinese money over ten million dollars; all of this
money should have been expended at home. You bought all
you required of iron, steel and the products thereof, except
the small amount produced at Han Yang, and during the
past weeks we have read in the papers of the probability of
this great industry passing out of Chinese hands.
Gentlemen, this should not be. I would consider it a
national calamity if either of these mines or works, or the
China Merchants' Steamship Company, should pass out of
Chinese ownership or management.
You have untold wealth in your mineral resources. All
you have to do is to extract it from the earth and sell it,
and that of itself will bring prosperity, and furnish employ
ment to millions of your people. I do not hesitate to say
that I firmly believe the Yangtsze Valley will yet be the
greatest steel producing country in the world. I base my
opinion on history, which shows that those nations which
have risen to the highest position in the world of commerce,
had coking coal and iron ore near together and also con
venient to transportation.
In manufactures, you have made a sufficient start to show
you what can be done. In the cultivation and manufacture
of cotton alone, you should employ millions of your people,
and not only produce cloth enough to clothe your four hun
dred million, but with your soil adapted to the growing of
this commodity, and with your myriads of hard-working and
industrious people, you would, in time, become one of the
greatest exporters of manufactured cotton.
I will not enlarge on other commodities to detract your
attention from this main issue, but will just call your atten-
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tion to what could be done in the manufacturing of silk,
flour, iron, steel and machinery.
Then, as to imports; they would increase in the ratio of
your exports, as by the great increase of your industries you
would raise the purchasing power of your people, and as a
consequence your standard of living would increase, and the
wants of your people would increase in articles of import
from foreign countries. The necessity for a merchant marine
of your own would immediately be felt, and like your neigh
bor, Japan, you would take steps to carry your own com
merce.
The necessity for a complete system of railroads through
out the country is so apparent to you all that I need only
mention it.
What I have said looks plain and easy, and it would be
a pertinent question for you to ask yourselves, "Why cannot
we go ahead and start all these industries?" Or rather
"What obstacles are in the way?"
First: There is lack of capital. You must borrow money
to develop the resources of your country. Had the people of
the United States refused to borrow foreign capital fifty
years ago, that country would not have one-half the com
merce it has today. I mention this, as I know a great num
ber of your people are opposed to getting foreign money,
but with proper precautions it is quite safe to borrow a
reasonable amount, especially when it is to be used to
develop your resources.
Second: You require a good banking law on which solid
banks can be built, so that your people's money would be
safe, and the banks be able to stand when times are bad as
well as when they are good. I need but call your attention
to the native banks throughout China today, as about two-
thirds of them have closed their doors.
Third : You must have a solid, stable currency, preferably
on a gold basis. Business on a large scale cannot be carried
on, as at present, with a fluctuating currency. You do not
know how much the value of your money has changed over
night, until the foreign banks tell you. Exchange fluctuates
so much that it makes good, solid business impracticable.
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There are many other changes required in your laws,
but these no doubt, His Excellency, Wu Ting Fang, will
work out, as he is at present engaged on a new code of
laws for you.
In conclusion, I wish to give you a word of caution.
Your Republican Government is just being organized. It
will take two or three years to get it in proper working
order, so do not be impatient, but give the lawmakers time.
I have every confidence in their ability to give you laws
which will enable you to carry out all the matters I have
brought to your attention, and I feel that the laws which
will be enacted will enable you to become one of the great
nations of the earth.
Two days before sailing, I gave a banquet to some of
the merchants of Shanghai. Then the Chamber of Com
merce gave me a banquet that night, and handed me a
resolution to be given to the Associated Chambers of Com
merce of the Pacific Coast.
This was followed by a speech in Chinese by one of the
most popular Chinese orators, Mr. Yih Wei Chun, leader
of the City Volunteer Corps and President of the Rice Guild.
"Mr. Dollar," he began, "allow me on behalf of my
associates and co-workers to extend to you our heartiest
greetings and sincere good wishes for your future welfare.
"All of us are aware that you have endeavored to foster
closer relationship between the United States and China,
whose commercial interests have been indissolubly bound
together for the past few years.
"We deeply appreciate the good feeling and kind senti
ment expressed in the invitation by our American friends,
who will thus afford us a capital opportunity to study your
industrial and commercial enterprises. We all request you
to convey our hearty thanks to your friends for their kind
invitation, and also avail ourselves of this opportunity of
thanking you personally for your strenuous efforts made on
our behalf, when three weeks ago you cabled to President
Taft and Congress and the different Chambers of Commerce
of the United States, recommending them to recognize the
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Chinese Republic. Your laudable object in strengthening the
friendly ties between the two sister republican nations will
be soon realized.
"We regret to learn of your immediate departure for
home, and in bidding you farewell we wish you and Mrs
Dollar bon voyage and long life and prosperity/'
I responded to the speech and the toast for my health,
saying:
The laws of neutrality prevented me from expressing
myself until the issue of your political struggle was achieved.
You can all rest assured that when I go back to the
States you will have one strong, solid friend of China. I
will take great pleasure in conveying your thanks and
acceptance of the invitation to my friends at home.
The Chinese insisted on seeing us off at the jetty. The
"M. S. Dollar," on which we were going to Japan, was
anchored two miles down the river, and the dock company
sent a tug to take us from the customs jetty to the ship at
5 o'clock in the afternoon. At this same time and place,
the tender was leaving to take passengers to the "Tenyo
Maru" for Hong Kong. My son Harold and I walked
down, while our wives went in an auto. When we neared
the place there were several thousands in the crowd, so that
it was with difficulty we got to the bridge going on to the
pontoon. After elbowing our way, we found this bridge
guarded by police, and two double rows of soldiers lined up
all the way to the tug and tender. We asked the Captain
of Police if we could pass, but he said it was reserved for
"some dignitary that was leaving the city." We turned
back and reached the other entrance to the jetty, where we
met the Secretary and the President, and others of the
Chamber of Commerce who had been looking for us. They
had found Mrs. Dollar in the crowd and escorted her to the
pontoon, so we returned to the place where we thought some
dignitary was to pass, and found to our astonishment that
I was the dignitary, and was escorted with great honor and
respect through the lines of soldiers. They all raised their
caps and stood at attention. I was accompanied by the
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
President, Vice-President and Secretary of the Chamber of
Commerce, and several of the most prominent merchants and
bankers of the city, dressed in bright colored silks. It made
a very attractive procession.
On the jetty I met many Chinese and European friends.
As there were so many waiting to see us off I hurried our
departure so they should not be kept waiting. The soldiers
were lined up in front of the jetty, and we again passed
between the double row of soldiers to the tug. When the
tug began to move they cheered, and, with the waving of
hats, soldier's caps and handkerchiefs, we started on our way.
At this time it occurred to me that we had bought a large,
new Republican flag and that it had not been packed away, so
I unrolled it and with Mrs. Dollar holding one end and I
the other, we waved it. This act produced great enthusiasm
on shore, especially among the soldiers as the new flag had
not been generally displayed.
Before boarding the tug, the general commanding the
troops handed me a large, red envelope. I glanced in it
and saw a long document in Chinese which I thought to have
translated later on, but after getting settled on the "M. S.
Dollar," I found an English translation of it, which with
my reply was as follows:
To Mr. and Mrs. Dollar:
During your short stay in Shanghai you have gained our
friendship and esteem. You are of venerable age and came
from the other side of the Pacific. You love us as though
we were brothers. You wish every progress to our com
merce. We cannot refrain ourselves from recollecting your
words addressed in the Palace Hotel, "I will do my best in
anything that can be done to increase friendly relation,
trade and commerce between China and the United States
of America." It is impossible to express our gratitude for
your parental anxiety for our New Republic. We deeply
regret the lateness of our acquaintance and the haste of your
departure. We hope God will bestow on us another oppor
tunity of having the good fortune to meet again on the jetty.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
On your arrival in America please convey our thanks to
the Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific Coast,
who commissioned you to bring us the invitation to visit
your States, and express our wishes for the long life and
prosperity of Mrs. Dollar, yourself and your President and
merchants. Farewell.
CHINESE MERCHANTS VOLUNTEERS' ASSOCIATION.
(Signed)
Li PING SHU, President,
YIH WEI CHUN, Vice-President,
WANG IH TING, V ice-President,
SUNG MAN YUN, V ice-President,
CHANG LE CHUN, Vice-President,
TUNG SHIU, Secretary.
Shanghai, March i, 1912.
KARATSU, JAPAN, March 4, 1912.
To the President and Members of the Chinese Merchants
Volunteers' Association :
GENTLEMEN : When you handed me your letter on the
jetty, in the hurry and excitement, I did not notice that
there was an English translation or I should have read it
and replied then.
I now take this opportunity of expressing our thanks
and appreciation of the great honor which you did us by
assembling such a large force of the Volunteers at the jetty
to see us off and bid us farewell.
I cannot find words to express the thanks due the Cham
ber of Commerce, your merchants and your Association for
the great courtesies and kind consideration that we have
received at the hands of the Chinese people, and I feel that
inasmuch as I am not worthy of such great honor, that I must
attribute it in a great measure to your friendship to my coun
try, and I accept it as such. Mrs. Dollar joins me in regards
to all, and we pray that God will bless and prosper the New
Republic, and bring peace and prosperity to your country.
Yours respectfully,
(Signed) ROBERT DOLLAR.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
It took hours before I got over the great surprise, and
it brought forcibly to my mind God's great goodness and
kindness to us. Instead of feeling elation, it made me more
sober and thoughtful, as it showed more clearly the respon
sibility of doing what is right and just to all men, and it
was only with that sole object in view of helping the
New Republic that brought me so prominently before the
Chinese people.
After arriving at Karatsu, we received the Chinese papers,
giving an account of the farewell demonstration at Shanghai.
They stated that no commercial man had ever received such
a demonstration. An excerpt from the papers follows here
with:
"March 2, 1912. Unfurling a great 'Rainbow Flag' to
the breeze as the 'M. S. Dollar' tender left the customs
jetty, and shouting * Salute your Country's flag' to the hun
dreds which had gathered to bid him farewell, Captain
Robert Dollar left Shanghai for San Francisco at 5 o'clock
yesterday afternoon. His cry was answered by a tremendous
cheer from several companies of the Chinese Volunteer
Corps, his escort of honor, and the many foreigners on the
wharf added whole-hearted Godspeeds. As the tender shoved
into the stream and made its way down the river, Captain
Dollar could still be seen waving the flag of the Republic,
until the little craft was lost in the maze of the river traffic.
"The farewell ceremonies attendant on the departure of
the venerable financier were such as are seldom accorded
men in private life. Long before his arrival on the jetty,
lines of volunteer soldiers had been formed along the water
front, under the command of Yeh Wai Chun, Chief of the
local Volunteers.
"Captain Dollar arrived shortly before 5 o'clock, accom
panied by Mr. Y. C. Tong, Mr. Chung Mun Yew, Mr. Chu
Pau San, Mr. James Thompson, of the Shanghai Dock &
Engineering Company, Mr. T. C. White, of the American
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Consulate, Mrs. White, the Princess Der Ling, Mr. and
Mrs. J. Harold Dollar, Mrs. Robert Dollar and Mrs. James
Thompson.
"He was saluted by the military lines along the dock as
he made his way to the customs float, and was greeted there
by Mr. Chu Li Chi, Secretary of the Chinese Chamber of
Commerce, at the head of a delegation of many of the
leading Chinese business men of Shanghai.
"With Captain Dollar's departure, it was learned that
the Chinese Chamber of Commerce has officially accepted
the invitation of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of
the Pacific Coast to visit the United States."
We spent a few days at Tokio, where I called on and
received some of the prominent men. The object of this
visit was to promote the interests of the Panama-Pacific
International Exposition. Every one did all that could
possibly have been done for my comfort, and gave me all
the help possible. They could see that from a standpoint of
international peace they should make a big exhibit. Baron
Shibusawa, "the Grand Old Man of Japan," assured me
that he would do his best to get us exhibits, which meant
a great deal, as he is a man of his word. Baron Sokotano,
Minister of Finance, was much interested and offered his
support. Viscount Uchida's time was so taken up with
Parliament that he could not see me during regular hours, but
arranged to meet me an hour earlier than he usually got
to his office. At first he was not in favor of the exhibition,
on account of the cramped financial condition of the country,
but when I showed him the effects that a big exhibit would
have in increasing the friendly relations between our two
countries he saw that it was the thing to do. Baron Ishii,
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, like Viscount Uchida,
assured me that it was only lack of finances that stood in
the way, but he thought this could be overcome. Many
others of the influential men gave me some of their time,
and all assured me they would make an exhibit.
The following is a synopsis of an address which I de
livered in Tokio, and which appeared in the papers there:
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
"The primary object of the Exposition is to give the
nations, as well as individuals, an opportunity to show their
wares and merchandise to the nations of the world, and
thereby increase their trade and commerce. Also to bring
people from every land to see and know what others can
produce cheaper and better than themselves. There are also
many who visit expositions for pleasure and to meet those
from foreign countries who come either for business or
pleasure. So, as a meeting place it gives them the oppor
tunity of getting acquainted and nations are by this means
drawn closer together. The aim of the managers of the
Exposition is to get the best Oriental exhibit that the world
has ever seen, principally from Japan, China and the Philip
pine Islands, and, by so doing, those countries will all be
drawn closer to the United States, and it is in this way that
international peace comes about.
"The first principle of trade is to get acquainted and
to be friendly with whom you trade. In this connection, I
would call your attention to the beneficial results attained
by the visit of our commercial representatives to Japan
three years ago, and by your representatives, headed by 'the
Grand Old Man of Japan/ Baron Shibusawa, making a
return visit to the United States.
"Therefore, I claim friendly relations precede commercial,
and commerce binds the nations together. But war destroys
commerce and friendly relations. Now the great object to
be attained, is peace between Japan and the United States,
and if this Exposition does not increase and cement the
peaceful relations and good will which now exist between
us, then I claim that the Exposition has been a miserable
failure, and the time and money lost. The keynote is, that
the Exposition provides the means of getting our nations
together and getting their citizens better acquainted, thereby
increasing their friendship, and increasing trade naturally
follows; provided, one nation has to sell what the other
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
nation wants to buy. The great volume of trade going on
between us at the present time demonstrates beyond a doubt
that each has what the other needs.
"It may not have occurred to the directors and pro
moters of the Exposition, but I am sure that when it is put
before them they will see that the great object to be attained
is international peace, and I hope the day is not far distant
when an arbitration treaty will be entered into, such as
President Taft drafted with Great Britain and France; but
not like the empty husk that Congress offered as a substitute
after taking all the meat out of the cocoanut."
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Chapter Eighteen
SAIL FOR HOME ON THE "MONGOLIA"
We sailed from Yokohama on the steamer "Mongolia,"
March 14, 1912, and had many enjoyable addresses and lec
tures which were instructive as well. Bishop Bashford, of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, gave us a very fine lecture
on the effects of the revolution in China. His diocese is
all of China, and he travels all over, so he has a very com
prehensive knowledge of the country and is absolutely un
biased and fair.
On the 2ist of March, at the request of the passengers,
I gave an address on the "Probable Effects of the Panama
Canal on the World's Commerce," which follows:
The Panama Canal and our merchant marine are so
closely linked that it will be necessary to speak of the latter
first. In 1862 we had the largest and far the best lot of
ships of any nation. At that time we had 2,496,900 tons
engaged in the foreign trade alone. According to the latest
reports we now have less than five hundred thousand tons
engaged in foreign commerce. The Commissioner of Navi
gation states in his last annual report that the entire tonnage
registered for foreign trade was only 585,730; included in
this are the Hawaiian sugar fleet and Yukon River steamers;
and, strange to say, there are over one million eight hundred
thousand tons of shipping owned by American citizens,
which, by our unreasonable laws, are now compelled to run
under foreign flags and register.
By our treaty with Great Britain they claim that all
American vessels passing through the Canal must pay tolls;
we claim this never was the intention, as foreign nations
can have no interest in our coastwise trade as no foreign
ship can carry cargoes from one American port to another.
Therefore, the passing of American ships free through the
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Canal, that is ships engaged wholly in coastwise trade, does
not interest or in any way affect vessels belonging to a
foreign country. It is quite right, however, that American
ships engaged in the foreign trade, and in competition with
foreign ships should all pay the same tolls.
Section 6, of the River and Harbor Bill of 1884, dis
tinctly states that no United States vessel shall pay any tolls
for passing through any canal or lock, now constructed, or
that may hereafter be constructed. This relates more par
ticularly to coastwise trade. Primarily, the Canal was con
structed for national defense and for interstate commerce,
and, inasmuch as we have no vessels to use in the foreign
trade, it follows that this is of secondary importance as far
as the American nation is concerned. While those views
are national, they are narrow. But looking at it from the
broad viewpoint of the world's commerce, and as such as a
world-wide benefactor, we must treat all nations fairly and
liberally. As for taking money out of the public treasury
and paying shipowners who use the canal as a subsidy, we
certainly have a perfect right. Vessels passing through the
Suez Canal receive a subsidy from the following countries:
Russia, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Japan, and others in a lesser
extent.
As to the influence that the Canal will have on the world's
commerce. First, domestic and coastwise trade. This is
sure to be very great as a big trade is going on now, even
handicapped as it is by trans-shipment and railroad haul
across the Isthmus of Panama. I do not think it an extrava
gant estimate to say that there will be four times as much
traffic as there is now.
The Commissioner of Navigation complained, and justly,
that Americans, except the American-Hawaiian Company,
are making no plans to enter this business by building ships,
but that foreign nations are making great preparations to
start lines of steamers from Europe to the west coast of the
United States. There is sure to be big immigration from
Europe, as the rate to San Francisco will not be much more
from Europe than the present fare to New York. Several
large steamers are being built for this service, but what trade
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
will go through the Canal, other than to and from the United
States, it is difficult to predict. The rate of tolls and the
saving of distance will be the controlling factors. Congress
should have removed the uncertainty of charges before now.
That the competition of the Suez Canal must be met is a
foregone conclusion. They have been preparing for it, as
twice during the last two years the tolls have been reduced.
The tolls are now $1.30. The shortest distance will deter
mine to a great extent the route steamers will take. The
saving of distance from Manila to New York via the Panama
Canal is four hundred and seventeen miles, Hong Kong to
New York five hundred and ninety-seven; but from the
Orient to Liverpool the distance is much in favor of Suez.
So it can be expected, if the tolls are the same from Hong
Kong and Manila to North America, freight would move
by way of Panama. But, as the passenger steamers have all
their connections, ports of call and coaling ports, via Suez,
it can be expected they will continue running that way. On
the other hand, everything for the Orient from Europe
would continue to go that way, saving four thousand miles.
So it looks as though the American Government is to be the
greatest beneficiary of this, the greatest engineering feat of
the world.
The benefit that the United States will get out of it will
be very great, and justly so, as they furnished all the money
to build it. First, as a means of national defense, and
thereby doubling the capacity of our navy. Second, it will
bring the products of the field, orchard and forest of the
Pacific Coast within easy reach and by cheap freight to the
people of the Eastern States. Then it will reduce the cost
of the manfactured articles from the Eastern States to the
people of the Pacific Coast. All this trade exists in a small
way at present, and we can confidently expect it to increase
very quickly. Third, a great increase will come from the
Orient. Japanese trade is sure to increase; the Philippine
trade should double the third year after the Canal is opened;
but the greatest increase will come from New China, when
their four hundred millions of people get properly in order
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
this increase will be as radical as the throwing off of the
Manchu yoke and the establishing of a Republic.
But to take advantage of our opportunity our merchants
must go after the trade, and we must have ships. What a
sad commentary on our Congress to say that they built a
canal costing four hundred millions of dollars, and by their
laws prohibited American citizens from building ships to
use it in the foreign trade. We talk of awakening China,
but now we must change that and try to awaken Congress
to the great prospect ahead of us.
To show that the efforts I have made for increasing the
friendship and commerce between China and the United
States have been successful and appreciated, on two different
occasions I have been decorated by the Chinese Government.
We arrived in San Francisco March 30, after a most
enjoyable trip, and after a short stay, I made a trip to
Grand Rapids, Detroit and New York, returning by way
of Seattle.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Chapter Nineteen
A JOURNEY TO GREAT BRITAIN
AND RETURN
Early in July, 1912, we left on a business trip to England
and France. At this time I was a director in the Anglo-
French China Corporation, and visited the company in Paris.
While there I was astonished and surprised to receive a
letter from the mayor of Falkirk, Scotland, my native city,
in which he requested to know when I would be there as
they had decided to confer on me, the Freedom of the
Burgh, the highest honor the civil authorities can confer
on one in Great Britain.
I returned to London, and, when I had finished with the
business I had in hand there, I proceeded to Falkirk. While
in London, the Times printed the following article which I
wrote, relative to the Panama Canal.
"On account of the intense feeling that has been aroused
in this country, and the absence of the proverbial British
reputation for fair play, a decision having been arrived at
before hearing both sides of the question, many pages have
been printed, but in none have I seen the American side
given. I need not give the British side, as it has been
printed many times, and the public are familiar with it. The
object of writing this is not for controversy, but first to
give a plain statement of facts; and, second, to endeavor to
promote peace and good will between the two nations. I
believe that our diplomats will settle the question, but, if they
fail, I would be in favor of submitting it to The Hague.
It is not, however, a matter for that tribunal to decide as it
is purely a domestic matter in which Great Britain is not
interested.
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
"The vessels which will be permitted to go through the
Panama Canal free of tolls will only be those engaged in
the coastwise trade, and as only American vessels are per
mitted to engage in this trade, then it follows that foreign
nations cannot be interested, as they are prohibited from
engaging in this trade by a law which antedates the Hay-
Pauncefote Treaty by many years.
**The spirit of the treaty was that we shall not discrim
inate against British ships. How can there be discrimination
when it is impossible for British ships to engage in this coast
wise trade? The discrimination is in prohibiting British ships
from engaging in coastwise trade, not in allowing American
ships to go through free. American ships engaged in the
foreign trade, as the law stands at present, must pay the
same tolls as British ships, and according to the treaty this
is right; but, strange as it may appear, the American ship
owners are not directly interested in free tolls coastwise, it
is the American public, as any tolls put on will just increase
the rate of freight to that extent; and, far more important
than all this, is the fact that the transcontinental railroads
will also increase their tariff to the amount of the tolls, so
that it is far-reaching, and explains more fully the American
contention that it is a local internal affair, and not an inter
national one, hence the reason Mr. Taft has stated that it
is not a case over which The Hague has jurisdiction.
"The railroads maintained a strong lobby in Washington
all last session, headed by two of their ablest men, endeavor
ing to get as high tolls as possible put on coastwise ships.
They were naturally not interested in rates charged on ships
engaged in foreign trade. The contention has been made
that by passing the coastwise ships through free it would
increase the tolls on foreign ships.
"There is no expectation in America that the Canal will
be an interest-paying investment for many years to come.
Congress anticipated this, and they direct that 'we shall try
and get tolls sufficient to pay the working expenses only/ If
they do that they will do well. Furthermore, this Canal is
like any other commercial enterprise that must meet the
world's competition. The Suez Canal is rapidly coming
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
down in its rates in anticipation of competition. Then, there
are still open the waterways that we are using now, so the
United States will be compelled to make the tolls low,
otherwise they will find themselves with a canal on their
hands and few ships going through it; and, seeing that they
are determined to make it a success, the only way this can
be done is by meeting any and all competition, and by
making the rate reasonable and low enough to get the traffic.
Then there is talk here of boycotting America, and a mem
ber of Congress said the only way to arbitrate this question
was by the sword. Verily, the fools are not all dead yet.
"I need not go into the question of the exclusion of
railroad-owned ships from passing through the Ganal, as that
is of local interest only, and is necessary to prevent rail
roads from getting complete control of the coastwise traffic
that would go through the Canal, thereby raising the rates
overland. The question has often been asked, what is coast
wise? It is trading between ports from which all vessels
are excluded except American bottoms. The Philippine
Islands trade to the United States is open to the world.
"You published a letter the other day in which your
correspondent tried to show that the lumber trade of British
Columbia would be ruined by free tolls. He omitted, or did
not know of an important factor in this connection; that is,
that there is a duty of five shillings per thousand superficial
feet against Canadian lumber coming into the United States.
I will give you some figures which will show that British
vessels will continue to do business at the old stand; and,
inasmuch as I own British and American vessels and am
engaged in the timber trade, I am able to give you that data
correctly, and, as this is a criterion for all other trades and
commodities, it should convince British shipowners that they
have nothing to fear from American ships, either coastwise
or foreign.
"Timber ordinarily can be bought in British Columbia
as cheap as on Puget Sound, so we have only the transpor
tation tolls and duty to consider.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
The cost of building a 9,000 D. W. capacity tramp steamer
in Great Britain at the present high price is 70,000
Five American vessels of the same size are now being built
on the Delaware, for, each 142,000
A difference of 72,000
The difference in the cost of operating a 9000-ton American
vs. a British ship is, per annum 3,650
Then, as the first cost of 72,000 more, provision must be
made on this amount for 5% for depreciation, 16% in all,
which amounts, per annum, to 11,520
15,170
The trip from British Columbia to, say, New York and Phila
delphia will consume about a quarter of a year, that
amount is chargeable against the American ship for the
voyage (round sum) 3,792
The vessel would carry 4,000,000 superficial feet at 30s. This
rate I assume would be a fair one for a British ship 6,000
Total cost to the charterer if carried on an American
steamer 9,792
Allowing the British steamer the same rate as the American
steamer, 30s for 4,000,000 sup. ft 6,000
Canal tolls, say $1.00 per net register ton 800
Import duty into the United States, 5s per 1000 sup. ft 1,000
7,800
A difference in favor of carrying the cargo in a British ship,
about 20% 1,992
9,792
"All other commodities carried in British versus Amer
ican ships will be affected in the same proportion, so I trust
the calamity howlers who claim that British Columbia will
be ruined, instead of dealing in generalities, will get down
to hard facts and cold figures. I need hardly add that, after
the Canal is open, any lumber we sell on the eastern seaboard
of the United States will be bought in British Columbia and
carried in British steamers. I dislike very much to give
business secrets away, but I am doing it only with the hope
that an amicable understanding may be arrived at, and that
good feeling and friendly relations may be re-established and
that there will be a closer union between all the English-
speaking people of the world, and I hope and trust that the
people on both sides of the Atlantic will endeavor to bring
about this much-to-be-desired condition."
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
I had given the city of Falkirk money to erect a monu
ment and drinking fountain in the public park, in honor of
Sir John de Graeme. They delayed the unveiling so that I
could be present at the ceremony. This took place in the
evening, to give the working people an opportunity to be
there. The Falkirk Herald had this to say of the affair:
"On Thursday evening a series of interesting and suc
cessful functions took place in Falkirk in connection with
the presentation of the Freedom of the Burgh to Mr. Robert
Dollar, of San Francisco, and the unveiling of a hand
some granite drinking fountain which Mr. Dollar has
presented to the town as a memorial to Sir John de Graeme,
who was slain at the battle of Falkirk, 1298. Mr. Dollar,
who is a native and benefactor of Falkirk, and who is one
of San Francisco's best-known and most successful com
mercial men, has been touring in this country for the past
month or two. Unfortunately, there was a heavy downpour
of rain during the progress of the first function, namely, the
unveiling of the Sir John de Graeme memorial by Mrs.
Dollar. At the conclusion of this ceremony, the formal pre
sentation of the burgh took place in the Town Hall, and
afterwards there was a cake and wine banquet in the
Masonic Temple."
The Burgess Ticket wrote as follows:
"At Falkirk, the twenty-ninth day of August, in the year
one thousand nine hundred and twelve, which day the Prov
ost Magistrate and Councillors of the Burgh of Falkirk
being convened, they receive and admit Robert Dollar, Esq.,
of San Francisco, to the liberty and freedom of an Honorary
Burgess of the Burgh of Falkirk with power to him to use
and exercise the whole liberties, privileges and immunities
thereto belonging, as fully and freely in all respects as any
other Honorary Burgess has used and exercised, or may
use and exercise the same at any time, bygone or to come.
"Extracted from the Council records of said Burgh by
"(Signed) A. BALFOUR GRAY, Town Clerk."
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
The Press said:
"HONOR WHERE DUE'
"It must be generally acknowledged that the honor con
ferred on Mr. Robert Dollar, when on Thursday evening he
was admitted a Free Burgess of the Burgh of Falkirk, was
well merited. No one has done more to earn the gratitude
of the community than Mr. Dollar. A not uncommon expe
rience in the case of people who leave their place of birth
for the purpose of pushing their fortune in other parts of
the world, is their entire forgetfulness and neglect of old
associations. To Mr. Dollar's credit be it said, it has been
altogether different so far as he is concerned. His efforts
to improve his own position have met with gratifying suc
cess, and Mr. Dollar's native town has shared in his pros
perity.
"It cannot be forgotten that it was to Mr. Dollar that
the people of Falkirk were first indebted for the benefit of
a free library. Before the days of the Hope Street institu
tion, Mr. Dollar had provided the means for a large supply
of valuable books being obtained for the use of the com
munity, and these formed a valuable nucleus to the now
existing well-furnished establishment. In other respects the
town has benefited by Mr. Dollar's munificence, and there has
been frequent evidences of the warm interest he takes in it
and in its various associations. Having all this in mind, it
must readily be perceived that Mr. Dollar had a strong
claim on the gratitude of the people of Falkirk, and it was
fitting that that claim should have been acknowledged in
the manner it has been."
I noticed on signing the Burgess Roll that the last one
to sign before me was Lord Roberts, and only three of us
had received the honor in the last century. It was certainly
a great surprise. The Town Hall, capable of holding some
three thousand people, was filled to overflowing and there
were more people outside than could get in.
We left Falkirk for Glasgow, and while in the latter city,
Mr. T. L. Duff took us on an automobile trip to the West
Highlands, Scotland.
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
This was one of the most enjoyable trips we ever had.
Starting from Glasgow at 10 o'clock in the morning, we
went down the Clyde through Dumbarton, along the shores
of Loch Lomond. The fertile fields and shaded avenues of
fine, large trees surrounding the gentlemen's places were
beautiful sights. The moist, damp atmosphere makes it pos
sible to have lawns like velvet, impracticable in our dry
California climate.
We passed the quiet, quaint village of Luss, on the bonny
banks of Loch Lomond, and crossed over a divide; the
scenery changed to a wild, rocky range of hills with plenty
of heather in bloom. We then passed through the village
of Tarbet and got as far as Craiglarich for lunch, a distance
of over fifty miles. It was a very nice, neat home-like
hotel. After lunch, we crossed what is called Black Moun
tain, attaining a considerable height, and then descended
through the Pass of Glencoe. Up to this point from Craig
larich there were no inhabitants. It was a wild, dreary
country of morass and rough, rocky hills. Going down the
glen, the scenery was splendid, as only in this highland
country can such magnificent views be found.
We passed the monument marking the place of the mas
sacre of the Clan MacDonald by men who posed as their
friends, who, after partaking of their hospitality for two
weeks, fell on them and killed all they could find, but for
tunately many escaped in the darkness.
At the foot of the Pass of Glencoe, on the shore of an
estuary of the ocean, we stopped at a neat, comfortable
hotel in the small village of Ballachulish. It was such a
home-like place that we were almost persuaded to remain
there for the night, but it would have left too much distance
to cover the next day, so we went on. We followed the
shore of Loch Linnhe for a long distance to Connel, where
the motor was put on a railroad car and transported five
miles, crossing the railroad bridge, to avoid ferrying. This
was a good arrangement, as at the bridge the current was
very swift. Instead of a locomotive there was a motor car
which seated about twenty people. They make regular trips
this short distance, and we were told that up to September
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of this year they had carried over five hundred motors. The
north end of the transfer is called South Connel, a good
sized village. From there we went on nine miles to Oban,
where we arrived after dark.
The next morning we started back by a different route,
going through the Pass of Brander. We followed the
shore of Loch Awe for a considerable distance as we had
to pass around the head of it. This is a beautiful sheet of
water surrounded by high hills. At the foot of the Loch,
on a small island, is the ruin of a large castle. There are a
number of large, fine looking estates in this vicinity.
We passed through the village of Dalmaby, then through
Glen Ahray and the village of Inverary, where we stopped
a few minutes and had a very pleasant talk with the genial
host at the Argyle Arms, on Loch Long. We went around
the head of the Loch and crossed over to the head of Loch
Fyne, followed the bank for a distance, and then crossed
through Glen Kinglas and over a high mountain called
"Rest and Be Thankful/' Any one going on foot would
certainly be thankful to rest as it is a very long and steep
hill. W^e arrived at Arrochar for lunch. Proceeding, we
crossed the divide amongst the bonny blooming heather to
the Cave Loch, and followed along it, crossing over to the
Clyde to Kilcreggan and Cove, and then retraced our steps
around the head of Cave Loch and on through Helensburgh,
a large town, to Dumbarton, where we had a fine view of
Dumbarton Castle and Rock.
We passed Henry Bell's Obelisk, on a prominent point
on the shore of the Clyde, in a very appropriate location.
We crossed the Clyde at Erskine Ferry, and passed over a
beautiful agricultural and picturesque country to Kilmalcolm,
where we stayed with our kind host at his place called
"Chelston." Thus ended one of the most pleasant trips we
had ever had, during which we saw more of bonny Scot
land than we had ever seen before, and will carry away
many pleasant recollections of it for years to come.
While on this trip, the one thought which always came to
us was the extraordinary good roads and perfect condition
in which they were kept, even in the country places where
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not much travel could be expected, in a very marked con
trast to the roads in America, but we are young in that
line as yet. Another contrast that was noticeable, was the
uniformly clean, neat, home-like hotels in places where they
could not expect much patronage, nearly all white-washed,
even the steps up to the door being as white as snow. The
meals were excellent, even where visitors were not expected.
The general appearance of the people showed thrift and a
total absence of poverty. They have poor people no doubt,
but nothing approaching the squalid poverty that we see in
many countries, all of which causes us to be glad that we
are able to go away with praise and thankfulness for this,
our native land.
Of this trip there is little left to write except to sum
marize results, and when I think calmly of what has hap
pened during this year, the question comes to me, "Why
all these honors?"
We sailed for home on the steamer "California," from
Greenock. The trip over was a pleasant one, made up of
entertainments and the usual round of pleasures one finds
on board ship. The last night out there was a musical enter
tainment at which I presided. The committee put in the
program, "An Address by the Chairman," no doubt expect
ing I would talk on the musical program which was the
subject before us. My speech was as follows:
I will say a few words on a subject that lies very near
to my heart which can be called by several titles, amongst
them "The Brotherhood of Man," "Preventing War" or
"The Union of the Anglo-Saxon Races." It is on the latter
I will speak more particularly, for what else is this than
the Brotherhood of Man and the Preventing of War.
By the union of the English-speaking races, I do not in
any sense refer to any political union or alliance, neither
have I any fixed plan. I am quite willing to leave that to
our diplomats, or to the Houses of Parliament and the
Congress of the United States. What I want to impress
upon you is this that before our legislators can take any
action, a majority of the people on both sides of the Atlantic
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must be in favor of it. Some of us in America have been
quietly working to that end. They have put a small lump
of leaven in the meal and it is steadily working. I was very
pleased indeed to find a similar movement in Great Britain.
Neither side has been made public yet. Now the object of
bringing this to your notice is to ask every one of you to
become a committee of one to talk to your friends and
neighbors on both sides of this ocean, and you will be sur
prised to find how sympathetically your appeal will be re
ceived. Does it occur to you that with the union of the
English speaking race war would be almost impossible? So
here comes in "The Brotherhood of Man."
Do not be discouraged because each is such a small unit
of mankind, but consider the effect of setting millions to
thinking as we do, and see what the results would be. This
matter was brought forcibly before me last winter, while I
was in China endeavoring to stop the civil war then going
on, and as a means to the end I thought, if the United States
would recognize the New Republic, it would end it. After
spending a good deal of time and money cabling to our
President and Congress, Mr. Taft requested me to go and
see Mr. Calhoun, in Peking. I was one thousand miles
away, but I went and I totally failed to convince him. I
stuck to it so hard that he took me into his confidence, and,
now that it has been made public, it is no breach of con
fidence to tell you that he had made a firm agreement with
Sir John Jordan that they would work together, and on no
account would he do anything to which England would not
agree. I had no argument to combat a statement like that,
and while I was sorry to fail, still I told them both that it
gave me the greatest pleasure to know that at last the English
speaking races were temporarily united. And it is a fact
that they completely controlled the situation, and, if I was
not bound to secrecy, I could tell you that by that union they
prevented the dismemberment of China, which would have
brought on a European war. Then, in after years when
the history is written, you will see plainly that China could
not be divided without a quarrel amongst the European
nations. America would have been out of it as she did not
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want a share, so with these explanations I again ask you to
do your best.
On the latter end of the program you will notice we
sing "God Save the King." That is proper and very good.
Next comes "America," with the words "My Country Tis
of Thee." Did it ever occur to you that all nations of the
world can take this home to themselves and sing it from the
heart. Then we are to finish with Burns' immortal "Auld
Lang Syne." I call your attention particularly to this line,
"Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to
mind," and also to a line in another poem of his, "Should
brithers be and a' that."
From these you will see that Burns, long before the
time had come, had the same ideas that I expressed this
evening. You all know that wherever the English language
is spoken, this song is sung. At the close of a banquet in
Falkirk the other night, all joined hands and sang it enthus
iastically. Previous to this, the last time I heard it was in
the city of Manila, at a banquet given in my honor, when
the large audience ranged themselves in a double row around
the room and sang it as enthusiastically as was done in
Falkirk. On that occasion, on one side I clasped the hand
of a resident of the Philippines, and on the other side the
hand of a member of Parliament from Australia. Truly the
Brotherhood of Man is getting closer.
While in New York, I called on a number of friends and
attended to our business, proceeding thence to Ottawa, where
we made several calls on old friends. I was intensely
interested to see places where I had spent part of my boy
hood and the early part of my early manhood days, and to
note the great and radical changes that have taken place.
We also went to Coulonge, sixty-eight miles by rail, and
from there visited a waterfall called The Chute, where a
long slide carries the timber and logs past the falls. It is
always a pretty sight, but the weather and the sun were just
right to see a most beautiful rainbow, which is always over
the falls in sunshiny weather, all of which was very inter
esting, and especially so to Mrs. Dollar who had spent the
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earlier years of her life in this vicinity. On the way going
up, there used to be a pine forest, the soil of which was not
considered of any value. Now it is cleared of 'stumps, and
good farmhouses have been built on the land, which pro
duces good crops. The people seem to be thrifty and com
fortable.
Mr. George Bryson drove us to the old fort built by the
Hudson Bay Company, about one hundred and twenty-six
years ago. The storehouse still stands in a very fair state
of preservation, but the house was burned down years ago.
From this point there is a beautiful view of Coulonge Lake
and the river, which we saw in all the gorgeous tints of a
Canadian autumn foliage.
We then drove through a large tract of rich agricultural
land, many miles in length and from two to four miles wide.
This land when I was here many years ago was not con
sidered worth anything for farming. The fallacy of that
idea is shown in the present fertile, level fields and comfort
able houses with good barns and plenty of grain in them.
I thought I knew this country fairly well in a general way,
but I must say that I did not. There is a great improve
ment going on in farming, and in the towns and villages, a
general advancement reflected in the city of Ottawa, which
has changed for the better almost beyond recognition. The
change in Sussex street, which was the principal business
street of the old city, the building of the great hotel Chateau
Laurier, the bridging of Sparks and Wellington streets into
one, together with the new Grand Trunk depot makes this
as attractive a spot as can be found in any city.
In the manufacture of lumber I saw several things that
would be of benefit to lumbermen on the Pacific Coast. At
New Edinburgh I saw logs going through the saw mill, from
six to ten inches in diameter, many of them so crooked that
if sawed in the ordinary way, the saw would cut diagonally
across the log in one-half of its length, so that the lumber
would be useless. By this process the hump is kept up and
the saws cut parallel from end to end of the log, but, of
course, the boards are crooked. Before edging them they
are cut into as long lengths as the crook will permit, then
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they are edged, the shorts to go for boxes and the ten-foot
and up into lumber. I saw Spalt machines running with
horizontal bands, where short boards from slabs were being
cut for box lumber five-eighths and one-half inches thick,
and it was surprising to see how much they were getting.
There were many labor saving devices which I had not seen.
One was for sorting box lumber into lengths from twelve
inches up to ten feet. It was a table one hundred feet long,
with several carrier chains and openings to allow each length
to drop into a large hopper under the floor, the shorter
lengths dropping first; then every length five inches over
its predecessor dropped into its bin. A small boy was the
only person around who saw that each length was straight
at one end. As all the logs were uniformly twelve, fourteen
and sixteen feet, they were all using shot gun feed, and
were equipped with the most modern up-to-date machinery.
They had a very economical way of working cedar. Any
piece that was fit, was cut eight feet and an endless chain
carried it through twin circulars, and as ties here are only
sided, not squared, this one process finished the tie. What
was not fit for ties was cut into eighteen inches for shingles.
These were manufactured on hand machines, or what we
used to call "Spalt Shingle Machines." At Rockland, they
have two up-to-date mills, two railway companies have tracks
in the yards, and about a mile of dockage. On the Ottawa
River, when I was there, barges were loading for Burlington,
Vermont, and Albany, New York. They were sawing the
largest and best logs into three-inch lumber for the English
market, and I was surprised to see so much good lumber
coming out when the timber limits were supposed to have
been cut out years ago. I found on this trip that the young
growth is coming on fast and the forests are reproducing
themselves. I had a practical illustration of this on a tract
of timber at Coulonge. I well remember going through it
forty years ago when there was not a tree over ten inches on
the stump. It had just been cut into logs, and I was sur
prised to see plenty of logs twenty-four inches in diameter.
This to a great extent explains why they are able to continue
lumbering year after year over the same ground.
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Through the courtesy of Senator W. C. Edwards, I vis
ited Rockland Saw Mills in a palatial yacht. This place
was known as McCalls Landing over fifty years ago, and I
often called there when I was working as deckhand on the
tug "Whitehall." This visit brought to mind the difference
of my position in life now and at that time. I then held a
position known on the Mississippi River as "a roustabout/'
whereas on this visit every arrangement for our comfort had
been made. Returning home via Canada, where we visited
friends, we went to Puget Sound and there I attended to some
matters of business before proceeding to San Francisco.
I did not have the privilege of remaining home long, as
on November 2ist I was again on the train on my way to
Washington, D. C., in behalf of the Chamber of Commerce
and shipowners of the Pacific Coast, to protest against the
passing of the Seaman's Bill. Shipowners from different parts
of the United States were there to make a united protest.
At the time it appeared as though we had won our point,
but later we found our visit had been without success. I
arrived back in San Francisco early in December.
I find that in this year, I traveled fourteen thousand six
hundred miles by water and twenty-nine thousand four hun
dred miles by land, or a total of forty- four thousand miles;
an average of one hundred and twenty miles a day. Need
less to say, I was glad and happy to be able to spend Christ
mas and New Year at home.
I probably cannot do better than to copy what I find in
my Diary of December 31, 1912:
"Thankful to close the year after having had a successful
business year and having earned money to spare, so that I
was enabled to spend a considerable sum for those in need,
and also to aid in the evangelization of our own country as
well as of China and Japan. During this year our business
has grown and expanded beyond expectations. This is
especially true of our trade in China, for which we give
thanks to Almighty God for it all, as without His help it
never could have come about."
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Chapter Twenty
THE YEARS OF 1913, 1914, 1915
The year 1913 opened, as in years past, finding me a
director of the Seaboard National Bank, Merchants Exchange,
Chamber of Commerce, San Francisco Theological Seminary,
Young Men's Christian Association and the San Francisco
Port Society, and Chairman of the Foreign Trade Committee
of the Chamber of Commerce.
In January of this year, I had an interesting experience.
On the evening of the 26th, we sailed from San Pedro on
the steamer "Mackinaw," which was en route from Panama
to San Francisco with a general cargo. There was a dense
fog when we dropped the pilot in the outer harbor, and the
captain took over the command. Through a misunderstand
ing of orders, the wrong course was steered and the vessel
struck on the breakwater outside the harbor. The wells
were sounded as soon as possible, and a report of "Eight feet
of water in No. 2 hold" was made.
I remarked to the captain, "Eight feet of water in ten
minutes! You will see the ship at the bottom in about ten
minutes more, so get all hands into the boats," which was
done without confusion. I stood at the gangway assisting
each man who came from below into the darkness, blinded
by the bright lights he had left. Almost every man asked
me to go first, but I saw them all safe in the boats before
leaving the ship. Strange to say, the steamer did not ap
pear to be doing down, so soundings were again taken, and
it was found that the water was not increasing. We called
the men back on board, and, with the assistance of a tug that
happened along, we got her off and up to San Pedro wharf,
where we started to take the valuable cargo out of her. The
mystery of her not immediately sinking was learned when
we got the cargo out. No. 2 hold contained kegs of nails
at the place where the hole had been made. This hole was
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large enough for a man to crawl through when she was on
the drydock. We discovered that there was a bed of kelp
where she went ashore, and that some of it had been
sucked into the hole and against the smashed kegs, which
made it almost water tight. Probably there never has
been a similar case on record, and this saved the ship and
cargo.
ADDRESS AT FOREIGN TRADE BANQUET, SAN FRANCISO, 1913
Japan
There is nothing small about the committee when they
assign to me the duty of telling you of the commerce of
Japan, China, and the Philippines and Malay States. Bear
in mind this takes in more than one-quarter of the human
race. Primarily, our trade with Japan was manufactured
goods, but since their late war they have taken a leaf out
of our book and adopted a high protective tariff. This
becomes necessary for two reasons:
First, on account of the tremendous war debt which
necessitates heavy taxation.
Second, they wanted Japan to become a great manu
facturing country. In this they have succeeded.
Now, the great bulk of our exports is raw material, but
we still continue to buy from them on an increasing scale,
so that the balance of trade is very much against us.
Last year San Francisco bought from them $25,884,698
They purchased from us 18,182,316
Leaving a balance of trade against us of $ 7,702,382
Then of recent years our exports to them have completely
changed from manufactured articles to raw material, but the
general trade of Japan with the world has increased by leaps
and bounds.
They have paid particular attention to their merchant
marine by assistance in subsidies and otherwise, so now
they are carrying their products to every part of the world,
and if we had any American ships in the foreign trade they
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would be formidable competitors; but seeing we have none,
and not likely to have any, we are not affected.
China
The formation of a republic like our own, controlled by
men educated in this country, having to a very great degree
our manners and customs, gives us a prestige and advantage
that no others have.
They have all the natural resources which go to make any
nation truly great. In minerals, German scientists who were
sent to investigate say that they have more coal than all the
rest of the world put together. I cannot give you a better
idea of its undeveloped state than to say that they imported
from Japan last year, one and a half million tons of coal.
Enough iron ore is in sight to assure an unlimited supply
for centuries.
In agriculture the richness and productiveness of the soil
can best be told by the fact that they have produced enough
to feed five hundred million of people. Now that a market
is opened, and, since they have the means of transportation,
they are producing what sells the best, so a great many of
the products of the soil, which were unknown before, will
find their way to foreign countries. I have only time to
name a few of those.
Soya Beans The exportation two years ago was so great
that fifty-two large tramp steamers were chartered at one
time to carry this product to Europe.
Sessimum Seed A commodity unknown in commerce a
few years ago. From Hankow alone they exported three
hundred thousand tons. I may say that the oil from it is
one of the best of substitutes for olive oil.
Raw Cotton is exported extensively to Japan.
I have mentioned Hankow. It is about the geographical
center of China, over seven hundred miles from the ocean,
and where for eight months of the year our largest cargo
steamers can go. One-seventh of the human race lives on this
mighty Yangtsze River and its tributaries. Like the Nile,
it overflows its banks every year, thereby making the soil
very rich. When the purchasing power of the people is
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increased, as it will be, it goes beyond man's comprehension
to even estimate what the enormous commerce of this mag
nificent valley will be, as their demands will increase as they
get more money; and, if we go after it, what our share of
that enormous commerce will be is also beyond our highest
hopes. We will not have a walk-over, however, as Great
Britain, Germany and Japan are fully alive to the possi
bilities, and their brightest merchants are already on the
spot. I ask you merchants to take advantage of this golden
opportunity now, not by staying at home and writing letters
or sending circulars in a language the people can't read, but
by sending the very best and brightest men in your employ.
This is a man's job, don't send a boy!
Then, manufactures are springing up all over the coun
try. They are going into the production of cotton cloths,
and while quantities of the raw material go to Japan, cotton
mills are consuming a large quantity. Iron is being pro
duced there and some of it finds its way to this country,/ so
I would urge on you to look into these great and varied
opportunities.
As to the stability of the Chinese; when the revolution
broke out every native bank closed its doors, but I have
yet to hear of any firm that lost a cent. Imagine, if a revo
lution broke out in these Pacific States and every bank
closed its doors, what would be the result and would it be
possible to get out of it without a heavy loss?
Think of the change that has come over China. Thirteen
years ago a decree went forth that all Christians should be
put to death, and after the revolution at the request of the
new Government all Christendom offered prayers to guide
them in forming their government.
The Philippines
Recently it was my privilege to visit the Philippine
Islands; my object being to see what commodities we could
introduce at home and what we could sell to them. I received
a favorable impression of the possibilities of increasing our
trade. Many of our manufactures could be sold and we
could import much more from them. Ten years ago they
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bought from us $10,775,000. Last year they bought from
us $20,600,000, an increase of one hundred per cent, and I
claim this is only a commencement. In 1905 we bought
from them $12,658,000, and last year we bought from them
$21,500,000, an increase of nearly eighty per cent.
In discussing the commerce of the Islands, we cannot
separate from it the foolish talk of the independence of the
natives. When Mr. Wilson was elected, this talk was re
newed and as a result business was paralyzed. During the
past few months it has been recovering. Any one who has
been there for some time and studied the situation has
generally arrived at the conclusion that they are not ready
for self-government. Even with the strong guiding hand of
our Government, it is no easy matter to keep them straight.
The Filipino politicians are the only ones who are clamoring
for independence. The real meaning of it is that they want
to get their hands into the public treasury. If they ever
get there it will be a much worse scramble than is going on
at Sacramento. While I am on this subject I might explain
the manner of government.
The municipal government is entirely Filipino. The
assembly is also entirely Filipino. The commission or upper
house has eight members, four Filipinos and four Americans,
the Governor having the deciding vote. They have the pro
tection of the United States army and navy. When the
Americans went to the Islands there were no roads worthy
of the name. Now on every island there are good auto
mobile roads, good harbors, wharves, lighthouses and aids
to navigation that are second to none in our own coun
try. At great cost we have made it possible for every boy
and girl to get an education, teaching them English so that
they can communicate with each other; whereas, during the
Spanish regime, the people of one province could not under
stand the dialect of the neighboring province. They never
were so well off before, and probably never would be again
if we left them to their fate by allowing them to govern
themselves at the present time. I am sure I voice the senti
ment of all true Americans, when I say that from those rich
possessions we should never haul down our flag.
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The Panama Canal
Now that the Panama Canal toll question is settled, we
call the attention of Congress to the following:
By the Panama regulations as promulgated by Professor
Johnson, deck loads must pay $1.20 per 100 cubic feet of
space occupied on the open deck. Is this fair or just to the
great lumber trade of this Pacific Coast? We, the lumber
men, think it is a gross injustice to make us pay about
thirty per cent more Canal dues than are charged for any
other commodity. Besides, the method used in determining
the Panama tonnage gives to ships a greater tonnage than
any other way of measuring. So that it may be understood,
herewith is a concrete example:
S The net Panama measurement of the steamer "Robert
Dollar" is 4483 tons, at $1.20 per ton, amounts to $5379.60.
Her deck load is measured and found to contain 137,800
cubic feet, at 100 cubic feet to the ton, amounts to 1378 tons,
at $1.20 per ton amounts to $1653.60; a total of $7033.20.
This cargo of lumber therefore pays $1653.60 more than
any other cargo that is carried under deck. A cargo of
general merchandise, coal, iron, etc., by this same steamer
would pay $5379.60. The vessel carrying this cargo would
be down to her Plimsoll marks, with, say 8800 tons; but
carrying a cargo of lumber would not be quite down to her
mark, yet has to pay $7033.20 with less cargo. This makes
a rate of $1.53 per thousand feet, board measure, while the
weight of the cargo would only be 6766 tons.
We expected that the Panama rates were to be made to
meet competition with the Suez, and as the Suez Canal has
never charged for deck loads this vessel would save $1653.60
by going through it.
One of the reasons for charging tolls on deck loads, as
given by Professor Johnson, is found in his book on page
121, Sec. 4: "In certain kinds of coastwise traffic, the
owners of vessels are tempted to put such large deck loads
upon vessels as to endanger the safety of the ships and thus
place the lives of the crew in peril." Our reply to this is
that on this coast more deck loads of lumber are carried
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than in all the rest of the world put together; and during
the past ten years, Pacific Coast lumber ships have sailed
seventy-two thousand miles, carried forty billion feet of lum
ber, with a loss of only two million feet of lumber from
excessive deck loads, and without the loss of one life from
this cause. These are not college professors' theories, but
cold facts, for which we have the Custom House records of
this coast to prove.
The inconsistency of his arguments is better shown by
referring to page 35 of his report, which reads as follows:
"The necessity of classifying ocean freight traffic and of col
lecting tolls in accordance with a schedule which includes
both class and commodity rates, suggests the controlling
reason why the ships rather than the cargo should be made
the basis of Panama tolls. Canal charges based on cargo
would be administratively impracticable." After all his argu
ments in favor of not charging on the cargo, he makes a
rule that in addition to charging the ship her full tonnage
dues, he penalizes the lumber trade of this coast by charging
additional tolls on deck loads. Using common slang, "Can
you beat it?"
The American lumber trade has received some hard
knocks lately. First, in removing the duty and allowing
Canadian lumber to come in free; second, causing American
ships in the coastwise trade to pay tolls; and, third, making
all vessels carrying deck loads of lumber pay thirty per cent
more tolls than any other commodity. Add to these the
fact that lumber is selling below cost of production, and it
is certainly not a very brilliant outlook, although in other
lines of business better times seem near at hand.
As long as a ship is not loaded below her marks, she
should pay the full amount of her measurement tonnage,
irrespective of whether she is loaded with feathers or pig
iron, and when such ships pays $5379.60, it should make
no difference to the Canal Company whether part of her
cargo is on deck or not.
The importance of the lumber industry on the Pacific
Coast can be better understood when it is stated that it gives
employment to more men than any other industry on the
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coast. It would seem as though it would only be necessary
to call these facts to the attention of the proper authorities
to have this discrimination in the charge for deck loads
removed. The lumbermen desire to pay as much as other
commodities are paying but no more.
In May, 1914, I made a trip to Washington, D. C, to
attend the Foreign Trade Council which was inaugurated
there, and was selected as one of the Councilors.
It was in July of this year that the European War com
menced. Its effects throughout the world were instantaneous.
^X* he Dollar Company had ships in many ports, which were
forced to tie up, and the foreign commerce of the United
States came to a sudden stop. So much so that on the Qth
of August I was summoned to Washington to attend a meet
ing of fifty men called by President Wilson, who desired to
know what could be done to restore the foreign trade of the
country, as it had come to a standstill.
A committee was appointed to draft an Emergency Ship
ping Bill, to be placed before Congress, for the purpose of
starting our commerce going again. Those on the committee
were James Farrell, Bernard N. Baker, Philip A. S. Franklin
and Robert Dollar. These were momentous times, and much
to my surprise I was thrust to the front, amongst the giants
of finance, transportation and banking. Our work was ac
complished in three days, during which time there was not
much sleep, but when the work was completed I left for
home and was back in San Francisco after the lapse of only
seventeen days. Into that short time was probably crowded
more and greater events than in many months before. Con
gress passed the bill we framed without discussion or change.
We made another trip to the Orient the latter part of
1914 and early part of 1915. This visit, like others, was
strictly on business. I did not stop off in Japan on account
of having water on the knee, and it was only with great
difficulty that I could get around; in fact, my leg was in a
plaster cast. I remained in Shanghai until after Christmas,
during which time many prominent Chinese called to see me.
We arrived in Hong Kong on the steamer "Mackinaw,"
which had a cargo of peanuts loaded in Chinkiang for
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Canton. To those not engaged in shipping, it probably
seems like a fairy tale that a large steamer should load a
full cargo of peanuts from one port for another port in the
same country.
I remained three weeks in Hong Kong, attending to
business and learning to walk again, and also made many
calls on British and Chinese, but on account of the war great
changes had taken place. The entrance to the harbor had
been mined, and the city was under military rule. All Ger
mans had been arrested and placed in a detention enclosure
at Kowloon, with a regiment of Indians guarding them.
Their families were in a large tenement house, and their
palatial residences locked up and their business in the hands
of receivers appointed by the Government. As they had
been doing more than half the business of Hong Kong, busi
ness was much depressed and disorganized. What a ter
rible backset the German business has received by this war!
It will take them many years to get back to where they were,
inasmuch as they had been going ahead by leaps and bounds
for several years before the war. It is certainly a calamity
to the merchants, exceeded only by the war itself. The great
foreign commerce of Germany has got a set back that will
take years to recover their colonies all gone, and their com
petitors have taken their places. This will be keenly felt
after hostilities cease, and shows the folly of having military
rulers, and the necessity of taking power out of their hands
in every country.
I visited Canton, and renewed acquaintance with many
Chinese and foreigners whom I had known. The war dis
turbances and political influences have also had a serious
effect on business here.
We crossed over to Manila on the steamer "Bessie
Dollar/' which finished loading there for San Francisco. On
arrival, we found the steamer "Robert Dollar" discharging
a cargo of coal that the Germans attempted to force us to
deliver to their fleet, then near Falkland Islands, but as our
charter called for Batavia or Manila we insisted on our rights
and the cargo was discharged at Manila. This was the sub
ject for an article by Peter B. Kyne, in the Saturday Evening
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Post, entitled "Ireland Uber Alles." The "Robert Dollar"
loaded a general cargo, and we returned to Hong Kong
on her. Business on the islands is good. As they are neutral
they were not affected by the war except in the excessively
high freight rates.
Just before we sailed, the Board of Trade gave Dr. Wu
Ting Fang and myself a luncheon at the Manila Hotel, which
was one of the largest gatherings of merchants that had been
held in Manila for a long time. Governor Harrison was
present. Both Wu and myself had a very enthusiastic and
hearty reception, of which account the following appeared
in the Manila papers:
"The Chairman, Chief Justice Johnson, in introducing
the speakers, said:
"By co-operation with the United States Chamber of
Commerce through the Manila Merchants* Association and
Captain Robert Dollar, in the expansion of the trade between
the Americans and the Orient; by the letting down of the
bars against Chinese labor in the Philippines, to enable these
islands to develop to the fullness of their resources, by the
importation of two million or so argriculturists from the
neighbor's republic, and by an alliance of friendship and
mutual confidence, for the development of trade, between
China and the Philippines, consummated by Dr. Wu Ting
Fang, these islands are shortly going to be made to produce
enough to support a population of fifty million people; the
Dollar line steamships will bring cargoes of silver and gold
to these shores, departing deeply laden with the fruits of
the Philippine soil, and this much-depressed commercial com
munity is to be lifted out of the rut to ride buoyantly on the
crest of the great wave of prosperity that is destined to roll
in as a result of the big confab between China's eldest states
man, the maritime magnate from the homeland, and local
dignitaries at the Manila Hotel yesterday afternoon.
"The luncheon tendered Dr. Wu Ting Fang and Captain
Dollar yesterday was the biggest boost function held here in
a long time, and was attended by about 250 local business
men, including a number of Government officials.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
"Justice Johnson spoke of Captain Dollar's interest in the
physical development of the Philippine Islands, and turning
to Captain Dollar, said: 'Let us hope that your ships will
bring tons of dollars and take out full cargoes of products
from here/ * * *
"When applause had subsided Mr. Pitt arose, and in his
introductory remarks leading up to the presentation of
Captain Dollar, said:
" The lifeblood of civilization is commerce, and the great
essential of commercial development is transportation. Asso
ciated with the wonderful worldwide development in trans
portation and commerce that has marked the past 50 years
is the name of Robert Dollar.
" 'Gentlemen, it is a great honor to present Captain
Robert Dollar.'
"Captain Dollar expressed thorough appreciation of the
great turnout of Manila business men to do honor to Dr.
Wu and himself, and then launched out on the proposed
development of the commerce of the Pacific. He spoke of the
enormous amount of ocean traffic in the Atlantic, and said:
'I don't know whether you gentlemen appreciate the magni
tude of it, but the center of the commerce of the world is
coming to the Pacific. There are men in this room who will
live to see more commerce on the Pacific than on the Atlantic.
That is a big statement to make.'
"Taking up the subject of shipping he said that Congress
had legislated the American merchant marine off the ocean,
and then told something about the laws which were passed
three years ago permitting a foreign built ship to fly the
American flag, but he declared that any man, no matter how
much money he might have, who undertook to operate ships
under the Stars and Stripes, would become bankrupt if he
stuck to it long enough. Here he explained that the difficulty
at the outbreak of the European war was not so much lack
of ships as it was the financial situation. 'Bills of exchange,'
he said, 'are chiefly negotiated through London, and when
the moratorium was declared everything was tied up for a
time/
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
"Captain Dollar next spoke of the Emergency Bill, which
was passed to enable foreign vessels to take the American
flag, provided they passed into American ownership through
bona fide purchase. Such vessels, he explained, can now
operate under the same conditions as under the former for
eign flag. The government of the United States, he said,
was disappointed at the small number of vessels transferred
under the new law, which was passed for a period of only
two years. He told of a conference with President Wilson
at which the shipowners asked, What are you going to do
after the two years?'
" 'I said to the President/ the pioneer skipper declared,
'we don't ask for any advantage over the foreign ships, but
we demand to be put on an equality, or we won't play in
your backyard. There are nearly 2,500,000 gross tons of
American owned ships now flying foreign flags/ the Captain
asserted, 'which would make a nucleus for an American
merchant marine if the laws would permit them to operate
economically to meet the foreign competition.' Here he ex
plained that the expense of operating a vessel under the
American flag was about three times as great as under other
register.
"He touched on the La Follette Bill, which, he said, was
aimed principally to put the Pacific Mail Company out of
business. This bill, he explained, would make it compulsory
for the crew of an American ship to be of the same nation
ality as the officers, who are required to be American. The
competitors of the Pacific Mail, he explained, were the Ja
panese, the Toyo Kisen Kaisha line being the chief one.
Those ships were exempt from the Seamen's Act.
"As to the Ship Purchase Bill, now in Congress, the Cap
tain said the Government could of course operate vessels
cheaper than private owners and would compete with private
owned ships, if there were any, but as there were practically
no private owned ships flying the American flag the passage
of the bill could not hurt anybody.
"At this juncture, the maritime magnate took an opti
mistic turn in his speech, and referring to finance, said : The
meat in the cocoanut in banking is confidence. Uncertainty
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MEMOIRS Oir ROBERT DOLLAR
and lack of confidence,' he declared, 'were the most serious
drawbacks to business.' Here he assured the assembled mer
chants that they now had every reason to be optimistic. He
told them of President Wilson's assurance that the big busi
ness interests of the country need have no further fear from
the legislators.
' 'I want to say to you/ the Captain exclaimed, 'the worst
has been done. Go ahead without thinking what is going to
happen next.' He dwelt at some length on the subject of
confidence as the mainstay of business, and referred to China,
where commercial paper is not much in use. 'When a China
man says "can do," ' Captain Dollar declared, 'that settles it,
and don't you forget it.'
"In the United States, he asserted, the situation has been
relieved, and the big business interests have started a recon
struction on confidence. To illustrate the necessity for con
fidence, he pointed out that, although the United States was
at peace with the world at the outbreak of the European war,
yet a war tax to raise one hundred million dollars had to
be levied, showing the interdependence of nations these days.
"Here Captain Dollar turned to the subject of Philippine
progress, comparing the unsanitary conditions that met his
eyes on former visits here with the present appearance of
the city and outlying districts. In trips about the harbor and
along the coast, Captain Dollar observed, he said, greater aids
to navigation than anywhere in the United States. As to
land transportation facilities, he said, 'When I was here
before, there were no roads, just mud; that is all you could
call it. Now you can go anywhere comfortably by automo
bile.'
" 'I tell you to relieve the despondency that exists here,'
he said. 'A little over thirty years ago there were only five
steamers running across the Pacific. Now one Pacific Mail
liner could take all that those five could carry, in one load.
What will the progress be in the next thirty years?'
"At this point he took up the subject of the campaign
now being waged by the United States Chamber of Com
merce and the Foreign Trade Council, to promote closer
co-operation between the commercial interests of the countries
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
bordering on the Pacific. 'I tried to get them to come here,'
he said, 'and urged that President Pitt of the Merchants'
Association continue to engage the attention of the national
commercial organization in the States, with a view to the
speedy development of the trade with the Orient/ He told
of the campaign now being conducted in the South American
republics, how the people down there had no money to buy
raw material to sell, and how new industries were developing
in the States to handle the raw products of the South Amer
ican customers for American manufactured goods industries
that never existed in the United States before.
" 'Efforts are being made/ the Captain said, 'to establish a
discount market for foreign exchange so that, in case of
future emergencies, the commercial interests in San Francisco
and New York will have the facilities which were lacking
in the recent emergency.' The Captain concluded by explain
ing that the object of the United States Chamber of Com
merce was to get the merchants together. 'Great results are
attained from unity/ he exclaimed, 'and co-operation is very
necessary. All that is needed now is confidence. We have
reached the bottom, and we are going to go up."
As the steamer "Robert Dollar" was waiting for us, we
left the hotel and went directly on board, to sail immediately
for Hong Kong, en route to Shanghai.
I found that much dissatisfaction existed among the
merchants on account of the continued turmoil that bobs up
every now and then about independence. Now the Jones'
Bill is before the House, to give the Philippines immediate
independence, although any one knows, who is at all familiar
with the natives, that they are utterly unable to carry on a
separate government, and should our soldiers be recalled,
another nation would immediately take possession.
We returned to Shanghai and paid a visit to Hankow,
arranging to materially increase our business and to buy
quite a large piece of land for a lumber yard in the center
of the foreign concessions. I am fully convinced of the
great future of this center of population, situated as it is on
the crossroads of the railroad system of China.
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OFFICE OF THE ROBERT DOLLAR COMPANY TIENTSIN
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
We (when I use the plural "We" I mean that I am
always accompanied by my faithful companion and counselor,
my wife) next visited our business interests in Tientsin.
^^Our firm is now well established, owning a city block
on the river front and in the center of the city, an office and
a comfortable house, a place we can call home. Our business
has been increasing in a very satisfactory manner.
I visited many of the prominent Chinese, and was enter
tained by them. We were here in January, when the weather
was very cold, the thermometer often falling below zero;
there is not much business doing until March, when it opens
in full swing.
We next visited Peking. I was agreeably surprised with
our Minister, Mr. Reanch. Being a college professor, I
expected to find him academic and not interested in com
merce, but I found him a worker, ready and willing to assist
in commercial matters as if he had been a business man all
his life.
I met several members of the Cabinet, but as the Japanese
controversy was at its height and they were having confer
ences every day, I did not trouble the President. I had an
invitation to lunch with Li Yuen Hung, the Vice-President,
and spent an interesting two hours alone with him. We met
in the house that he occupies, which formerly was the resi
dence of the late Emperor. I was shown the Emperor's bed
room, which is kept just as he left it. The house is on a
point of land on one of the lakes in the Forbidden City,
with a narrow neck of land connecting it to the shore, and
is therefore easily guarded. (Vice-President Li is now Presi
dent on account of the untimely death of Yuan.) Our con
versation was mostly on foreign affairs. He was anxious
to know of the affairs of the world, in general, and of the
United States, in particular. He has a great admiration
for our country and has been tracing its wonderful advance
ment of the last one hundred years, and hopes that the
advancement of China will be equal to ours. He is a great
and good man, and I hope he may be able to carry out
his high ideals of a united and progressive China. On
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
his assuming the Presidency, I had a very friendly compli
mentary telegram from him.
I had an interesting visit with Liang Shoi Yei, who was
said to be the power behind the throne. The subject dis
cussed was the development of the Yangtsze valley trade.
I also had a pleasant visit with Dr. Morrison that stalwart
British adviser to the President, and probably the best living
authority on Chinese politics. He is the right man in the
right place. Another pleasant call was on Mr. Collins, the
representative of the British Anglo-French Corporation, of
which I am a director. He is also manager in China for the
China Mining & Metal Company.
I also spent a pleasant and profitable week calling on and
renewing old acquaintances in this city. The weather was
intensely cold. We had a snow storm and a dust storm,
so we got about all that Peking had to give, even the ex
tremes of the weather.
I had two very pleasant visits and a luncheon with Chang
Chien, the Minister of Commerce, and arranged with him
about the return visit of the Chinese Chambers of Commerce,
to supplement that which we made in 1910. He was work
ing hard to get representative men to go. It was arranged
that they would come on the steamer that I had decided to
voyage home on. We returned to Tientsin for a couple of
days, then went back to Shanghai, where it was very much
warmer. At Shanghai, we had several banquets and fare
well entertainments, and a great number of the merchants
came to see us off on the boat.
Just before leaving, I addressed the Saturday Club, of
which the following is a newspaper report:
"American shipowners have been accused of lack of
enterprise in not having ships in the foreign trade. I will
endeavor to tell you that they are not to blame, and also to
show you who is responsible for the present condition. Inas
much as I operate vessels under both the British and Amer
ican flags, I have the cost of operating each, from data
on my books.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
"In 1862 the tonnage of the ships under American reg
istry exceeded that of any other nation. In China, previous
to this, more than fifty per cent of the carrying trade was
in American bottoms. The trade of the Yangtsze was opened
by American steamers, whereas, now, there are no American
ships there.
"The statement published in the China Press of yester
day, which was copied from the New York Sun, was written
by myself and is correct. It was that an 8ooo-ton steamer
costs $17,236 more per annum to operate than a ship of the
same size of any other nation.
"Boiler inspection, and inspection requirements are so
drastic that it increases the operating cost materially, and
to cap the climax, the Seamans' Bill has just become a law,
which, unless modified, will absolutely prohibit the Pacific
Mail from operating and make it easier for all Japanese ships.
"I have information from Manila that the agents of the
Pacific Mail have received orders not to book any freight or
passengers after September, when the law will come into
force. Is it any wonder that the American flag has disap
peared from merchant ships on the ocean?
"Then the European war came on us like a thunder bolt
out of a clear sky. The result was a complete tie-up of all
American foreign trade, and for three weeks practically none
of our products left our shores. At that our people woke up
(they had been sound asleep before) to the fact that we
had no American banking facilities in foreign lands, no
American ships to carry our commerce, and we had just
started to market the biggest crop we ever had. Then came
a cry from every part of the country that we must have
ships, so President Wilson called fifty business men of the
country to advise with him as to what was to be done. The
result was, American citizens were allowed to register
foreign-built ships to engage in foreign trade only. Up to
the present, something over five hundred thousand net reg
ister tons of shipping has changed to American register.
Most of it had been owned by Americans, but by our laws
were not allowed to fly the American flag. At that time
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
over two and a half million gross tons of ships were owned
by Americans, and were flying British and other flags.
"I consider it an international misfortune that one of
the largest nations of the world should have no ships. The
allies were certainly of that opinion when they required
supplies from America, and there were no American ships
to carry them, with German cruisers menacing their ships;
whereas if there had been American ships the commerce of
the Atlantic would not have been paralyzed as it was.
"What would be the condition in the world of commerce
today if both sides were able to keep plenty of commerce
destroyers on the oceans?
"Many more ships would have come under the American
flag had it not been for the uncertainty as to what Con
gress would do in the way of changing our laws. After
all the talk and excitement of wanting a merchant marine,
not a single effort has been made to permanently change
our laws so as to enable us to operate our ships on as
favorable terms as our competitors; and, as the new tem
porary measure is only a makeshift for two years, if our
laws are not changed, all the vessels that have come under
the flag will be compelled to return to their former register,
because it is a financial impossibility, under normal conditions,
for any ship to be operated under the stringent American
regulations. The prospects of again seeing American ships
engage in foreign trade, in the proportion that a country of
the importance of the United States would warrant, are still
very remote, or to put it in plain English, the United States
must enact laws permitting her citizens to operate their ships
on the same terms and conditions as the ships of all other
nations, or their citizens will be compelled to put their ships
under foreign flags.
"To give you an idea of the lack of support given to our
ships by our Government: The mail contract was aw r arded
to Japanese ships to carry the mail from San Francisco to
Honolulu, although there are several American vessels run
ning on that route.
"All this has reference only to the vessels engaged in
foreign trade, as those engaged in coastwise trade are pro-
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
tected against foreign competition, and are enabled to make
'The dear American public' pay for the excessive cost of
operating.
"All the American shipowners ask is to be permitted to
buy their ships where they can get them cheapest, and to be
permitted to operate them on the same terms and conditions
as their competitors. They ask no advantage or preference.
If this is granted they will feel able to give the nation a
merchant marine worthy of the name/'
We sailed from Shanghai, on the 9th of April, on the
steamer "Manchuria," with eighteen Chinese Commissioners in
the party. I left the ship at Kobe and went to Tokio to have
a conference with the officials of the Japanese Chamber of
Commerce there, and called at the American Embassy to
see Ambassador Guthrie and found he was all ready to
depart for America. He and Mrs. Guthrie came over with
us on the same steamer, which made it very pleasant.
We arrived in Honolulu on the 26th of April, 1915. The
Chamber of Commerce there gave us a banquet, and we
had a very pleasant time, the principal merchants of Honolulu
being present.
On the way over, I had a number of conferences with the
Chinese Commissioners, which took up several hours for
many days as they were endeavoring to find out what they
might expect to learn on their visit to America.
We arrived in San Francisco on the 3rd of May, where
the Commissioners were tendered a hearty reception by
representative men of the city and members of the United
States Government. The official report of the reception
follows :
The Honorary Commercial Commissioners of China
arrived at San Francisco on the Pacific Mail liner "Man
churia" at 5:10 o'clock the afternoon of May 3. A com
mittee of representatives of the National, State and City
Government boarded the steamer at quarantine and were
received on the promenade deck by President Cheng-Hsun
Chang of the Commission. J. O. Davis, Collector of the
Port, extended a welcome to the Commissioners on behalf
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
of President Wilson; President W. N. Moore and Vice-
Presidents Frederick J. Koster and Robert Newton Lynch
of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce; Hon. Chester
Rowell on behalf of Governor Johnson, and Mayor James
Rolph on behalf of the City of San Francisco. When the
liner docked, Judge Thomas Burke, President of the Asso
ciated Chambers of Commerce of the Pacific Coast, under
whose auspices the tour was made, and C. B. Yandell.
Executive Secretary of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce
and Chairman of the Committee on Arrangements for the
Associated Chambers, boarded the steamer and took charge
of the visitors, who were presented to a reception committee
consisting of Edward T. Williams, head of the Bureau of
Far Eastern Affairs, Department of State; E. C. Porter,
representative of the Department of Commerce; Commis
sioner General Anthony Caminetti, Department of Labor;
Commissioner Samuel W. Backus, Bureau of Immigration.
They were given as much, perhaps more, entertainment
than they could stand. On account of the pending trouble
with Japan and a telegram stating that war was inevitable,
the party thought best to abandon the tour and return. But
by an extraordinary effort on my part, after a long and
confidential conference of three hours, I persuaded them that
they must go through with the itinerary that was laid out.
I assured them that the Japanese demands would be modified
so as to avert war, and to cap the climax, before I had
finished my appeal, a cable from China was handed in,
stating that a settlement had been arrived at.
The reception accorded the Commission could probably
be summed up by the remark of the Mayor of New York
City, that he never had seen such a hearty reception given
to any foreign visitors. The climax was reached in that
city, where the plans were carried out to perfection, and
nothing was left undone for the comfort and pleasure of the
visitors.
The result of this visit has been a decided and tangible
increase in American trade, and, through conferences with
the merchants of twenty-six cities, has produced a feeling
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
of friendship (which is the forerunner of commerce) that
will never be forgotten. The visitors traveled 10,392 miles,
had forty-three banquets, and, best of all, visited two hun
dred and forty-three factories.
Those of us who have given our time and money have
certainly been repaid over and over again by the beneficial
results to our commerce and more especially by the increased
friendship that now exists between the two countries.
The following is my report to the Associated Chambers
of Commerce:
That the visit of the Chinese Commission to America
was a great success is admitted by all. The large cities
vied with each other in entertaining them until they reached
New York, when the climax was reached. The arrange
ments and the order in which the program was carried out
was perfection itself. One of the big merchants told me no
foreign party of merchants had ever received so hearty a
reception as this party. As to the results commercially, I
know of several large transactions that have been consum
mated, both in selling and especially in buying. A steam
ship line and a large banking enterprise are about to be
established. Such visits produce a much greater friendship
between nations, and in this particular visit this very desir
able condition has been fostered and much increased. For
the future, we can confidently look forward to an increased
friendship which naturally will enable us to increase our
commerce to this country that is destined to show by far
the greatest development of any part of the world; and, if
Congress would only permit our citizens to operate American
ships between China and America, we certainly would get
our fair share of this tremendous increase. As, by an Act
of Congress, the entire control of the Pacific has been com
pletely turned over to the Japanese who are to be our most
active competitors, the situation as far as Americans are
concerned is discouraging in the extreme. This is especially
to be regretted, for the Chinese are most friendly to us and
certainly treat us as a most favored nation, so if we don't
get a big share of their business it will be on account of
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
our own restrictive legislation, and not on account of the
Chinese.
In 1915 Mrs. Dollar and I presented to the Presbyterian
church of San Rafael a set of chimes, which were installed
in the belfry and added greatly to the attraction of the town.
The gift was appreciated by the citizens, as old familiar
tunes are played every Sunday. There are ten bells in the
set, and on the largest is the inscription: "Presented to
the First Presbyterian Church of San Rafael, California, by
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dollar."
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Chapter Twenty-one
1916--A BUSY YEAR
The year 1916 opened on us with all the trials and tribu- \
lations caused by the war. Our greatest difficulty is that
we don't know how to arrange our business, as changes are
continually occurring. We were fortunate enough to buy a
cargo steamer of over seven thousand tons for $500,000, a
price two and a half times her normal value, but she cleared
half of her purchase price the first trip, and before the year
was up had paid for herself.
On the 22nd of January, a party of us left for New
Orleans, to attend the annual meeting of the Foreign Trade
Council. When we arrived at Los Angeles, we were in
formed that three miles of the Southern Pacific track had
been washed out and no trains would go through for a
week. Through the kindness of the president and vice-
president of the Santa Fe Railway, our car was taken by
that road, and, at considerable expense, they got us into
New Orleans but one hour before the meeting commenced.
Mr. E. Sweet, Vice-Secretary of Commerce, delivered
the address on the American merchant marine, to which I
was asked to reply. The large hall was packed full even
to standing room. When I had finished speaking I received
a most enthusiastic reception in fact, I have never seen a
speaker receive such an ovation. The following is the sten
ographer's report of my remarks:
ADDRESS OF ROBERT DOLLAR BEFORE FOREIGN TRADE COUNCIL
ON "DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL SHIPPING POLICY"
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: You have heard that
what we need is a merchant marine owned and operated by
the Government. Now, Mr. Sweet has said that he differed
with me, and I am very glad he did, for if we all agreed
we would be men of putty, and it would not be necessary
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
for me to get up and talk at all; all I would have to say is,
"That's right what he says." I do not propose to say that
what he said is just right.
In discussing this subject, it is necessary for us to look
at it from a broad viewpoint. First of all, it is very, very
interesting to us who are engaged in the foreign trade. My
interests are more in foreign trade than in shipping, though
you are led to believe that my interests are more in shipping.
But to see an audience such as this interested in foreign
trade is encouraging to us in the extreme, and I want to say
to you gentlemen that we have a good many things to dis
courage us. You see the movement that has been made in
South America by the establishment of banks. Previous to
this, when we had bills of exchange to sell or buy, they came
through foreign banks. Officers of foreign banks are human.
They are men of their own nationality, and blood is thicker
than water, and it is quite natural for them to give the tip
to the other fellow as to what we are doing. I have got a tip
myself, so I know what I am talking about! (Laughter.)
The American International Corporation is another step
in the right direction. You were told here yesterday the
great difficulty about us being able to sell our products on
account of the money having been loaned by foreign nations,
and they favored their nationality. Another illustration that
"blood is thicker than water." Another encouragement in
the midst of our discouragement, was that the American In
ternational Corporation bought out the ships of the Pacific
Mail that remained on the Pacific, and continued the trade
from the Pacific Coast to South and Central America. Those
ships were on the eve of being sold ; in fact, I don't think that
the corporation got in more than a few minutes ahead of the
other party. If those ships had been sold, it was the inten
tion to divide them and they would have gone hither and
thither, and our Pacific Coast would have been without any
commercial communication with South and Central America.
That was another encouraging sign.
Now, then, in discussing this merchant marine, it is not
a question of the shippers themselves. The people who are
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interested are many; the whole of you there is not a gen
tleman in this room who is not interested in the shipping
business, indirectly, of course. Here are the farmers and the
manufacturers. How are they going to ship their products
to foreign markets if there are not ships? Here are bankers.
What are the bankers going to do if there is no foreign
trade those who are dependent on that? Then, there are
the merchants who are doing business in foreign countries
who buy our products here and sell them in the foreign
countries; and then, last of all, are the ships. What will the
ships do if we have not the bankers?
Mr. Sweet said that our commerce was absolutely tied
up at the commencement of the war because we did not have
ships. I take a different view from that. What tied up our
ships was the lack of banking facilities. A moratorium had
been declared practically throughout the world, and hundreds
of ships were left loaded and lying in harbors at that time.
Merchants dared not send them out because they could
not sell their bills of exchange. They dared not send their
ships to foreign countries, for they did not know whether
they could get their money out of them, and for more than
two weeks our ships were tied up, until a meeting was held in
Washington, when the great magnanimity of our bankers
permitted us to start in business again they taking the re
sponsibility. Otherwise, the ships would have been held up
indefinitely. (Applause.)
Now as to the help or detriment that Congress gives us.
I happened to get a telegram, sent to me here, that really
did not pertain to this organization at all. It is a private
telegram. It reads this way, and it is pertinent I hope
that you gentlemen will see that we have got to be friendly
with the nations that we are doing business with. You can
catch a great many more flies with molasses, you know, than
with vinegar. It reads this way: "Senator Lodge in the
Senate and Mr. Burnett in the House have introduced bills
requiring all Chinese in America to register within one year;
making failure to register a crime punishable by several years
imprisonment. Mr. Raker also introduces a bill directly
against all Asiatics."
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Now, what is the meaning of that? It means that, when
I go over to China many of our Americans are over there
that if we put the Chinese in jail here, they can put us
in jail over there, and will make an end of our foreign trade
with China. It is humiliating in the extreme, gentlemen, for
me to land in this country, coming from China I have made
many trips from there to see Chinese gentlemen and Chinese
ladies, just as good as any one in this room here, fired over
to Angel Island and subjected to all kinds of indignities,
and when I go to China with my wife, we walk ashore the
same as if we were privileged individuals. Is that right?
Why shouldn't we go to an Angel Island over in China, just
as logically as we send them to our Angel Island here?
Now, as to the condition of the American Merchant
Marine, and the reasons why the United States should have
it enlarged to correspond with importance in the world.
1789 23.8 per cent carried in American ships.
1795 90.0
1800 89.0
1810 91.5
1820 89.5
1830 89.0
1840 82.9
1850 72.5
1860 66.2
1870 35.6
1880 17.4
1890 12.9
1900 9.3
1910
1914
This chart was gotten up by Mr. Ross, and has been
reproduced here. These bars are ten-year intervals. You
see that this is 1795 and this is 1800. (Indicating.) You
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
see that we reached our maximum along here. (Indicating
on the chart.) Here we were carrying 91.5 per cent, of
our products to foreign countries; then down here, we got
down to the time of the Civil War, when this drop took
place here. Then, by the great wisdom of Congress, the
drop continued right down. (Laughter.) And I want to
tell you, gentlemen, that along here we not only had the
most ships and the most tonnage of any nation in the
world, but we had by all odds the very best ships afloat.
When the decline took place we were the rivals of Great
Britain. They started in to build iron ships. We con
tinued with wooden ships, because we had no encourage
ment in fact, nothing but discouragement. From this line
here, to this line here, (pointing to 1860 and 1914), that
all means discouragement. (Laughter.) To this up here,
(indicating 1810) that was all encouragement; you see how
it went up?
Now, by the Canal Act, we were permitted to import
ships into this country free of duty, and it has been constantly
thrown at us that not a single ship accepted the permission.
Well, the reason is very easy to explain. If we imported
those ships we would have to go into foreign trade with
them, and we would be in competition with the ships of the
whole world ; with ships of nations whose laws were the most
favorable that human mind could devise, while ours were
just the reverse. So, any man that imported a ship and
put her into the foreign trade and operated her under the
American flag was sure to make debt, and it was only a
question of how much money he had until he would go
into bankruptcy. (Applause.) That has always been con
cealed by the politicians and others who are talking for effect.
They say, "You don't put any ships under the American
flag; therefore, you have not the enterprise and the get-up
to do it." That is a falsehood; it is not right, because
before this war, American citizens had more than two mil
lion gross tons of shipping, entirely owned and successfully
operated by American citizens, and were flying foreign flags
on those two million tons. Now, does it not stand to reason
that, if our laws were as favorable as the laws of those foreign
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nations under whose flag they were operating, we would be
able to operate those ships under our own flag? And there
is not a shipowner who would not rather use his own flag
than the flag of another nation. I always feel, gentlemen,
in doing business under the other flag, like the man who is
doing business in his wife's name. (Applause and laughter.)
I am not going to bother you with all the handicaps
under which we labor. It would take me about the rest of
the day to tell about the handicaps that produced these very
things. Others are going to tell you about them, so I am
relieved of that subject. A good many people think that we
are cramped for want of ships and tonnage; that it is local
and that it only pertains to some parts of the United States.
It is general and the shortage of tonnage is throughout the
whole world, and I have looked over the conditions through
out the whole world many, many times in the last few
months, but I cannot find a single place that is any worse
off than any other. They are all alike. It is a question of
supply and demand. The supply is far, far short of the actual
demand, and you gentlemen know that whenever you have
a commodity for which there is far, far more demand
than the quantity available, what the result is. The price
goes up. There is none of you who is shy about playing a
trick of that kind. (Laughter.) So we are not being dis
criminated against. Therefore you gentlemen appreciate the
situation that you are in. I happen to own some British
ships. The British Government has notified me that when
I want to charter my ship, or send her from one port to
another, I must get permission from the Government to do
it. Suppose the British Government got at outs with this
country and said: "You can't carry any cargoes here; you
have got to go elsewhere." You can readily see the position
our commerce would get into if this were done. Then you
would appreciate the advantage of our having ships under
our flag.
This is something that reminds me of the American and
the Englishman, who were arguing about the relative great
ness of our two countries. The Englishman did up the
American, and the latter had nothing to say. As a parting
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shot, he said : "If you don't look out, we will stop this Gulf
Stream from going over there, and we will freeze out the
whole lot of you." So, it would be very easy for Great
Britain, or one of the big nations, to freeze us out, conse
quently we had better stay quiet and not say too much
about it.
A million and three-quarter tons of shipping have been
sunk since the war. All of the German and Austrian ships
are interned, and England and France have commandeered
over two thousand ships, so you can see the reason why the
shortage has occurred. It is quite apparent to any one. The
war has not decreased the amount of tonnage that had to
be moved in the world. In fact, I think it has increased it
somewhat. In some lines it has decreased but there is more
tonnage to be moved now than before, hence it is impossible
for the ships to get around to do it. Now, we were told last
year that, if this Ship Purchase Bill went through, we would
immediately get ships. Every ship cleared in these United
States is full to its capacity, and I defy any man, the Govern
ment included, to get any ships built inside of two years.
(Applause.) Now, that's the relief that you are going to
get by the Government building its ships. It cannot do an
impossibility, and we all know that it cannot build them in
our yards, as the yards are full to their capacity, and will
be for two years; and we all know that the laws of the great
nations have recently been changed so as to prohibit the sale
of vessels to any other nation. You cannot go out and buy
ships and bring them in here now. Each nation wants to
keep the ships it has in case its merchant marine becomes
depleted.
Now, what is going to happen after the war? That, I
think, no man can tell. That the bottom is going to come
out of freights I don't think there is any question. Other
people may have a different opinion from that, but what I
am banking on is, that when all the German and Austrian
fleets are released and probably half of the transports will
be released after the war there is not going to be cargo
enough available, and you will see the biggest crash in
freights that you ever saw. We have gained 583,000 tons
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under the Emergency Act, and, in all, we now have about
1,700,000 tons engaged in foreign shipping, which is a great
deal more than we had four years ago. We then had about
half a million tons engaged in foreign shipping. That in
crease has been caused by the half million tons that did
come in, and then the exigencies of the case were so extreme
that old ships, which had been condemned, have been fitted
out and are now engaged in the foreign trade. Of all the
ships they are building today, there are only forty cargo ships
building in the United States, and cargo steamers are what
we want. The yards are full, building other kinds of
steamers, but it is the cargo steamers that are going to relieve
you gentlemen. Of the fleet of Great Britain, two-thirds of
all their ships are cargo boats, and that is what has given
Great Britain control of the markets of the world, and we
have only forty such vessels on the stocks, and two-thirds of
the ships that have been built in our yards fine, big ships-
have gone under the Norwegian flag.
Now, the Emergency Act of 1914 gave us great encour-
Xgement. I said to myself: "The end has come; now we
are going to get a merchant marine," and as I had occasion
to go to China, I went away quite happy. I was not happy
very long, however, when the Seamen's Bill came down on
us like a flash out of a clear sky. (Laughter.) The Sea
men's Bill was drafted to aid American sailors the very title
of the bill tells you that. (Laughter.)
I have some statistics here that I just received from San
Francisco. The seamen there all have to take out certificates.
There were 2064 who took out certificates in San Francisco
up to last week; of these, 168 were Americans, 345 were
naturalized citizens, and 1551 were aliens. I will give it
to you in percentages because I want you to put the figures
in your pocket and remember them. There are eight per cent
of these seamen American citizens. That's what all this
trouble is about, this bill to protect this eight per cent.
Seventeen per cent were naturalized, and seventy-five per
cent were foreigners. All this dislocation of business was
caused to help this poor eight per cent of American citizens!
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Then this bill did not take into consideration the officers
of the ships. They were entirely disregarded; this was for
seamen. Now, you gentlemen in business know what it is
to have men at the head of your business. These men were
ignored. Take the Pacific Mail owners. They employed
American officers, American engineers, quartermasters, etc.,
totaling quite a large number; but, because they employed
Chinese crews, they had to get out of business; and these
American officers, who had their homes in San Francisco
and lived there, prosperous men, had to seek other employ
ment, because, today, the officers on ships coming into San
Francisco are Japanese citizens, every man. I do not see
why our officers, who by our laws must be American citizens,
should not have been given a little consideration as well as
the eight per cent of the sailor American citizens. However,
it is the law of the land, and we have to put up with it.
The only criticism I have to make about it is that it is
unfortunate that the Government was not strong enough and
big enough to enforce that law to the absolute letter and
made us toe the mark one and all without compunction.
If it had done that, today gentlemen, there would not
be any Seamen's Bill, because one-half of the ships in
American ports seeking clearance would have been denied
clearance, and there would have been such a howl set up by
you gentlemen that there would have been no Seamen's Bill.
We have another diagram here which is very instructive.
The upper line represents the Japanese tonnage just before
the Seamen's Bill went into effect. The third line shows the
Japanese tonnage in November, 1915, a year after; if any
of you have a spyglass, try to see the American tonnage at
this latter date (laughter and applause), and I think after
another month or two you will have to have a magnifying
glass to find any American tonnage.
Statement of Increase in Japanese and Disappearance of
American Steam Vessels Engaged in Oriental Commerce on
the Pacific Ocean:
Number of vessels November, 1914: Japanese, 22;
American, 6. Net tonnage of vessels, same date: Japanese,
89,932 tons; American, 453 I 5-
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
(This was before the Seamen's Bill became effective.)
Number of vessels, November, 1915: Japanese, 42;
American i. Net tonnage, same date, Japanese, 141,262
tons; American, 3186.
(This was after the Seamen's Bill became effective.)
Now, Mr. Chairman, rap on the table when my time is up,
because I am interested in this subject, and I may go on too
long. (Laughter and applause.) Now, then, by this act of
Congress the Japanese have gained complete control of the
Pacific. I have heard of their hopes and ambitions for many
years. But none of them expected to live to see this. They
have said, "The day is coming when the Japanese nation is
going to get control of the Pacific," and the Japanese, like
ourselves, think that the great traffic of the world is going
to be transferred from the Atlantic to the Pacific, just as
sure as it was transferred from the Mediterranean to the
Atlantic.
When I was in Japan this last time, the shipowners of
Japan invited me to a meeting, and when I got to the meet
ing there was quite a number of shipowners there, and I
noticed a number of papers on the table. The President
told me it was a translation of the American Seamen's Bill,
and what they wanted to say was that they could not believe
that Congress had turned over the control of the Pacific to
them. They wanted me to explain to them if that could be
possible, and when I informed them it was, they said : "Truly
we have control of the Pacific Ocean, not so much by our
own efforts as by an act of the Congress of the United
States." (Applause.)
Now, then, to bring the thing home to yourselves, gen
tlemen. If any of you want to travel to the Far East from
a United States port, you will sail on a Japanese steamer.
If you have any business over there, and are sending letters
and getting them from there, they will be carried by a
Japanese steamer. If our great Government wants to send
any important letters over there, the Japanese will carry
them, except by an occasional steamer of the transport serv
ice. Now, we are all interested in the Philippine Islands
although I see in Congress they propose to turn them over
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to the natives but, until we give them up, surely our Gov
ernment should provide the means of getting letters there.
Manila is about eighteen days from San Francisco. Now,
what have you got to do if you want to go over there? You
will go from San Francisco to the Hawaiian Islands that
is our own country then to Yokohama, Kobe, Nagasaki,
and across to China, to Shanghai and Hong Kong, and you
or your letter will reach the Philippines in thirty-three days.
That is the best that can be done. Is there any other nation
in the world that would stand for that sort of thing? No
nation, no matter how small, would trust foreigners to fur
nish transportation to its colonies.
In looking over the bills introduced in Congress, I notice
that there are forty bills which were introduced in Congress
that affect our commerce. I looked through them to see if
I cound find any of them that were going to help us. Not
a single one of them; every one of them imposes more exac
tions on us! Hence the shipowners have become completely
discouraged and I wish to say this for men who own
American ships in foreign trade, and those Americans who
own foreign ships in American trade they are men not
easily discouraged, but the continued hammering and dis
couragement has been so great that they are almost forced to
throw up the sponge, and say: "Well, if you won't allow
us to operate our own ships under conditions that foreigners
are allowed, then for God's sake give us Government ships."
I, therefore, agree with Mr. Sweet.
Mr. Wilson said in Washington, while I was there: "If
the shipowners of the United States will not give us a mer
chant marine, then the Government must give the merchants
a merchant marine." But he did not say that he had securely
tied our hands behind our backs when he turned us into the
prize ring and turned the other fellow loose to "hammer the
stuffing out of us." (Laughter and applause.)
The other day Colonel Goethals was in San Francisco.
He delivered an address, and pointed out to us the iniquity
of the measurements of our ships. He cited this instance:
"Here are two ships that went through the canal. They
were sister ships, exactly the same. One was flying the
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American flag and the other was flying the British flag."
He said: "By the increased measurement of the American
ship, she was paying five hundred dollars more toll every
time she went through the canal than her sister ship when
flying the British flag." That's the encouragement and the
help we are getting from the Government!
Now, Government ownership is not an untried thing.
The last time I was in Australia they had a Government line
running from West Australia in fact, it had just gone into
the bankruptcy court when I happened to be there. (Laugh
ter.) The Government papers came out and said: "Yes,
we have lost a great deal of money, but it is not all lost ; the
regular lines charge a great deal less freight." I have not
the exact figures, but they lost about two-thirds of the value
of the ships, and they only ran the line three years. However,
as long as you have the taxpayers behind you and plenty of
money in the treasury, I say to Mr. Sweet, surely you can run
Government ships. Now, they propose to invest $30,000,000
in ships. Why, there isn't a large steamship company
throughout the world that has not $30,000,000 in ships. That
is only a drop in the bucket. That is only a small commence
ment of what is going to happen.
Now, to wind up. I have just this to say : That if a
commission of practical shipping men was appointed not
politicians mind you (laughter), but practical shipping men,
and they are given a free hand, as Mr. Sweet stated, I have
only this to say: you will never see a Government-owned
ship never. The American people will get up and give
you an American merchant marine so quick that it will sur
prise the most sanguine, as there is plenty of money available.
I had an experience with Senator Nelson. They put me
through a long "course of sprouts" in an investigation at
Washington (laughter), and he said to me: "Mr. Dollar,
why don't you make all your ships American ships?"
"Because," I said, "I haven't got money enough, and I
couldn't stand it."
"Oh, then," he said, "that's the measure of your patriot
ism?" (Laughter.)
And I said: "Yes, sir."
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So after the session was over, I said to the Chairman,
Senator Burton: "Senator, will you permit me to ask Sen
ator Nelson a question?" He replied: "Yes, sir."
"You know you have been asking me questions, going
into the hundreds," I said. "Senator, will you answer me
truthfully this one question I am going to ask?" (Laughter.)
"Yes, sir."
"Now, Senator, let us two go in and build a ship," I said.
"Now, here is an American ship we can get for $700,000, and
here is the same ship we can get in England that will cost
$250,000. Now, the extra expense of running the American
ship will be about $30,000. Now, Senator, when I say that
to you, I will ask you this question, whether you and I will
build a British or an American ship?"
And he said: "A British ship, sure."
"That's the extent of your patriotism, and you a United
States Senator I'm ashamed of you!" (Applause and laugh
ter.) So it depends altogether, you know, on what foot you
have the shoe.
That concludes what I have to say. I thank you for this
hearing, and I want you just to study up these things.
Think of us having our hands tied securely behind our back
and going into that ring. Remember that, gentlemen.
We then went to New York where we met my son,
Melville, who was loading a steamer for Vladivostok. I
was elected a director of the American International Cor
poration and attended its meetings. The paid up capital is
$50,000,000, and its primary objects are to develop American
foreign trade. I was a guest of honor at a luncheon at the
Chamber of Commerce of New York. Also attended meet
ings of the Foreign Trade Council, at India House, which
has grown to be very popular and of which I was one of
the charter members, when it looked as though it would
take a long time to grow, but it has sprung up like a mush
room and now has a long waiting list. We went to Wash
ington on the 8th of February and attended the annual
meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States.
Ambassador Koo ably addressed the meeting on China, and
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I followed his talk and backed up what he said of the honesty
of the Chinese and the great future of China.
The day I got home I attended a meeting of the Mer
chants Exchange and the Chamber of Commerce, so public
affairs continue to take up more than half my time. During
this year, we bought several steamers and re-sold them again,
mostly to Japanese. We also sold all our own vessels we
could spare, the "Robert Dollar," "Stanley Dollar" and
"Grace Dollar." Although we really required these vessels,
the prices we were offered were so attractive we let them
go at over three times their original value.
During this year, I paid several visits to Vancouver,
B. C, looking forward to establishing the terminus of our
steamers there, and also with a view to building a sawmill
to furnish us cargoes for our foreign going steamers. In
San Francisco, there had been a longshoremen's strike for
some time. They took such complete possession of the water
front that the United States Government had to get a permit
from Mr. Murphy, president of the Union, to remove specie
from the dock to the sub-treasury. This so incensed the
merchants that a meeting in the Merchants Exchange was
held on the loth of July, which was by far the largest and
most enthusiastic meeting ever held in San Francisco, and
at which a Law and Order Committee was formed and a
fund of one million dollars was promised. This absolutely
stopped violence, and the police judges were compelled to do
justice by force of public opinion.
In October, after a visit to New York, Philadelphia and
Washington, we visited friends in Coulounge and Ottawa.
At the latter place, Senator Edwards gave me a compli
mentary luncheon at which four Cabinet Ministers, Sir
Wilfred Laurier, three noblemen and several of the great
men of Canada met to do me honor. It was certainly a
great compliment, more especially as when I first left Ottawa
I was receiving wages amounting to $26.00 a month.
Excerpt from and Ottawa paper:
"On a cool, crisp, fall day, seven and fifty years ago, a
young Scotch lad clad in homespuns walked into the Ottawa
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
office of Hiram Robinson, lumberman, and demanded a job.
He got it washing dishes and cleaning stables up in the
shanties at ten dollars a month.
"This morning this erstwhile shanty boy returned to
Ottawa for a brief stay Robert Dollar, western lumberman
and vessel owner, pioneer of trade between North America
and the Orient, friend and confidant of the Chinese President,
and regarded as one of the fifty greatest men of the United
States.
"Mr. Dollar is staying with relatives, and when seen by
The Journal this morning was busy talking over old times
with his old employer, Mr. Robinson, the man who gave
him his earliest start.
" 'Yes/ he said, 'Mr. Robinson gave me my first job
way back in 1859, an< ^ I started in at the bottom washing
dishes in the shanties and I don't regret it, for today, if I
go up to one of my coast camps and see the dish boy making
a poor job of things I can set right in and show him how
things should be done/
"From chore boy, Mr. Dollar worked his way to the top
of the lumber business. Leaving Mr. Robinson to go up
to Muskoka, and then, at the end of the Civil War, crossing
to Marquette, Michigan, he entered business on his own
account. An ardent student of Horace Greely, the advice
'Go West, young man/ sank deep into the lumberman's
mind. As a result he was unsatisfied until the shores of the
Pacific came within his ken. And even then a hankering
for still further 'Westing' remained. His lumber business
increased until he was forced to build ships to carry his wood,
and finally he entered the trans-Pacific transportation busi
ness with such success, that today the Robert Dollar house
flag is as well known in the Chinese treaty ports and those
of the Russian Orient, as it is in Vancouver and 'Frisco/
"Today eight great Clyde-built freighters are running
the Orient, and, thanks to the American Seaman's Act, every
one now flies the Union Jack and has its home port in Van
couver instead of San Francisco. Their owner, with whom
lies much of the credit for opening Oriental markets for
American products, stated today, that, as one result of the
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transfer of his vessels to a Canadian port, he would devote
every effort to building up a new market for Dominion-made
goods in the Far East.
"Mr. Dollar has just completed the purchase of a quarter
of a mile of deep sea frontage on the north shore of Bur-
rard's Inlet, near Vancouver, where, the moment he returns
to the coast, work will be commenced on a vast lumber mill
designed to manufacture Canadian timber for the markets
of the Orient.
"Naturally, reminiscences occupied the bulk of the con
versation between Mr. Dollar and his old employer. The
former recollected the day when he brought the first saw
logs over the Chaudiere and then tried to run them through
the Kettle, with somewhat disastrous results, for they jam
med, and, as Mr. Dollar remarked, We had the very dickens
of a time.' After this jam, it was decided to run the logs
through the north slide; Mr. Dollar's narrative of the inci
dent follows:
" 'We let 'em in one by one, and they went through fine ;
so well, that I kept shouting, 'Let 'em come! Faster!
Faster!!' And they came so fast that we had another jam,
and backed the water right up through Eddy's match factory.
Then Mr. Eddy came out and gave me a good cussing. I
just told him not to waste my time talking, if he wanted
me to break up the jam. He stopped and sat down on the
bank watching me. Then I got busy, and, after I had
finished the job, he came over to me and said : 'Young man,
I gave you an awful talking to, just now, but after seeing you
move those logs, it's up to me to take my hat off to you,
instead of calling you a fool/
"Though an American citizen now, Mr. Dollar is an
enthusiastic pro-ally. He gave The Journal a little piece
of hitherto unpublished information about the Teuton at
tempts, prior to the battle of the Falkland Islands, to secure
his finest steamer, the 'Robert Dollar/
"The facts of the 'Robert Dollar's' voyage were these: A
few weeks before the battle of the Falkland Islands, she left
an Atlantic port with a full cargo of steam coal destined
for either Manila or Batavia. Her charter, which was signed
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
by one of Mr. Dollar's sons, provided that the vessel should
call at Pernambuco, South America, for orders. The moment
Mr. Dollar read the charter he surmised there was some
thing wrong, but by that time the ship was well at sea, and
nothing could be done.
"Luckily Captain Morton, who commanded her, was a
staunch Britisher and was also suspicious, so r he lay to off
Pernambuco instead of entering the port. A small boat came
off, carrying three Germans who gave him orders to proceed
to Montevideo, off which the German fleet was lying. The
Captain flatly refused to obey the alleged orders, whereupon
the Germans offered him five thousand dollars in gold if he
would steer his vessel south. The result was that three badly
mussed up Teutons went down the ship's side quite a bit
faster than they came aboard, and the 'Robert Dollar' steamed
off for the China Sea. As Mr. Dollar added, The Hun fleet
went hungry for a fine cargo of good Welsh coal.' '
From Ottawa we went to Vancouver, where I addressed
the Rotary Club on October 10, at the Vancouver Hotel.
A Vancouver newspaper's report of address
"China presents greater trade possibilities to British
Columbia and to the world than does any other portion of
the globe, according to Captain Robert Dollar, of the Dollar
Steamship Line, which recently established headquarters in
this city, on account of the United States shipping laws not
being so favorable to shipowners and the shipping business
as are the British laws.
" 'When the people of China increase their purchasing
power,' said Captain Dollar yesterday in an address to the
Rotary Club at a luncheon at the Hotel Vancouver, 'there is
no telling how large the trade may become. The resources
of China are greater than any of us have any idea. This is
the trade you will have to depend on. The surface of that
country has only been scratched and they have a fourth of
the population of the world.'
"Captain Dollar went on to explain what he meant by
increasing the purchasing power. He has some large lumber
yards in that country and men work in the yards for eight
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cents a day. With these men receiving higher wages, when
the wages of the whole country become increased with the
march of time, they will buy more goods, so there is no
telling to what extent the purchasing power may grow. At
present men do the work of horses. Were a horse to be put
to work in the place of so many men, it would release this
man-power for other lines of industry where they could
make more money, and they would buy socks and shoes, for
instance, whereas they now go barefooted in very cold
weather.
"The people of Vancouver should go after this new trade
that is bound to come, and can be obtained with vigorous
hustling, according to Captain Dollar, who advised business
men to take off their coats. In the United States they fully
realize the importance of the Chinese trade. One huge com
pany has already voted six million dollars to dredge the
Grand Canal, a waterway which was built before the
Christian era. To develop this business there must be co
operation among the merchants and the people. 'It is possible
for the people of Canada to make Vancouver the great
Canadian port of the Pacific,' declared Captain Dollar.
"Speaking particularly of the port of Vancouver, Captain
Dollar complimented the officials connected with the port and
the shipping business. He said they made it easy for the
shipowners here. The port charges are reasonable, which
is a great inducement. Some other ports make it as hard as
possible for shipowners, and some persons seem to think the
more they charge shipping the more money will be made,
which is not the case, as the people are made to pay. A tax
on a ship is a tax on the whole people, for shipowners simply
put their rates up to meet the increased tax on their ships.
Also, shipowners are like other people they like to follow
the line of least resistance.
"The owner of a ship furthermore, Captain Dollar said,
is the best drummer for trade. He sings the praises of his
home port, for the more trade it has the better it is for the
owners of ships. Captain Dollar's efforts will be to get trade
here, for, in his own words, 'the most extensive freight is
wind and air.' He wants to keep his ships loaded and he told
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the club he would go to every extreme, except stealing, to
get cargoes.
"Payroll was the big thing, in the Captain's opinion, mak-\
ing for final success. 'You have got to have manufacturing
to get the big payroll/ he said. Factories are of more im
portance than anything else. The raw material could be
brought from foreign ports. He gave for instance: When
Irondale, near Port Townsend, Washington, was started with
an iron plant a few years ago, Captain Dollar made a con
tract to bring Chinese iron, and he laid it down at Irondale
cheaper than it could be laid down from Pittsburgh. The
company failed, however, owing to poor management.
"Though not speaking at all in a spirit of criticism, the
speaker drew attention to a condition of the lumber business
here. Two weeks ago he shipped two million feet of lumber
to his China yards, using the lumber to complete a cargo of
one of his ships. He had to get this lumber on Puget Sound.
"With reference to the trade which is coming with
Russia, Captain Dollar, who has an office in Petrograd, said
much depended on the attitude of the Russians, who usually
did the wrong thing at the wrong time, according to his
experience. Before the war he received notice that Vladi
vostok was to be closed to commercial shipping and be used
for war purposes, so commercial shipping was to use an
other port, up a river, where navigation was dangerous
as there was a sandbar at the mouth. Vladivostok is the
only Siberian port that can be used. If this port is not shut
up, trade will develop.
" 'The Lord/ said Captain Dollar, 'gave you here one of
the best ports in the world, without any expense to Van
couver. It is up to the people to develop it further. The
Lord helps those who help themselves/ he quoted. 'As to
what I think of this port/ he went on, 'you can always tell
better by what a man does than by what he says. What
have I done? Well, I am here/
"As to increasing the commerce at this port, Captain
Dollar said there was a good trade already, but foreign trade
was lacking. Domestic trade, he said, was like swapping
jack-knives, in the end each had a jack-knife, though it
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might be the other fellow's; that was all. But foreign trade
brought in gold and was the foundation of a port's pros
perity. When the war is over there will come the greatest
commercial war history has ever recorded. As to the im
portance of foreign trade the farmers of the United States
formerly thought it was not essential to their welfare, but
since the war, they have awakened to its importance to the
interior as well as to the seaboard sections.
"Captain Dollar had noticed that there was an apparent
disposition to frame Canadian shipping laws after those of
America, which he deprecated, for British shipping laws
have produced a shipping business that is the greatest in the
world."
We returned home the latter part of October, and on
the 1 7th of November I gave an address at the Hotel
Oakland, Oakland, California, before the Real Estate Con
vention. At its close I received quite an ovation.
Address at Oakland, California
Those interested in foreign trade are not only the ship
owners, but those in different lines of business. There is
first the farmer. He produces more crops than the United
States can consume, and there is only one way he can
sell them and get the money, and that is by selling to
foreign countries. Therefore, he is intensely interested in it.
Mr. Redfield has said, that if the manufacturers of the
United States were to run their plants full time, in six
months they could produce all the United States would
require for a year. Therefore, for six months of the time
they have to sell to foreign countries. The manufacturers
are intensely interested.
Next come the bankers, who are keenly interested, because
they have to buy the bills of exchange for all commodities
going to foreign countries.
Then there are the merchants with establishments in
foreign countries, who depend on buying and selling our
products, and they are very much interested.
And last comes the shipowner. What use are surplus
products to you if you haven't ships to carry them. We are
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all linked together, and you gentlemen in the real estate
business come in with the rest. Unfortunately those of us
who are engaged in foreign trade necessarily come under the
ban of being in "big business." The foreign trade, of neces
sity, takes a lot of capital, and it is big business, and various
administrations have attempted to crush "big business" and
put big business out of business, until lately they have had
their eyes opened, and now you see the persecution of "big
business" has stopped, in-so-far as foreign trade is concerned.
Foreign trade and commerce, if carried on properly, is
only an exchange of commodities. You gentlemen have
things to sell. You send them over to the foreign country,
and if trade is properly conducted, you should buy in that
foreign country as much or nearly as much as you sell. Very
nice to have the balance of it in our favor, and the European
war has made us the biggest creditor in the world.
Just to give you an idea of how the Chinese look at that
we think that they do not know very much over there I was
trying to put through a deal with the Chinese Government
by buying iron ore and pig iron from them. We came to
a deadlock and, as they desired to send me off in good
humor, they gave me a banquet. They said they were sorry
they could not meet my terms, but, as I could not come up
on my terms, we would have to agree to disagree. As a
parting shot I said, "Remember one thing, gentlemen; up to
the present time I have done many millions of dollars worth
of business with China, and I have yet to take the first
dollar of your money away from you. I have even bought
more than I have sold to you." We were just ready to
go into the banquet room, when they said, "Sit down a
moment," and they began to talk. I didn't understand what
they were saying, only every one had something to say. The
President of the Republic finally said to me: "We have
been trying to form an answer to your last remark, and we
have utterly failed, so we have now decided to give you
our products at the price you have named because we can
not afford to do without the exchange of commodities that
you are giving us."
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Now, a very important part, as I have said, is the bank
ing. It may appear rather strange to you that we had a
law in our country that prohibited national banks having any
branches in foreign countries; therefore, we were compelled
to sell our bills of exchange to foreign countries. The
Federal Reserve Act changed the law so that it now permits
our banks to have branch banks in foreign countries. They
have been established in South America, through the National
City Bank, of New York. We have had an American bank
ing institution, but it never went in for this kind of business,
consequently should one of you sell a bill of goods in a
foreign country and you draw your profits with documents
attached, they go through foreign banks. When I want to
draw from China or the Philippine Islands, coming this way,
my bills of exchange are put in the foreign bank and the
bill of exchange tells the whole story; tells the goods and
tells what the prices are, and, as you know, blood is thicker
than water, the information leaks out to our disadvantage.
Our Congressmen cannot see it, however. I talk through
personal experience because I, too, have received tips as to
what the other fellow was doing.
Our administration recently attempted to regulate foreign
commerce. I attended the meetings in Washington, and the
argument was this: "We have regulated our railroads with
perfect success, and now we are going to regulate you
fellows that are in the foreign trade, and we are going to
tell you what you are to do, in the same way we have
told and do tell the railroads what they are to do. As a
result of telling the railroads, there are seventy-seven rail
roads now in the hands of receivers railroads with thirty-
eight thousand miles of trackage. That is one of the bene
ficial effects, coupled with the eight-hour law that has just
been passed!
In attempting to regulate foreign trade, they are going
to do it in this way: Any ship asking clearance in an
American port has to get a license, and they are going to
put that into the Ship Purchase Bill. I said to them : "Allow
me to give you a problematical instance of how it will
work. We will suppose that one of my British ships comes
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into New York engaged to carry a carload of flour for the
British Government. I ask you for a license and you say,
"No; the audacity of these shipping men! Here is a load
of flour for Great Britain, but we will give you a license
to carry this lumber to Montevideo, if you please." What is
the British Government going to say to us? They are starv
ing, the ship is under their flag, and you tell them that I
cannot carry flour to feed their starving people, but you
compel me to carry this cargo of lumber to South America."
That was the last I heard of it.
/Last year Great Britain passed 239 laws, while our country
gassed several thousand laws to regulate us. Don't you
think we are being regulated to death? However, there is
one fine thing which has been brought about by the war, and
that is the building of ships on this coast. There is building
going on in the United States, on the Atlantic seaboard, but
especially on this coast. Immense sums of money are being
spent here which are going to our laborers. It is a splendid
thing, but the unfortunate part of it is that seventy-five per
cent of these ships up to the present time have sailed away
under a foreign flag. However, we received the benefits from
building them, for which we should be thankful.
Foreign countries aid their merchants in foreign com
merce. It would take too long to tell how it is done, but
they get right out, and in some instances actually compelled
their people to make a combination, so that they could get
the commerce for their own country against other countries.
What have we done? The very reverse. The Sherman Act
prevents us from making any combination of any kind under
penalty of going to jail. There is the difference between the
action of our Government and the action of other govern
ments in trying to stimulate foreign trade.
Then we come down to the Seaman's Bill that was put
through two years ago, which, if it had been enforced, would
put fifty per cent of all of our ships out of commission. We
told them that, explained it to them, but it was no use, the
bill became a law.
They started to enforce it, which caused such a com
motion that they let up on some American ships. Over two
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hundred American ships had been fined five hundred dollars
apiece for infraction of that law, but strange to say the law
says that all ships asking clearance shall be governed by that
law, and the foreign ships are coming and going in and out
of the ports of this country, and they are never looked at.
I have ships coming in which could not pass the law at all.
They haven't looked at them. The law is not enforced.
What do you think of a government making a law and not
enforcing it? There is a law against stealing and murder.
What would you think if they did not enforce it, and let the
guilty go free? That is what is being done with the Sea
men's Law. I was foolish enough to think the law would be
enforced, and I could see that it was impracticable to run
ships under that law, so I went to Vancouver. I need not
have done so, as the law is a dead letter. After this Eu
ropean war is over, we are going to feel it, I am afraid.
The administration has admitted that it cannot put that
Seamen's Bill into force,, in its entirety. Those bills were put
through for a purpose and probably the purpose has been
served now.
Here is something that might interest you gentlemen a
little bit. We were making this a terminal for our ships,
and our captains, engineers and officers had their homes here.
Twelve families have moved away, mostly from Oakland,
and gone to Vancouver to live. We are spending in Van
couver today eighty-one thousand dollars a month, which
practically all goes to labor. That is what this Seamen's Bill
has done for us.
Now there is another thing which took place, which our
Government was warned of and shown exactly what would
happen; namely, that this bill would turn the commerce
of the Pacific over to the Japanese, because the bill was
so worded that Japanese were exempted from its opera
tion. In 1914, thirty-three per cent of the tonnage on the
Pacific was Japanese, thirty-nine per cent European and
twenty-eight per cent American. Try and keep those figures
in mind. Today seventy-six per cent is Japanese, twenty per
cent European and the great American nation's four per
cent. That is where we have got to, and it is going to
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remain that way just as soon as normal times comes back,
because it is an absolute impossibility, with the restrictions
imposed upon American shipping, for us to run ships. A
good many people say, "What does it matter who carries our
freight? We get it carried; it doesn't make any difference
to us by whom." I want to tell you this: if our seaport is
to become great, it is going to become great by having
shipowners living in the place. Do you think I would drum
up trade for Hamburg or London? Not at all. My interests
were right here, and I was drumming all I could for this
Pacific Coast ; and I am continuing it today, but unfortunately
it is on the other side of the Canadian line. Ships are great
drummers of trade. What has made England, on the little
island which she owns, such a power on the sea? Her ship
ping. I heard an Englishman and an American arguing,
and the Englishman did him up on the argument. "Darn
you, I'll take your little island and sink it in Lake Superior,"
said the American, in disgust.
The English had ships going to all parts of the world and
virtually controlled through their shipping, as we at one time
did when we had just as good and as great a shipping trade
as England has, but we frittered away our birthright and now
depend upon the courtesy of the Japanese to carry our goods.
Even our mails are carried by foreign ships. Our Gov
ernment made an outcry that the mail had been opened. I
say, it served us right; why not carry our mail on our own
ships and not be depending upon other people. Now, a for
eign trade council has been established to try and see if it
is not possible to extend our foreign trade. At the first
meeting held in Washington, some six or seven hundred
merchants and bankers from the United States met there.
Mr. Redfield, Secretary of Commerce, out of courtesy, was
asked to say a few words. He came there and said: "Gen
tlemen, I am very busy and have very little time. May I be
permitted to say a few words to you at the commencement of
this meeting?" He did, and sat down, and did not get up.
It was about 10 o'clock when we began and it lasted until
i o'clock. He was fascinated to see the men there who were
planning to increase our foreign trade. We adjourned to
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meet at 2 o'clock. He went away and came back at 2 o'clock
and said to the Chairman, "I would like to make a state
ment. I had no time to wait and listen this morning but I
was so attracted that I stayed until i o'clock and I am back
here again. When I went to lunch, I went to lunch at the
White House, and I told Mr. Wilson what was going on,
and he asked that all of you go over there; he wants to take
a look at you." He took a look at us, and there was the
commencement of the abandonment of the persecution of
"big business." The chairman said to the President, "I think
you have made a mistake in calling us gentlemen here,
because there isn't a man in this room who is not in big
business." The President, however, could see the handwrit
ing on the wall.
The Webb Bill has been introduced in Congress, permit
ting citizens of the United States to form combinations so
that they can go into foreign trade. And that bill is being
pushed energetically by the Foreign Trade Council. I will
say this, however, the Foreign Trade Council does not need
the Webb Bill, because they have connections in foreign coun
tries, but the small manufacturer and the small merchant can
not go into foreign countries, as it would not pay them to
send their representatives there. This bill is to permit those
small dealers to club together and send their representatives
to foreign countries to increase their trade.
Another outcome of that meeting was the formation of a
company with a capital of several million dollars, especially to
develop foreign trade. We have discovered we cannot get
along without foreign trade. In years gone by when we were
not producing so much, we consumed all we produced and did
not need foreign trade. That day has gone by, and gone by
forever. You have read about a convention held in Paris by
the allies held with the object of consolidating their various
energies and for what? So that they will be able to do
business within themselves when the war is over, and it is
up to Congress to sit up and take notice and see whether
that combination will not put us practically out of business.
That action of the convention was backed up by governments
that are governments. I will say this for our Government,
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it has now seen the light, and if it won't help us fellows
on the firing line in foreign trade, I do not think it will
put any obstacles in our way. Something like the sailor
going to fight a battle with a bully aboard a ship. He thought
it was a pretty hard job and thought he would go into the
forecastle and pray. He said: "Now, Lord, I have never
asked you anything before, never prayed to you in my life
and will never again, but if you don't help that fellow out
there, you will be surprised how quickly I will do him up."
So if our Government will only leave us fellows alone, you
sit up and take notice and see how quick we will do the other
fellow up.
Now just one more thing I want to ask of you gentlemen.
Our Government has tried doing missionary work in foreign
lands, but the missionary work should be done right here at
home, and you, gentlemen, if you see the importance of this
thing, the importance to our merchants, it is necessary for
them to go into foreign lands, to look over the situation
and see whether they want the trade, and if they go into
this trade, it should be for keeps.
I want to tell you it will cost a great deal to get started.
They are going to be out of pocket the first year. For ex
ample, I introduced a certain commodity into China. The
first year I lost fifteen hundred dollars; the second year, one
thousand; the third year I got even, and have made money
ever since. It requires grit to go into foreign trade, and the
main thing this nation should do is to get our merchants
to go to foreign countries and develop the trade, because we
need it badly now, for, I want to tell you gentlemen,
when our manufactures increase as they have been doing
they will need ships. The nation that has the ships is pretty
near boss of the job.
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Chapter Twenty-two
HOW TO GET OUR SHARE OF THE
WORLD COMMERCE
From the New York Times, October, 1915
By Edward Marshall
CAPTAIN DOLLAR TALKS
That days of such prosperity as we never knew before
are close ahead of us is the opinion of the most notable
expert in ships and shipping, whom I could find to talk to
an expert so notable that by both sides of the controversy
over the La Follette Bill he has been recognized as one whose
opinion must be reckoned with.
And his optimism stands even in the face of what must
be, to him, the most depressing fact that his particular in
terests have been hit extremely hard, not only by the war,
but by our own legislation which preceded it.
Captain Robert Dollar is the largest single ship owner on
the Pacific Coast; he is the one important individual figure
in our Oriental maritime trade; he is a very careful student
of world commerce.
"We are confronted by enormous opportunities," said he,
with the strong Scotch burr which survives his ardent Amer
icanism.
"If we do not take advantage of them, world conditions
cannot be blamed; our own intelligence will be at fault. We
are an intelligent people, and that should not occur.
"I have seen pessimistic predictions in the newspapers; I
can see no justification for them there, although I myself
have suffered heavily so far. But I have faith in the United
States. We have before us unprecedented chance for foreign
trade, and foreign trade is the surest guarantee of any na
tion's prosperity. I don't believe that we shall let it slip. I
can't believe it.
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"Personally, I am confident that the next Congress will
adopt such measures as may be necessary to the development
of an American merchant marine, and as soon as that is
done our foreign commerce will spring into proportions
which could not have been possible if the European war never
had been declared.
"Indeed the war has done us a considerable service. It
has created an extensive commerce in munitions, which has
been more than sufficient to offset the commerce which the
conflict has kept off the seas, and when I say 'munitions/
thus, I do not include in this classification any arms or am
munition, any military transport, or indeed any purely mili
tary material of whatsoever character. We have exported
these things, but we have exported other things in truly
mammoth quantities.
"We have been uniquely situated in the past. We have
grown with such rapidity that our production never has far
exceeded our own demands, so we have not greatly needed
foreign trade. Hence we have never studied seriously the
art of getting and retaining it.
COMPETITORS FOR WORLD COMMERCE
"Only a few years before the war began, it, for the first
time, became apparent that conditions had begun to change
and that our continued national prosperity upon the old scale
would necessitate our entrance into competition with the other
great producing nations for world commerce.
"But we were in the habit of an insular prosperity, and
could not adjust ourselves readily to the fact. We lost because
of slowness of adjustment. Long ago our merchants seem
to have forgotten both their opportunities and their necessi
ties; our legislators stupidly have failed to revive shipping
laws and inspection requirements, which makes it impossible
for American vessels to successfully operate in foreign trade.
Now has come the La Follette Bill, which caps the climax.
It was passed not long after hostilities commenced, in spite
of its obvious injustices. Without it we should have borne
much better the world-shock of the great conflict.
"Instantly after the war began, there sprang into the pub
lic attention various statements of the enormous gains which
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would accrue to American shipping as soon as foreign bot
toms were scared from all the seas by hostile ships. Those
who have made these predictions failed to take this law into
their consideration.
"This did not occur, first, because we had no ships worth
mentioning with which to take advantage of our chance;
second, because those which we had were governed by re
strictions making them unprofitable even in the face of the
great opportunity; and third, because the ocean war was so
uneven that the commerce-carrying vessels of one country
only suffered. England's and those of France remained prac
tically free to sail and trade as they never before had sailed
and traded. And remember we but recently had handicap
ped ourselves.
"Instead of a period of reconstruction of American ship
ping came a continuance of its decline. We had no ships, and
under existing regulations could not profitably build or buy
ships. We could not begin to develop a great foreign com
merce without a merchant marine, any more than a man
could start a factory without tools. Indeed, we sold some of
the ships which we had.
"The war, however, has been a great educator, and the
next session of Congress is bound to remedy some of our
old mistakes, adjusting our affairs so that certainly we shall
be able to take some advantage of the chance before it passes
into history. I cannot doubt this.
"There has been a general stimulation of our national
interest in those foreign markets which will be open to us as
soon as we have carrying facilities wherewith to supply them,
and those carrying facilities surely will be possible to us
before another year comes to an end.
"The opportunity in South America is very great, as we
are her logical source of supply. Since the European trade
with South America has been shut off, we have built up a
large volume of business, and, as soon as we get ships where
with to forward it, that trade will grow rapidly.
"A laden vessel sent to foreign countries becomes a drum
mer there, not only for the sale of the goods carried in her
holds, but for cargoes to bring back with her; and it is
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through such exchange of cargoes that foreign trade is nur
tured. As soon as we get ships we shall find that every one
of them will create trade in both directions.
"Take the experience which my own firm has had with
its own ships. It is the rule in our various Far Eastern
offices to cable the home office when one of our vessels has
discharged in an Oriental port, and there has found herself
without a cargo for the homeward voyage. Our represen
tative tells us how many more tons of cargo can be carried
than already has been secured, and lets us know what can
be bought there on the ground.
THE SHIP A TRADE MISSIONARY
"The ship is a trade missionary. Not finding a cargo
ready to bring home she seeks one, even going to the length
of buying one, if she can obtain one in no other way.
"We will say that she can buy hemp at Manila at a certain
price. We, at the home office, know the price at which hemp
can be sold in the United States. If that which she can buy
can be sold here, at an advantage great enough to give us
profit, possibly only enough for reasonable freight rates, it
is wise for us to buy it, is it not?
"We buy it; she brings it; we sell it. Thus we get, at
least, freight charges for its handling and its carriage, and
a new trade has been established. See how the vessel has
acted as a trade missionary?
"Our ships have developed a nice little pig-iron trade
between China and this country, having been stimulated to
the task by the fact that they had no cargoes to bring home
after they had discharged those which they had carried west
ward.
"They are now bringing on each homeward voyage
enough to make that voyage profitable, and when they do
this it must be clear that not they alone, but the whole com
merce of the country benefits.
"We sent cargoes to the Philippines some years ago, and
in order to make the voyages profitable brought copra back
with us. Previous to that no trade in copra with the Philip
pines existed. Now it is a very satisfactory affair, amounting
to from 20,000 to 30,000 tons a year.
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"On one occasion, finding our ships light in the north of
Japan, we began to get out oak timber there for the return
cargoes. We bought the standing timber, put in the men to
cut it, and had it stacked and ready for such occasions as
might come when we could find no other cargo. There were
several such occasions. In San Francisco the timber was cut
and made into furniture.
"We are now developing Philippine mahogany along
exactly the same lines, bringing 4,000,000 feet a year in our
own ships. It does not yield a profit yet, but later on it will.
Our ships which bring it are trade missionaries.
"If we did not have the ships we could not do these
things, and the whole country would be the loser. If we had
more ships we could do more such things, and the whole
country would be the gainer. If there were many ship owners
doing similar things the national effect would be tremendous.
This would be the case with more liberal laws.
BRINGERS MUST BE TAKERS
"The man on the street who considers ocean commerce
is likely to forget that if we bring we must take, and if we
take we must bring. Ships must be loaded as they travel or
their travel will be profitless. A vessel voyaging in ballast
one way must get double freight the other way, or lose
money, and double freight is an oppression upon commerce,
the consumer and the nation which is forced to pay it.
"There is no good reason under heaven why this nation
should not be prosperous at the present time as never before.
A vast opportunity has been thrust upon us by this war,
which has driven Germany from the seas and preoccupied the
other nations, or filled their vessels' holds with war munitions,
to the exclusion of the commodities of ordinary life for them
selves and non-belligerent nations. Statistics show enormous
loss of foreign shipping.
"With this unparalleled decrease of foreign bottoms and
the total cessation of commercial shipbuilding at the yards of
the belligerent nations which are the greatest in the world,
and with the stoppage throughout Europe of ordinary manu
facture the substitution of the manufacture of death-dealing
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commodities for the manufacture of life and comfort-giving
commodities our mills and shops should find themselves
faced by a constructive task such as never came to them
before, and surely such as never will come to them in the
future, for it is inconceivable that, in the face of such an
argument for international peace, all Europe will involve
itself in war again, or at least, in any war which will affect
us.
"We must consider the matter of our foreign trade very
seriously. It is of importance to every human being in our
territory, and not merely to the residents of seacoast cities
and seafaring folk.
"Indeed, analysis of the situation places the man whose
interest is in ships last upon the list of those whose interest in
foreign trade is vital.
"I think those interested should be mentioned in this
order: First, the farmer; second, the manufacturer; third,
the merchant who has branches or representatives in foreign
countries; fourth, the banker who finances and furnishes
exchange; fifth, the ship owners who furnish bottoms for the
carriage of ocean trade.
TRADE CANNOT DEVELOP WITHOUT DRUMMERS
"I have said that ships are the best drummers for a
nation's business, and have told you why I think so. We,
of all people, have learned the lesson that even local trade
cannot be developed without drummers. If we wish Amer
ican trade to grow, and we do wish that, for we do not
desire to deteriorate nationally, we must have, not only ships
to carry our commerce, but they must be American ships.
The existence of American ships plying to the world's ports
will mean the existence in the world's ports of American
branch houses, fighting for the world's business.
"Some of our manufacturers employ foreign houses to
act as agents for them in the foreign field, but this is a
foolish business. Foreign agents will work for our prosperity
but half-heartedly if at all. This is a lesson which those of
us who are endeavoring to develop foreign trade have learned
in sorrow. The German, Austrian, English or French firms
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in foreign ports will not develop trade for us, save when such
opportunities occur as cannot be met by their compatriots.
"The situation, as it stands, is an absurdity, and would
be a tragedy were we not capable of correcting our mistakes
with a rapidity and thoroughness exceeding the capabilities
of any other nation in the world.
"Already we are waking to the fact that we must do our
own banking. An inefficient system has existed in the past.
For instance, England has controlled all Oriental business.
Our Pacific Coast has done business with Japan and China
through London.
"Now this is beginning to change, and, if we choose, we
may have the opportunity of seeing to it that the change con
tinues till we take the place which rightfully is ours.
"Years ago I hoped for this, and thought I saw it coming.
Now my greatest hope is that I may live to see the day when
it shall be a matter of fact. Today, New York is temporarily
the financial center of the world. If we are reasonably in
telligent it will have so established its advantages and its
prestige by the time the war ends that the cessation of hos
tilities will not alter this condition.
"We already have the farmers and the land, the manu
facturers and the raw material with which they can work
effectively. Now we must have the American merchant with
the foreign house, the American banker to finance exchange
in dollars (not pounds, as now) and American ships with
which to carry commerce.
WE MUST DELIVER THE GOODS
"We have been in the position of the merchant who has
no delivery service, but is compelled to hire from his com
petitor across the street, the vehicle with which his wares are
taken to his cust6mers.
"Of course, such a merchant would not get the best of
service. The growth of his trade would be subordinated to
the growth of that of the man who owned the vehicles; his
interest would be a secondary matter. He would deliver his
own goods first, leaving ours to time and opportunity. We
must see to it that our trade is primary to those intrusted
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with promoting it. What would you think of the farmer who
left the marketing of his grain until his neighbor's and rival's
wagons should be idle?
"Another thing: American ships can carry American
cargoes, under reasonably equal conditions, cheaper than any
body else can carry them. I am a shipowner, we will say,
living in New York. Could I carry freight to you from
another port as cheaply as I could carry it to and from New
York?
"Of course not, for if I live in New York I shall be upon
the ground there, my ships normally will dock there, my
offices will be there, my trusted men will be there; there will
be less chance there than elsewhere of mistakes in the conduct
of my business.
"Is it not, therefore, obvious that the nation and its cities
where the shipowners are located, and the home ports and
nations of the ships, will get the trade? It seems so to me.
"I live on the Pacific Coast. Is it likely that I shall try
especially to develop New York's trade? Only in a general
way. New York's trade indirectly benefits me, but the Pacific
Coast trade directly benefits me.
"The city and the nation that has the ships will get the
cheapest freight rates, for reasons which cannot be gainsaid.
"I have done something to develop Pacific Coast trade
because I have lived on the Pacific Coast. A Boston man, a
Philadelphia man, a resident of New York, situated as I have
been, would have done what he could to develop Atlantic
Coast trade particularly trade with his particular home port.
The fact that England owns more tonnage than any other
nation explains the fact that British commerce leads the
world. Men help their own home ports and nation.
"Merchants will tell you that in business they forget the
flag under which ships sail. That is absolutely true. But
they do not forget the operating expenses of those ships, for
they fix the freight rates.
"Our government has done something to develop its for
eign trade. It has had wonderful consular reports, and has
done fine missionary work abroad. But it has done little or
no missionary work at home, and that is what we need.
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
SOME THINGS WE MIGHT DO
"If our Government would select one merchant or manu
facturer in each of the lines promising the best foreign trade
development, and see to it that his interest was aroused, he
would straightway become a home missionary.
"It takes the product of many factories to make the cargo
of a ship. The bigger the cargo the cheaper the rate. So, it
is to the interest of every business man who wants foreign
trade, to see that his neighbor also wants it, and to assist
his neighbor in obtaining his share of it.
"I, personally, have had some interesting experiences with
regard to foreign trade. I arrived in China just after the
revolution started, a few years ago. I told my son that there
would be no Chinese business, and he replied, that he had
been thinking of the Philippines. I went to Manila and was
met with a note from Governor Forbes, who said he had
been 'laying for me.' He put a steamer at my disposal and
assigned a man to take me around the islands, stating, that
the longer I kept them the better he would like it, for he
knew that my journey would mean an increase of American
trade.
"I kept the steamer and the man sixteen or eighteen days,
and they did mean American trade. From Zamboanga I
cabled home for a big steamer to come out and load with
copra and mahogany. It did so, and an absolutely new
American trade was thereby established.
"Was Governor Forbes the missionary? No. Was I?
No. Was the ship? Yes! Governor Forbes' effort, and
my own, would have been futile if there had not been an
American ship waiting at the other end of the Pacific cable.
"Governor Forbes was delighted. I went on to Shanghai,
and before I left there I cabled him that I had sent for
another ship. Many ships have gone since then, and many
more will go.
"There was a case in which our Government co-operated
with a private individual in working for the public good.
There should be more of this.
"Our tendency toward antagonism between Government
and individual is too great. Of late in the United States,
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the successful man, or the enterprising man, is likely to be
looked upon at once as one to be suppressed and handicapped.
We must get over that. It is a foolish tendency.
EVERY CITIZEN INTERESTED IN SHIPPING
"I have said the farmer has an interest in ocean shipping
and the passage of right laws regarding it. Was not this
startlingly illustrated when the cotton crisis came? Is it not
strikingly illustrated now, when we have bumper crops of
grain.
"Crops must be moved to market, else the farmer cannot
raise them profitably. If we raise more than the domestic
market can absorb the surplus must be moved to foreign
markets. This can be carried to foreign markets only in
ships. If we have not the ships it cannot go. If there is
no movement, of what value are crops to the men who have
produced them?
"Not long ago, a friend told me of the necessity of send
ing a ship to South America to bring back cargo, but said
that he could find no cargo for the outward trip. He sent
cards to friends asking them to help him find a cargo.
"They did so. He sent her laden with potatoes and the
potatoes sold in South America, although North American
potatoes had never been offered there before. The ship
brought back South American goods which were badly
needed here.
"That was constructive work which could not have been
done if the ship had not been available. If we pass laws
allowing ships to be profitable we shall have more ships.
The fellow that has the transportation comes near to being
master of the situation. Have not we on land learned that,
in dealing with the railroads?
"That man must be comfortable. If we bother him too
much we all shall lose by it. Give him a fair chance, and
he'll make good. Don't let him take advantage of you. That
will hurt you both. We have learned that, too, in connection
with the railroads, but don't unduly oppress him."
NEW TRADE AFTER THE WAR
"What new trade ought we to get after the war is over?"
I asked Captain Dollar.
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"We ought not to wait until the war is over/' he replied.
"The markets of the world are open to us now, if we do
enough missionary work among our business men, arousing
them not only to their opportunity for getting it, but to the
means for keeping it.
"It is of paramount importance that we should put our
men in the foreign fields. The first chance now exists for
us to put them there. We need foreign trade. We never
really have needed it before. We can get it. We never
before have had so favorable an opportunity.
"We must be farsighted if we wish really to be pros
perous. We had not studied carefully the South American
situation. We had been buying but not selling there. We
had allowed the money which we spent there to be respent
in Europe.
"That was an exceedingly poor business method. When
we go there now, in the tremendous effort which I hope we
shall put forth, we must tell the South Americans that we
will buy of them, but that, if we do they, in turn, must buy
of us.
"We shall be in a position to dictate if we are wise.
Commerce, really, should be merely barter, consisting of an
exchange of commodities, rather than an exchange of money
from one side for the commodities from the other. We took
commodities and gave money. England, Germany and Eu
rope generally were wiser.
"But when the war began Europe's position altered im
mensely. She had to buy of us more than she sold to us.
Had she been in a position to sell to us as much as she had
to buy of us, I do not believe that she would have sent, as
she did not long ago, the allied commissioners for the nego
tiation of a great war loan.
"Among truly prosperous nations the balance of trade
must be about equal. We must try to equalize our balance
of trade with every nation on earth, and we never can do
that until we are ship owners.
'We have at hand the best potential salesmen ability that
the world has ever known. Years ago Americans abroad
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were no credit to their home country, but those days have
passed. Our Consuls at one time were a miserable lot; but,
happily, that has been remedied.
CHOOSING AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVES
"But we still must be careful of our representatives.
When I go to a foreign country those with whom I do busi
ness do not callme 'Mr. Dollar'; they say, 'that American/
If I do wrong my nation suffers.
"When a foreigner treats us badly here we speak of him
as 'that Japanese/ 'that Austrian/ or by his nationality.
"We must remember these things when we select our
agents to do business for us in foreign fields.
"We must impress on all those whom we urge into new
trade that, the honor of the nation, to a considerable extent,
is in their hands; and we must encourage for the work only
the best men of the highest ability and ideals. Not only must
we have good salesmen, but good citizens abroad. This can
not be too strongly emphasized. The days when the whole
world distrusted Yankee shrewdness, now are past. I know
we stand as well abroad as Englishmen or Germans do. If
we do not we should see to it that we rise promptly in the
world's estimation.
"So, assuming that for honesty and integrity we com
pare favorably with our competitors in foreign countries, it
is high time that we began to compare favorably with them
in enterprise and trade intelligence, and I know that we
do not do that, at present.
"Foreigners, now, have no doubt of the quality of the
goods which we sell them, but they have some doubt that
we will send them exactly what they order. We have been
strangely prone to assume that we know better what a for
eign market needs than that market knows itself.
"When a market orders a certain sort of carpet we do
not always send that kind to it, but, instead, ship to it the
sort of carpet which we think it ought to want. And thus,
sometimes, with other things.
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MUST TAKE NO LIBERTIES WITH TRADE
"Very likely we are right, but we must not take such
liberties until we have proved that to be the case. We must
abate that foolish arrogance.
"When I began in the China trade there was a demand
there for long American timber. It was inconvenient stuff
to handle, and short timber would have served the purpose
just as well, so I started a campaign of education to prove
this, and at length succeeded. But until I had done this I
gave my Chinese customers long timber, shifting to the
short only when they, themselves, as the result of that which
they had learned, asked me for it.
"Before we end this talk I want to say a few more words
about the farmer's interest in the export trade, and the strong
link which binds every human being in this country to the
great problem of ocean shipping, even though they may live
in the interior, far distant from the seacoast.
"It is to the interest of everyone that our shipping laws
should be such as to make shipping and ship-owning possible.
They are not so at present. The La Follette law is an
attempt to equalize wages on all ships in the world. When
I was asked by the Congressional committee if an increase
in wages on the ships would not necessitate an increase in
rates, I answered in the affirmative, of course. Then I was
asked who would pay, and, of course, the only answer was,
'The consumer.'
"As a matter of fact, it will cost us 2 or 3 cents a
bushel more to carry grain under this law than it did under
the old laws.
"Will the consumer pay it always? No! Sometimes the
producer must pay it he must if he meets competition not
similarly burdened and he does exactly that when he sells
his grain for export.
"When we are forced to charge increased freights the
farmer must sell at a less price or not sell at all. And so,
also, with the manufacturer. This shipping problem is a
great one, touching all of us."
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Chapter Twenty-three
MEN WHO ARE MAKING AMERICA
From Leslie's Weekly, September, 1916
By B. C. Forbes
The cook boy in a remote Canadian lumber camp was
caught off guard.
"What are you up to?" demanded the boss.
The boy, startled, crumpled up a sheet of rough paper
he had spread on top of a flour barrel.
"I've finished my work," he apologized.
"What were you doing?" asked the boss.
"When I have any spare time I like to learn," he ex
plained, timidly.
"Learn what?"
"To figure and write."
The camp manager picked up the rumpled paper. It was
covered with figures and writing.
He said no more.
When Li Yuen Hung was recently chosen President of
China, one of the first things he did was to send this ex-cook
boy a cable expressing a desire for his friendship. Yuan
Shi Kai, his predecessor, had decorated the former lumber
camp lad. So had the last Emperor of China.
Today, the cook boy is one of the most influential coun
selors of the Chinese Government and almost an idol in the
eyes of the Chinese people.
His name is Robert Dollar, the foremost producer and
exporter of lumber in the United States, the owner of two
fleets of steamers, one for coastal, the other for oversea trade,
the greatest individual creator of commerce between the
Pacific Coast and the Orient, a still greater creator and
cementer of friendship between the Orient and the Occident,
and this country's most potent worker for the establishment
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
of a powerful American merchant marine. Also, a philan
thropist.
It was Captain Dollar who led the unsuccessful fight
against the enactment of the suicidal La Follette Seamen's
Bill which immediately swept the Stars and Stripes from the
Pacific Ocean and gave the Japanese complete control of the
commerce between the Orient and the United States.
"La Follette's name will go down to posterity as the man
who drove the last nail into the merchant marine coffin/' the
veteran captain declared when, despite all the protests of com
mercial and shipping authorities, the fatal measure was passed
by Congress.
The law was found to be so impossible that Washington
was obliged to announce that certain features of it would
not because they could not be enforced.
Even so, the conditions brought about were so demoral
izing, so subversive of all discipline, so productive of insub
ordination, that shipping casualties became so numerous on
the Pacific Coast that insurance companies refused to accept
the risk.
An impressive tribute to the genius of American states
manship !
WHAT SHIPPING NEEDS
Not content to legislate for American ships, representing
about one per cent, of the world's shipping tonnage, the
Washington wiseacres actually attempted to make laws for
the remaining 99 per cent.! Of course they had to crawl
back into their shells. If they hadn't, America would have
been left without ships to move her $6,000,000,000 of annual
exports and imports. President Wilson sent for Captain
Dollar, but, unfortunately, Congress did not follow the sound
advice given.
"All we shipowners want," Captain Dollar repeatedly told
the Government, "is to be put on an equal footing with other
nations. Give us equal laws and we will give you a merchant
marine rivaling that of a century ago, when the Stars and
Stripes carried nine-tenths of the United States oversea com
merce. Today our naval vessels cannot go far from land
without the support of foreign auxiliaries."
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
So ridiculous did our marine regulations become that
American shipowners were compelled to fly the British flag
and employ British naval reserve men on their vessels, thus
helping to strengthen Britain's power at the expense of crip
pling our own.
"You may succeed in driving us out of the United States,
but you can't drive us out of business," Captain Dollar told
Andrew Furuseth, the seamen's professional agitator, who
really was the inspirer of the measure.
Patriotic American though Captain Dollar is, he is com
pelled by our absurd laws to run his oversea fleet under an
alien flag and from an alien port. Whereas his ships used to
sail from California, their headquarters is now Vancouver,
British Columbia, which levies toll, of course, on every ton
entering her harbors and gets the railroad haul of mer
chandise which ought to pass over none but American lines
and be handled by none but American workmen.
By what steps and by what qualities did Robert Dollar
climb from the cook's shanty to the ownership of steamship
lines and a vast timber business, honored by election to the
presidency of both the Chamber of Commerce and the Mer
chants' Exchange of San Francisco, by selection as a director
of the $50,000,000 American International Corporation, byy
decorations from Peking and by receiving the Freedom of the
Borough and the keys of his Scottish birthplace? Not one
of America's "Fifty Greatest Business Men" began more
humbly.
The most menial job was his that of a "cook's boy."
When the food did not come up to the expectations of the
hungry lumber jacks, the person who set it in front of them
was lucky if he encountered nothing more damaging than a
volley of oaths. Bob Dollar, however, manifestly was doing
his best and most of the rough diamonds came to have rather
a warm spot for him in their hearts especially as he could
be called in to read or write a love letter for those who could
use axes very effectively but pens not at all.
When the camp manager, Hiram Robinson, caught the
cook's boy struggling with addition and subtraction and
multiplication and division and caligraphy, he did not dismiss
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
him for using the company's time for such a purpose, but
quietly went about providing the ambitious little fellow with
books and also saw to it that leisure was provided for study.
STUDIED BOOKS AND MEN
The lad did not confine his studies to books or to cookery.
He learned how to fell trees, how to tell good lumber from
bad and, not the least important, how to get along with the
uncouth workmen. Before he had had his first shave he
was playing the part, not of a boy, but of a man, able to hold
his own when trouble broke out.
"Take a drive down the river Du Moines. Take 50 men
with you." That was the order he received one day from
the camp manager. This was the first drive of saw logs
undertaken from the Du Moines district over the Chaudiere
Falls, a route subsequently taken by many millions of Ottawa-
bound logs. Dollar, though only 21, managed the men and
the venture successfully. As a reward he became foreman
over a big gang.
Two things all Scotch children are taught the Bible and
thrift. Lumber-jack Dollar had saved most of his hard-won
wages, though the pay was only $10 a month at the start.
Another trait is independence the Northern Scots claim
that they are the only people the Romans failed to lick after
trying. He had enough money when 27 to buy a modest
bit of timber land and started operations.
Alas, "Wall Street" upset all his plans and plunged him
into bankruptcy. No, he had not speculated in any "sure
thing" tip; it was the panic of Black Friday which ruined
him as it ruined many stronger business men.
He had learned, however, how to take knocks. He had
no difficulty in getting a good job as manager of an im
portant lumber establishment. He saved every penny that
came within his reach and paid off all his debts in full within
four years he was and is an ardent believer in the Golden
Rule and its Founder. His employer took him into partner
ship and this time things moved more satisfactorily. Their
product consisted chiefly of hewn board timber for export to
England.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
"Captain Dollar is from Missouri from the heart of
Missouri," one of his managers said to me. "He must always
be shown; he wants to see things for himself even if he
has to travel one thousand or ten thousand miles to see them.
He is one of the best-traveled men in the world. He always
gets at the bottom of everything. He is intensely practical
and has scant regard for untested theories. He keeps his
eyes open all the time for new opportunities. He is the most
resourceful man in America."
Perhaps this explains why he moved first to Michigan,
where larger and better timber could be had, and later to the
Pacific Coast. He began lumbering redwood in Northern
California but grudged the amount he was charged for trans
porting his output. He investigated. He discovered that if
he could get a ship of his own he could cut the cost to half.
So he bought a little tub, the "Newsboy," of some 300 tons.
It paid for itself in less than a year.
STARTING A STEAMSHIP LINE
This appealed to the Scotch in him! If one "tuppeny"
boat could make so much, why not get hold of more boats?
He did. And that was the birth of the now famous Robert
Dollar Steamship Company, with half-a-score vessels in the
coast-wise trade and as many more plying between the Pacific
Coast and the Orient, and with branches in Shanghai, Hong
Kong, Tientsin, Hankow, Kobe, Petrograd, Manila, Vancou
ver, Seattle and New York.
The business did not grow of its own accord; it had to
be built up from the foundation. It called for foresight,
enterprise, energy, diplomacy, patience, perseverance and the
most scrupulous fair-dealing, for no race is more quick to
resent questionable practices than the Chinese.
When Captain Dollar first began to ship lumber to the
Orient, the demand was solely for the very largest pieces.
This left a by-product of small boards, which could not be
shipped. He knew that the Chinese did not use these enor
mous sizes but that nearly all of them were cut into small
pieces by hand-saws. The resourceful Dollar began persuad
ing his Chinese customers to take a sprinkling of these small
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sizes. He took a trip to the Celestial Empire and created a
market for his by-product.
Return cargoes were then not to be had. There was no
profit in running empty steamers; therefore, trade had to be
developed. So off he went to find out what could be done
about it. When he got to the Philippines he made arrange
ments to import mahogany and copra. Japan, he discovered,
could supply oak, sulphur, coke and coal. China yielded a
grade of pig iron which Western mills would snap up as fast
as it could be brought over.
The Dollar steamships were thus kept loaded, both going
and coming. Since the war, freight rates have been so high
that lumber could not stand it. Outward shipments, conse
quently, have consisted very largely of general merchandise
and munitions, the latter to Vladivostok. From that port the
vessels proceed to China, Japan and the Philippines for return
cargoes.
"NEVER CHEAT A CHINAMAN"
While the Dollar Steamship Company trades with India,
Japan and the Philippines, its largest business is with China,
where Captain Dollar has come to be revered to a degree not
easily understood by the untraveled American.
"Never try to cheat a Chinaman," Captain Dollar im
presses upon everyone who would do business with the
Chinese. Confucius taught them that "honesty is the best
policy" and the Chinese live strictly up to this axiom. In
addressing a meeting of the United States Chamber of Com
merce last year, he said, "In all our years of trading with the
Chinese, involving many millions of dollars, we have never
lost a single cent, never had one bad debt. I wish we could
say the same of other countries, including our own."
Great as have been the services of Captain Dollar in ex
tending American commerce in the Orient and in creating a
fleet of high-class steamers, both passenger and freight, as
well as in striving heroically to have Congress adopt sensible
shipping legislation, he has a much stronger title to the grati
tude of the American people.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
Robert Dollar has done more to prevent strife and promote
peace between America and the Orient than any living states
man.
When war was threatened between this country and Japan
over the San Francisco school question, Captain Dollar suc
ceeded in getting up a party of commercial men from different
chambers of commerce to visit Japan, where he is almost as
well known and as highly regarded as in China. The Emperor
himself received the delegation. The entente cordiale was re
established. After that the jingoes could make no headway
with their militant propaganda.
Two years later Captain Dollar organized an influential
commission to visit China. Their reception by the Emperor,
by Government dignitaries, by cities and by commercial organ
izations eclipsed in ceremony and display anything before or
since extended to foreign visitors. Captain Dollar's diary of
this memorable trip (he has kept diaries without a break for
59 years) was later published for private circulation at the
insistent request of friends; it gives a better insight into the
nation which comprises one-third of the human race than any
other publication I know of. It is sprinkled with wit and
humor. Last year, it will be remembered, a distinguished
Chinese delegation, headed by Cheng Hsun Chang, visited the
United States and created nation-wide interest. This was
China's fitting way of returning the Dollar delegation's visit.
Captain Dollar, as his photograph shows, is a patriarchal
figure with his silver-white hair and gray beard. He works
prodigiously, especially before most of America's 100,000,000
people are out of bed. He spends a goodly part of his time
and his means in philanthropic and church work, being espe
cially interested in furthering the Young Men's Christian
Association movement throughout the world. His speeches
on shipping problems have attracted national interest during
recent years.
WORDS OF EXPERIENCE
I asked Captain Dollar what his vast experience had x
taught him were some of the qualities helpful to the attain
ment of success. I also asked him what ought to be done to
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
enable the United States to attain a higher place among the
commercial nations of the world.
The Grand Old Man of the Pacific thus replied to the
first question:
"i Fear God and be just and honest to your fellow man.
"2 Incessant hard work.
"3 Frugality and saving your money.
"4 Drink no intoxicating liquors. In these days of keen
competition whiskey and business won't mix you can't do
both.
"Foreign Trade is the answer to the second question. We
are legislated to death. Stop legislating and leave our mer
chants alone and they will develop our foreign trade, and
provide tonnage to carry our own products to market. Per
mit our shipowners to operate our ships exactly on the same
terms and conditions as other nations are doing, and then
our merchants will supply the cargoes and our shipowners
will provide plenty of tonnage for our commerce in time of
peace and auxiliaries to our navy in time of war, and except
for carrying mails, it won't cost our country a cent."
A few months ago a septuagenarian visited octogenarian
Hiram Robinson, at Ottawa.
"You don't remember me?" asked the visitor.
The old man peered at him a moment.
"Don't I?" he cried, holding out his hand. "You are
Bob Dollar, my old cook-boy."
The millionaire ex-cook-boy left Hiram happy, for the
aged lumberman was the boss who caught him learning to
read and write and who made the ascent of the ladder of
success a little easier.
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Chapter Twenty-four
ELOQUENT APPEAL FOR A GREATER AMERICAN
MERCHANT MARINE
The first part of 1917 was eventful. In January of this
year Mrs. Dollar and I attended the annual meeting of the
Foreign Trade Council at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. There
was a large attendance, those who registered numbering
twenty-five hundred. It was not so much the number, as
the high class of men who attended. They represented the
big commercial and banking institutions of the United States,
which showed conclusively that the country had at last awak
ened to the necessity of foreign trade. It was as enthusiastic
and as earnest a body of men as I had ever seen together.
Splendid addresses on the various subjects that affect foreign
trade were delivered. Mr. Bernard N. Baker was to have
addressed the meeting on, "The Necessity and Importance of
an American Merchant Marine." At the last minute he
notified the assembly that he would be unable to attend, so the
committee asked me to take his place, which I did. The
following is a stenographic report of my talk:
REPORT OF THE MERCHANT MARINE COMMITTEE OF THE
NATIONAL FOREIGN TRADE COUNCIL, PRESENTED
BY ROBERT DOLLAR, CHAIRMAN
It goes without saying that the Fourth National Foreign
Trade Convention desires to consider the American Mer
chant Marine from a business, rather than from a sentimental
standpoint.
If any delegate desired to enter into a new business he
would not wrap himself in the Stars and Stripes and make a
speech. He would calmly analyze the chances of success in
the particular field and then estimate his own resources and
necessities. Let us consider, therefore, why the United States
desires to go more extensively into ocean shipping. The Na-
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tional Foreign Trade Council has declared that an American
merchant fleet should discharge the following functions:
First: Increase the national income and domestic prosperity,
through greater facilities for the sale abroad of products
of the soil and industry of the United States; the importa
tion of materials indispensable to life and industry; and,
through freights collected from world commerce.
Second: To maintain under the flag, communication with
distant possessions.
Third: To aid the national defense and maintain commerce
during war, whether the United States be a belligerent or
a neutral.
The world shipping outlook may be summarized as
follows :
The position as far as the future of merchant shipping is
concerned may be summed up under four heads:
1. War-loss of tonnage.
2. Steps taken to remedy the decrease of tonnage.
3. Nationalization of merchant shipping in relation to inter
national traffic.
4. Participation of American shipping in international trade
after the war.
WAR LOSSES
According to available statistics, England has lost some
12% of her deep sea shipping as a result of the war; while
Germany has lost about 7.5% of hers, through mines or
otherwise. The 13.4% of German tonnage now in the hands
of the Allies has not been wiped off the register, nor is it
necessary to take into consideration the 39.1% of German
tonnage laid up in neutral harbors. In the case of Norway,
the loss of shipping due to the war has been even greater
than that sustained by England. The merchant shipping
of the world to-day is probably only 85% or 90% of what
it was when the war broke out, taking into consideration all
the new tonnage built during the past two years, which is
the smallest amount built for almost a generation.
Collectively, with this process of destruction, we must
include some four and one-half million tons of shipping laid
up to avoid the risk of capture, while at least another twelve
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million tons is in constant use by the Allies, in connection
with the transport service. Altogether, it has been esti
mated that only slightly more than 50% of the whole mer
cantile fleet of the world is now available for peaceful trade,
so that no great effort of the imagination is needed to un
derstand the position as regards both the present level of
freights and the prices which neutral ships are commanding
in the sale market. This will give you a general idea as
to why freights are so high.
REMEDYING THE LOSSES
The next question in order is, the nature of the steps
taken to remedy the loss of that 10%, more or less, of the
world's tonnage which has been destroyed as a result of
the war. It is here that the greatest difficulty will be found
in arriving at anything like comprehensive figures, upon
which to base positive deductions.
In 1913, for instance, British shipyards turned out, ap
proximately, 1,975,000 tons of shipping. Last year the
output was reduced to 580,000 tons; but, concurrently, there
was a proportionate increase in other countries, particularly
in the United States, where, including the tonnage built on
foreign account, some 560,000 tons of shipping were
launched. In Holland, France, Norway and Denmark, last
year's output was slightly reduced, owing to the difficulty
of securing material; while little is known of what is go
ing on in German shipyards. Japan and Holland, together,
turned out about as much tonnage as the United States, and,
adding the British total to that of all other countries, the
total for 1916 is slighly above 1,820,000 tons of new ships
which is less than the output of the United Kingdom for
the year 1913. The output of new tonnage throughout the
world has been reduced by 50% since the beginning of the war.
According to the figures compiled by the Bureau of
Navigation of the United States Department of Commerce,
not less than 1,428,000 tons of steel ships had been ordered
from American shipyards on December i, 1916; and, in the
United Kingdom, according to the figures of Lloyd's Reg
ister, approximately 1,180,000 tons of shipping were in
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various stages of completion, and could be put into service
within a few months, should the cessation of hostilities per
mit the employment of sufficient labor to push the work on
these ships.
Figures are lacking as to the amount of tonnage under
way in Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Holland; but, it
is known that this tonnage is considerable and amounts to
at least as much as has been ordered in this country; so
that there is every reason to believe that, should hostilities
terminate this year, the mercantile marine of the world,
after another year, would show a net loss less than is now
anticipated. In other words, it would have suffered from
arrested development, a condition open to various inter
pretations, for the reason that, in years past, trade depres
sions were followed by terrible slumps in the shipping in
dustry, so that any slackening in the movement of inter
national traffic resulted in depriving ordinary cargo ships,
or tramps, of a living wage, and forced many of them into
idleness. This surplusage, therefore, will have been wiped
out by the destruction wrought during the war and the
slackening of shipbuilding operations, making the exploita
tion of oversea transports a less precarious industry than it
has been since the last boom period of 1900, which was then
brought about, wholly, by the enormous requisition of ton
nage by Great Britain for the transport of troops and supplies
to the seat of war in South Africa.
GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF SHIPPING
It would be extremely rash, however, to venture pre
dictions concerning the maritime traffic situation of the world
as it will find itself at the end of the war; chiefly, because
the ultimate result is still a matter of speculation. At such
times as these, when international trade is, as during the
Napoleonic wars, a period held subordinate by the belliger
ents to the measures thought necessary to secure the ad
vantage in war, the future is so dependent upon the future
course of events, as to warn us to exercise the utmost caution,
when venturing predictions based upon past events.
The war has been, and is still, a great benefit to the
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shipping of neutral countries. Thus, we have seen in our
own trade, scores of Japanese, Greek, South American and
other vessels, that formerly never ventured beyond the coast
line of their own countries, arriving at our ports in search
of coal, grain, foodstuffs and other essential necessities.
Similarly, our own so-called "Coastwise" vessels have been
eagerly chartered for the oversea trades and, a few days ago,
two steamers, built for the Atlantic Coast traffic, were
chartered by a British steamship company to work on the
New York and River Platte line, in the place of British
tonnage that had been commandeered by the British Gov
ernment.
One question which has been foremost in the minds of
those who have recently participated in international ocean
traffic, has been, the probable attitude of the belligerents
toward neutral shipping when the war ends. It has been
hinted that the system of government control of shipping
now in force in the warring countries, would be continued
after peace is declared, and, that steps would be taken by
the Allies to exclude from their trade the ships owned by
their former enemies.
It is idle to conjecture what is really at the bottom or
what will be the result of the trade pact signed by the
Allies at Paris, last year; but, it is inconceivable that the
nations which are now, in their own words, allied for the
defense of civilization, will use the eventuality of victory
for the purpose of enforcing a system of domination of
the seas which, though once claimed as a right worth up
holding, if necessary by force of arms, was given up vol
untarily as a handicap upon the accretion of national wealth,
through greater participation in international trade.
Restriction of the liberty of navigation must be paid for
by those who would seek to drive others from the sea; and,
historians are agreed, that it was only through her tacit
renouncement of the doctrine of Sovereignty of the Seas,
and the repeal of the monopolistic Navigation Laws, that
England secured for her shipping that position of superior
ity which it enjoyed at the beginning of the war.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
EFFECT OF CONTROLLED SHIPPING
An object lesson in the practical working of nationaliza
tion of shipping is in evidence to-day. It is undeniable, that
much of the tonnage scarcity existing in certain trades has
been artificially created by the action of officials in control
of shipping, who have ordered ships to proceed from one end
of the world to another, unmindful of the fundamental prin
ciple that the proper function of shipping is to serve both
ends of the trade routes; and, that ships cannot be shunted
to and fro like locomotives, over the shortest circuit, without
causing profound disorganization in the sytsem of inter
national transport which has been evolved by the natural
process of operation of the law of supply and demand. Signs
are not wanting that the public of the allied nations is be
ginning to understand that Government control does not
necessarily imply efficient handling.
In this country, we have heard the echo of Government
control of shipping through the enactment of the Shipping
Act, with its concomitant appropriation of $50,000,000 of
public funds for the purpose of acquiring vessels. In this
case, one problem will be the judicious expenditure of so
large an amount of public money, without incurring the risk
of a tremendous depreciation of the initial investment when
conditions have returned to normal.
AMERICAN SHIPPING
The last phase of the problem of rehabilitation of mer
chant shipping after the war, is that which has to do with
the probable amount of traffic that will be available when
the guns are silenced, and the legitimate share of such traffic
which may accrue to the American merchant marine.
The nations at war have piled up such a heavy burden of
debt, that, for a long time, they will probably continue to
impose upon themselves the program of retrenchment at
present in force.
Of late, the percentage of American foreign trade carried
in American vessels has increased materially, and the urgent
question at the moment is, the devising of means, not only
to the end of reserving for American shipping the percent-
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
age of American international trade which it has won; but
also of strengthening its position in order that if the end
of the war witnesses keener competition for maritime traffic,
the American merchant marine will continue to enjoy that
share of the world trade which it has already conquered.
This phase of the question is that which concerns us
most deeply, both because an American merchant marine is
required for national needs, and as a source of revenue for
our people; and, because it is a vital element of the shipping
problem, that no one section of it be developed without due
regard for the economic conditions which are likely to in
fluence its existence. The new American merchant marine,
which is now in process of evolution, has not, perhaps, de
veloped as rapidly as circumstances seemed to justify; but,
it is well worth remembering, that the natural desire of the
American public to venture more extensively into ship own
ing has been somewhat dampened by legislation which, al
though ostensibly conceived for the general benefit of the
community, has nevertheless been interpreted as likely to
handicap the chances of American shipping. The Seamen's
Act is a case in point.
In all countries, a similar upward trend in the cost of
ship labor has been witnessed and, for the time being, high
rates have neutralized the disadvantage imposed upon Amer
ican vessels; but, if it is desired that the American ships
which are now exploiting some of the American trade routes
remain in these trades after the war, it will be necessary
that, after rigid inquiry, steps be taken to place the American
ship on a footing of equality with any competing ship in
the same trade. Such functions appear to have been dele
gated by law to the recently created Shipping Board and,
if by reason of the Board's existence, it becomes possible
for American shipping to trade on equal terms with the for
eign ships that come in ballast to these shores to seek cargoes
for distant markets, there will have been set in motion ma
chinery that will prevent the recurrence of that period of
stagnation existing before the passage of the Panama Canal
Act, when the arrival of an American ship at any port in
South America south of the Spanish Main, was enough of
MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
an event to draw comment from the vernacular newspapers.
PECULIARITIES OF THE AMERICAN TRAFFIC
When studying the merchant marine problem in its par
ticular relationship to the ownership and operation of ton
nage under the American flag, it must not be overlooked,
that there exists, in our foreign trade, a serious deficiency
from the traffic point of view, in the fact that the normal
tonnage of American exports is about twice that of imports,
so that there exists, at all times, a greater demand for
tonnage to carry exports, than is usually to be found dis
engaged in the ports of the United States.
In general, it can be predicted that, as soon as our im
ports of raw materials have increased in such volume as to
solve the vexed problem of return cargoes, there will have
been evolved a condition, that will not only be of great
help in the development of the American merchant marine,
but of many of our competing industries as well; for the
reason that, the greater volume of imports will be a guar
antee of the steady flow hither of a large number of ships
which will be available at lower rates of freight than has
been the case in the past, when so many ships had to make
the voyage to these shores in ballast in order to load our
exports.
It may be regarded as axiomatic that, even when under
such circumstances, traffic will be found for an American
merchant marine only if it is able to offer both exporters and
importers the same service for the price at which foreign
ships are willing to undertake it. This traffic will not of
necessity be regularly to and from the United States, be
cause on several of the trade routes over which our exports
travel, no return cargoes of any kind are available, so that
American ships will serve the commercial interests of other
nations as well as of ours. Obviously, it is impossible for
any nation to trade exclusively in its own bottoms, because,
in such a case there would be no return cargoes and the
ships voyaging empty on one leg of the journey could not
perform the service for the same price as when the cost of
transportation is figured on the assmuption of carrying pay-
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
ing cargoes both ways. Therefore, American traffic stands
peculiarly in need of the "tramp," the very nature of whose
existence is to serve the commerce of all the world, carry
ing cargoes for whatever destination is offered, in order to
avoid the deadening expense of returning home in ballast.
Normally, about 40% of the carrying power of the British
merchant marine is employed constantly in service between
foreign ports, wholly outside the United Kingdom; and, in
average years, only about 55% of the entries and clearances
at British ports consisted of British tonnage.
England's example may serve as an illustration of the
great economic fact that, no nation can transport all of its
foreign commerce in its own vessels, for we must always
reckon with the unnatural desire on the part of our foreign
customers, like ourselves, to possess a merchant marine, so
that, in all cases, care will have to be taken to allow such
foreign ships a sufficient margin of traffic from our coasts;
especially in view of the fact that such of that which we
export is the property of the foreign purchaser even before
it has left this country.
VAST TONNAGE NEEDED
From these premises it has been adduced that, there is
every reason to put forward efforts enabling an American
merchant marine to carry from 50% to 60% of our total
foreign trade speaking in terms of bulk, not value. It has
also been calculated in a statement submitted in May, last
year, by the National Foreign Trade Council to the Mer
chant Marine Committee of the House of Representatives,
in connection with the passage of the Ship Purchase Bill,
that between six million and ten million tons of ships of all
sizes and types would be needed to discharge such functions
as have been alluded to above. This by no means implies
that such an amount of tonnage is to be created anew. In
the first place, the capacity of the shipbuilding industry of
the whole world would not be sufficient to provide so many
ships in a decade, but, it does mean that, provided induce
ments are offered Americans to operate tonnage under their
own flag, there is traffic already in sight at our very doors,
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
for a fleet approximating half that of England when the
Great War broke out.
To sum up, this is the situation : The traffic is here, and
more traffic may spring up as a result of more intensive
exploitation of our coal mines, increased imports of ore and
nitrates, and greater expansion of our export trade in manu
factured goods. From the transportation of about one-half
of this traffic, not only can our people derive a very large
revenue, which will be a welcome addition to our national
wealth, but the ability of the nation to defend itself against
foes will also be well served by the ownership of so large
a fleet. The investment that would be represented in such
a fleet amounts to probably ten times the $50,000,000 ap
propriated by the Ship Purchase Act.
Therefore, the duty which lies before the Shipping Board,
created by the same law, is not so much the expenditure of
that appropriation under the dangerous conditions existing
at present, but, the evolution of a policy enabling American
ships to compete on equal terms with those that have in the
past carried the preponderating share of our foreign com
merce.
SOMEBODY MUST PAY
Either by the leasing of the government owned vessel to
private enterprise or by government operation, the Shipping
Act embarks the United States in an industry, normally
costing more to conduct in the United States than under
foreign flags. Under normal conditions of peace it can
scarcely be expected that private companies will undertake
the operation of government ships, unless the rate of lease
or charter is sufficiently lower than the market to offset
higher American operating cost. Somebody must pay the
difference, and under the proposed policy it will be the tax
payer, just as surely and completely as under a subsidy
policy. If, then, government aid is extended only through
the leasing of government owned vessels, the American flag
in foreign trade may become a government monopoly, except
for such exporting enterprises as may desire, as a matter of
policy and protection, to own and operate vessels for the
carriage of their own goods.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
It is not generally realized that the authorization for a
$50,000,000 bond issue to give effect to the Shipping Act is
the most unrestricted appropriation ever made by Congress,
for no regulations are laid down. A Public Building bill al
ways specifies the location and limit of cost of post offices
and customs houses. A River and Harbor bill does the
same for engineering works. But, the Shipping Board is
empowered to build, buy or lease vessels, and to lease or sell
them, and with the funds thus derived, it may build, buy
and lease more, and again lease or sell them. The way is
open for the government to assist private enterprise by
chartering vessels to individuals or companies at less than
the market rates, but, a distinct danger lurks in the pos
sibility of political influence being exerted to determine the
recipients of such aid. The Shipping Board will require a
maximum of independence and vision to resist such influence,
for it is unlikely that the public will ever consent to suf
ficient appropriations for the government construction or
purchase of the six million to ten million tons, necessary
to render American commerce reasonably independent of
foreign transportation.
The government control of European shipping during
the war has led to some projects for a similar control dur
ing the reconstruction period, and permanently thereafter;
this has created a rather academic apprehension that Euro
pean merchant fleets may not, with the return of peace, be
again so thoroughly at the service of American commerce as
before the war, but, that by some co-operative policy, the
various belligerents will use their shipping only for the en
couragement of their own commerce. This overlooks two
important facts First, that transportation from, and expor
tation to, the United States, will be the most important ele
ment of European commerce; and, second, that when ships,
now impressed in government service and immobilized, are
released, there will probably be more ships than freight, and
unrestricted competition will serve the national interest of all
countries, better than European government control.
The first duty of the Shipping Board, obviously, is to
acquaint the American people with the fundamentals of
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
ocean transportation, especially as relates to American for
eign commerce. And its second duty is, to make recom
mendations to Congress which will permit the development,
by private enterprise, of a merchant fleet sufficient to give
the United States what, for many years, economic and legis
lative construction have denied it A share in the ocean
carrying trade of the world.
A policy consisting of a few government steamship lines
will not be a solution of the problem, in which probably,
above all others, the American people are interested.
The United States Shipping Board will be accompanied
in its labors by the earnest wishes of the American business
public, that its labors may result in a broad and constructive
policy. To this end it is the duty of every American citizen
engaged in foreign trade, to give his cordial co-operation
and best information to the Board.
Commercial and industrial organizations should be en
couraged to study this question in its broadest aspects as an
industrial proposition.
The Merchant Marine Committee of the National For
eign Trade Council is conducting a continuing work of in
vestigation, the results of which, from time to time, are made
public. Pending the organization of the Shipping Board,
and an indication of its interpretation of the Shipping Act
and the policy it proposes to pursue, the Committee at this
time deems it inadvisable to make further recommendation
than that all business interests co-operate to the best of their
ability with the Shipping Board, and that the Board itself
lay the foundation for a policy which will encourage the
private endeavor which alone can produce and permanently
maintain, a fleet adequate for the carriage of a greater share
of our own and the world's commerce.
Committee of the Merchant Marine,
National Foreign Trade Council.
ROBERT DOLLAR,
JAMES A. FARRELL,
P. A. S. FRANKLIN.
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MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
This ends the Report of the Committee, but I have a few
remarks to make that I think might be of interest. As to
the personality of the Board, I would say this: I know
them. They are all men of the highest reputation and the
highest character; but, when I want to get a suit of clothes,
I don't go to a shoemaker. There is a lawyer on the Board,
there is a lumberman and there is a railroad man, and there
is one shipping man and one vacancy. The Seamen's Union
has done its utmost to prevent the ratification by the Senate
of the shipowners' appointee, for the reason, they say, that
he would know too much about shipping, and they don't
want him. The difference between our Shipping Board, and
the Shipping Board in London that controls more than half
the steam tonnage of the world, is this: there, they appoint
men who are actively engaged in shipping; while our men
had to quit the business they were in before they could
qualify for a position on the Shipping Board. They recently
appointed a man there, who is one of the largest shipowners
in Glasgow; and he and another shipowner are practically
running the entire shipping business of England.
Mr. Chairman, whenever I have talked long enough, you
tell me to sit down. I should like to speak of the conditions
previous to the war, after the war is finished, and present
conditions. As I said, anybody can run a ship to-day and
make lots of money out of it, but I am going to take you
ahead to the time when we are going to get down to the
keenest competition the world has ever seen.
I want to say to you that, in foreign shipping, we are
in competition with the whole world, and we meet the keen
est and sharpest men in the whole world in our competition.
It is certainly a man's job.
Just to show you the handicaps American ships have.
In talking at New Orleans, I didn't speak of this and some
of the members especially those from the Middle West
said they would like to have known about the handicaps. I
have not time to go into them at any length, because there
is a whole string of them put in by the Government.
Take the extra measurement of a ship The Americans
measure the capacity of a ship larger than does any other
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MEMOIRS OP ROBERT DOLLAR
nation. Therefore, when our shipping goes to a foreign
country, it pays from 20% to 30% more tolls to the foreign
government than any other ship. That amounts, in a ship
of 8,000 tons, dead weight, to about $5,500 a year.
The extra cost of inspection We have to lay up our
vessels to have them inspected. In foreign countries, they
say this: "We want to inspect your vessel, are you ready?
What have you ready?" We tell them what we have ready,
and they give us a Certificate of Inspection for a certain
part; we pass on to the next port to have the inspection com
pleted. This is done so that there will be no delay. But,
with our Government, they say: "Stop and wait until we
can inspect your ship." I had a ship in Honolulu at one
time on which the inspection certificate had expired. The
ship was held up. There was no Inspector in Honolulu, the
one nearest being at San Francisco. After telegraphing to
Washington and waiting for some time, we finally obtained
the consent of the authorities to have them send the Inspector
to Honolulu. In the meantime our ship and crew were
waiting for the Inspector at a cost of about $3,000 a year.
Then, the difference of wages I took three ships, I have
the records in my Books; one was an American ship, one
a British ship and the other a Japanese ship. The Japanese
ship we chartered, but the other two I owned. The wages
on the American ship were $39,240 a year; the wages on
the British ship were $15,696 a year; and the wages on
the Japanese ship were $9,324 a year. So there is a dif
ference in the wages; and, when we get right down to a
keen competition, there is the kind of competition that we are
going to meet along with the other handicaps we have.
Mr. Furuseth, in planning the Seamen's Bill, said his
plan was to get every sailor that came to an American port
to desert from his foreign ship, and then hire him over again,
at the American wages. In theory that was fine, but in
practice it wasn't worth a cent. He forgot that if a sailor
deserts a Japanese ship in a foreign port, when he returns
home he is put into jail for a year. Now, Mr. Furuseth
made the proviso in the Bill, that the sailors of each national
ity should ship on vessels of their own nation, or they would
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be taken up by our immigration authorities and deported;
but, those who would ship on a Japanese vessel and go back
to Japan, would go straight into the calaboose on arrival.
Now, what I have to say, is this The shipowners do
not want any subsidy. Because, a subsidy, as you know,
to Congress, is like showing a red rag to a bull; but, if
other nations are paying their sailors $20.00 a month and the
American wage is $50.00 a month, then let the Government
pay the sailors the $30.00 a month difference to every
American who ships. That will not be a subsidy that
will only be a little help to the poor men.
For the benefit of you men not in the shipping business,
I will say this: when you hire a man, the bargain is just
between you and him; you hire him and he works for you.
Not so in shipping. When we hire a crew for a ship, we
have to take the men before a United States Shipping Com
missioner, who explains to the men the agreement, and each
man signs the shipping articles. Then, when it comes to pay
him off, we are not permitted to pay him. We take the
money and give it to the Shipping Commissioner, and the
Shipping Commissioner pays him. You see, gentlemen, that
the Government comes in between to keep the wicked ship
owner from "doing up" the poor man.
A question that you gentlemen no doubt have often asked
yourselves is: What difference does it make to us whether
we ship our goods in a foreign or an American ship, pro
vided the rate of freight is the same? It shouldn't make
any difference; but, I will tell you where the difference
comes in. Take a shipowner running a ship from an Amer
ican port; he is the best drummer of trade you can get,
because, as I have explained to you, he will go to any ex
treme to get a cargo that will bring his ship back to his
own port, and to try and help the commerce of his port.
But, if I were living in London or Liverpool, do you think
I would be pulling for this United States? Not at all! It
is only because I live in this country that I am a drummer
for the trade of this country, and try to keep my ships going.
As an illustration, I cited a case where we sent a ship clear
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around the world to get back to our own country. That
is the great advantage of having our own ships.
Another thing If a ship is to come back in ballast, you
gentlemen are going to pay just about double the amount
for the freight going outwards. A return cargo would cut
your freight pretty nearly in two.
Now, the Emergency Act was about the only thing that
was passed by Congress that amounted to anything at all in
the way of helping American shipping, and that was drafted
by a committee of this organization. But, the ink had hardly
gotten dry on the President's signature, when down came
the La Follette Bill, which practically crushed us out of
existence. I have not time to go into the La Follette Bill;
it would take half an hour to tell you about it, and you
would be tickled to death with the explanation, if I only
had time to give it. That was by way of helping the Amer
ican Merchant Marine Over the left.
I will read the figures from the Report of the Depart
ment of Commerce, of last May just try and keep them
in your mind.
Before the war began the American tonnage of the Pacific
Coast was 26.10% of the whole tonnage. In May 1916,
after the beneficial La Follette Bill had gotten in its deadly
work, it was 1.97%. Shall I read those over? Before the
war, 26.10%, and after, 1.97%; after you know what.
The British tonnage before the war was 29.38%, and
now, in May, it was 37.09%.
The German tonnage was 18.47%, an d of course that
was wiped out.
Then Japan I want you to take particular notice of this,
gentlemen, and take it home with you, if you will just make
a note of it. Japan, before the war, did 26.05% * tne
Pacific trade, and in May last, 50.90%. That is the effect
of the Seamen's bill. You will notice that the Americans
went down to 1.90%, and the Japanese ran up to 50.90%;
and, if I had the statistics up to the first of January, it would
show an increase for the Japanese up to over 60%. It would
not show any decrease for the Americans, because we were
right down to nothing.
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Then the Dutch came in. Before the war they didn't
do a thing; but, since the war, they are doing 10% of the
business.
These figures are very significant, taken in connection
with the legislation that is now going on.
I want to say to you gentlemen, that I am not making
a political speech. The Republicans did their worst to hurt
the American Merchant Marine, and the Democrats were
only successful because they were better at figuring and,
they were able to do us up worse than the others. You see,
there is no politics in this at all.
I will give you just one more illustration. The old
Pacific Mail Company paid no dividends for thirteen years.
How would you like it? Thirteen years between drinks.
Think of it! Then the Seamen's Act came down on it, and
if it had stayed in business, it would have had to pay out
$600,000 more a year.
The new Pacific Mail Steamship Company had an ex
perience which illustrates more clearly the operation of the
Seamen's Act. The company employed on a ship an Amer
ican crew. The act compels the captain to pay the men half
the wages they have earned at every port. The first port
being Honolulu, the men got their money and forgot to come
back to the ship, thereby delaying the sailing a day. At
Yokohama, the same thing was repeated, and the ship had to
sail without a full crew and had to pay some of their fares
on the railroad to take them to Kobe. A reception was being
held on the ship to Japanese merchants, when a free-for-all
fight occurred from the effects of whiskey. This so exas
perated the company that it hired a Chinese crew and paid
the passage of the Americans back home. So much for the
people making laws, when they have no idea of what the
results will be. The British laws are most favorable to
shipping, and as a result you will find British ships in every
large port of the world, whereas the American ship is only
conspicuous by its absence.
The Japanese, I will just say, are advancing their trade
to South America, it having increased during the past year,
about 50%.
MEMOIRS OF ROBERT DOLLAR
There is just one thing more, and that is this: With
the abnormally high freight rates now being paid, where
shipowners are making money as never before, the Americans
are out of it and the other nations are in it. Japan has
increased her wealth so much, her balance of trade had
about balanced that every steamer leaving San Francisco
has, practically, from a million to two millions of gold, the
balance of trade now being very much in her favor. Gentle
men, I thank you.
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Chapter Twenty-five
A HASTY TRIP TO JAPAN AND CHINA
From Pittsburg we proceeded to Washington to attend the
annual meeting of the United States Chamber of Commerce.
This meeting was well attended, there being a greater number
present than had ever before attended. These meetings are
drawing the commercial interests of the United States much
closer together, thereby giving them an influence they had
never before possessed. At the request of Mr. Rhett, the
President, I addressed the assemblage.
I had several conferences with the Shipping Board on
the work they have before them, and from what I learned,
they certainly have a big job on their hands. I also called
on some of the Cabinet Ministers, and on the heads of va
rious departments, discussing with them subjects of general
public interest.
We then went to New York, to attend to some business
concerning our branch office. While in New York I attended
two meetings of the Directors of the American International
Corporation, which, under the presidency of Mr. C. Stone,
has progressed. They have decided to enter more into
Chinese enterprises than they have in the past. They asked
me to express my opinion of the future of China for com
mercial enterprises and investments. I also attended a cou
ple of meetings at the India House, and had conferences
with big shipping men of New York.
We returned to California by way of Vancouver, B. C.
At Vancouver we were building a large saw-mill, prepara
tory to entering into the manufacture of lumber on an ex
tensive scale, to provide cargoes for our steamers going to
the Orient. We were also establishing a terminus for our
steamship line, as we had secured the Great Northern Rail
road dock and warehouse, opened large offices, and were
getting an organization together to successfully manage the
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business. My son, Melville Dollar, was in charge. At
this time we had started negotiations to buy the controlling
interest in the China & Export Company of Shanghai, China,
which had mills and lumber yards scattered throughout the
largest Chinese cities. As considerably over a quarter of a
million dollars would be involved, we considered it necessary
for my son Harold (who was home from Shanghai on a
vacation) and me to go to China to make an investigation
as to the property values of the company.
We arrived in San Francisco the middle of February
and on the 5th of April, we left for Vancouver to embark
on a Canadian Pacific liner for Shanghai. Before sailing,
we spent a week looking over our various interests in the
vicinity of Vancouver. We found the shipping department
had been well systematized; the frame of the mill had been
erected, and the machinery on hand and being set up. The
wharf was built and there was the appearance of a big
manufacturing plant.
fhe steamer made such a short stop at Yokohama that
I did not have time to visit Tokio, where there were several
Japanese with whom I would have enjoyed renewing my
acquaintance. At Kobe, we had one day, which I spent in
our branch office. Sixteen days out from Vancouver, we
arrived in Shanghai. We immediately got down to busi
ness, and, after nearly two weeks of hard work, had about
concluded our investigations as to the value of the prop
erties, when we received a hurry up cable from the British
Admiralty commandeering our three steamers, so I had
to leave at once on the steamship "Bessie Dollar/ She was
scheduled to load in Hongkong, and we were in a fix. On
arrival at Hongkong, I at once called on the Commodore,
and arranged with him to do what he proposed doing with
the vessel, but to let us have half the cargo space to take
care of our obligations. What appeared at first to be a
serious stoppage of our business, turned out to be quite
satisfactory after readjusting our business to suit the cir
cumstances. Getting the ship fitted out for the British service
kept me in Hong Kong eight days.
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From Hong Kong we proceeded to Manila. Here the
American Government had made arrangements for us to load
some of the seized German steamers, the Pacific Mail to load
the balance. On account of the war, business was very brisk,
and it was only a case of getting the goods, to sell them.
Like other parts of the world, lack of transportation was the
chief trouble. Hemp and copra, that would stand a high
rate of freight, were moving freely; but sugar would only
pay $30.00 per ton, so no steamer would carry it. At the
port of Iloilo, there were over 100,000 tons in warehouses.
On this visit I learned that Americans and Filipinos were
getting to understand each other better, and instead of
antagonism, there is now a friendly feeling of working to
gether for the common good. There are no signs of Amer
ican capital entering the Islands to any large amount. This is
the more remarkable, if we compare them with China, which,
although continually torn by revolutions, is drawing freely
on American capital. There seems to be an utter lack of
confidence, by financiers, as to the future of the Islands. The
natives have been clamoring for independence and, now,
when they see that the kind of independence they will get,
will be absolute, and that the American army and navy will
leave them to work out their own salvation, the fear of
Japan has caused them to change their minds. Now they
don't want the Americans to leave them to their fate. They
want a complete self-government, and, without the consent
of the United States, to get into all kinds of troubles with
other nations, and then to have the United States fight their
battles for them. They now see this is not workable, and
until they get an army and a navy of their own to protect
them (which may be in the dim and distant future), they
must, as soon as they are ready for it, accept a government
similar to that of Canada or Australia. I believe that the
well thinking Filipinos will take this view of it, and if im
migration is allowed, it will make the Islands one of the
richest countries on earth but, they must first have labor,
then capital, to accomplish this.
I had to return to Shanghai as quickly as possible, to
close the China Import & Export Company deal before the
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:st of July, so remained only two days in Hong Kong on my
return trip. On arrival in Shanghai, I concentrated my
efforts to find the best, and cheapest land along the water
front suitable for the election of a wharf and warehouse
terminals for our trans-Pacific steamers, and for accumulat
ing freight from the Outports for export. We finally bought
one thousand feet frontage containing ten acres, and where
there would be twenty-seven feet of water at low tide, along
the front of the wharf when built, which is sufficient for our
largest steamer. In the near future, we will commence the
erection of the wharf and warehouses.
I looked over the city, to see how much it had extended
during the past eighteen years, as I have a distinct recol
lection of where the boundaries were at that time. I was
astounded to find the city had increased in area more than
forty per cent. No wonder that land had increased tenfold
in value in those eighteen years. There are no desirable
vacant houses, and rents are very high.
We went to Hankow on one of the palatial river steam
ers and, while I had often seen it before, I was more im
pressed than ever with this beautiful country, with its rich,
productive valley. At times the valley is so wide that the
hills cannot be seen on either side, and it is seldom that they
can be seen on each side at the same time. The Province of
Sezchuen, alone, has over fifty millions of people, and it is
so cut off by the rapids, called the Gorges, that it is in
accessible to commerce. This makes them an entirely self-
supporting community, that raises and manufactures what
it requires. An effort is now being made to connect Chung-
kiang with the outside world with three small steamers, but
the navigation is most difficult and dangerous. That pioneer
of American commerce, the Standard Oil Company, has
built a boat, and now has her in the service between Ichang
and Chungkiang, but in the not very distant future a rail
way will supplant this service.
It is over two years since I visited Hankow, and I find
a number of substantial buildings have gone up, and many
improvements have been made. Railroad building has been
slow, but the Hankow-Canton Railroad is now open for
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passenger travel to Changshau, a distance of one hundred
and sixty miles. Good cars, shops, offices and dwellings
have been built in a very substantial manner at Wuchang.
Two years ago we purchased over five acres of land right
in the city. At that time, I thought we paid too much for
it, but found it could be sold now at a twenty per cent ad
vance. We are erecting an attractive building on a corner,
for an office, and a manager's residence. Like Shanghai,
Hankow is destined to be a great commercial center and its
prosperity will not detract from, but will help Shanghai. As
the former is destined to be a great railroad center of China,
there is plenty to be done.
We wanted to go to Peking, but were told that the
Government had commandeered all trains to move troops to
Peking, where fighting had started. As it was a long way
around to return to Shanghai, then go by ocean steamer to
Tientsin, our objective point, we waited two days and learned
that a train would start, but with only a fair chance of
getting through as fighting was going on in earnest. How
ever, we took a chance and went on it.
Never venture, never win, was our motto. We were
fortunate, as the Monarchist forces gave up and we managed
to get through. Fighting had ceased the day before we got
there. We found that every one that could possibly get
away, had gone to Tientsin and Pe-ti-ho. So we had the
great big hotel almost to ourselves. Souvenirs of the day
before were visible at the door, in the shape of two bullet
holes. The walls of many houses were riddled with holes,
and at the Chien Mein (City) gate, several hundred bullets
and shells had hit. We visited the place where Chung Hsun
had been. It had been destroyed by shell fire and was still
burning. It was outside the Forbidden City wall. Holes
had been drilled through this wall and the muzzles of two
cannon were still sticking through it. At such close range
and with the protection of the wall, the Monarchists had had
no show.
Chung Hsun escaped in an auto, sheated with steel plate.
It had been hit scores of times, as each bullet had made a
dent in the steel, so when he got out of range, the car did
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not look much like its former self. The city was full of
soldiers, and as they had no accommodations for so many,
we saw many trainloads leaving, mostly in box cars and
gondolas. In the latter, were both horses and men. They
did not appear to stand on the order of their going, but were
bundled out in any old way. I noticed at the rear of each
train, one second-class coach was filled with officers.
It is needless to say, most of the parties I wanted to see
could not be found, although I succeeded in finding a num
ber of Americans and British, but no Chinese. The entire
Administration was out of town. We were able to get a
train going to Tientsin, which was heavily guarded by
soldiers, besides, there were a lot of them at every station.
We were heartily glad and thankful to get safely to what
we call our home, when in Tientsin the flat above our
office which is a comfortable and pleasant place to stay,
and which we enjoyed. Business was almost at a standstill,
and no one knew where they stood, but in a few weeks busi
ness will be resumed as if nothing had happened.
It might not be amiss for me to recite here what started
all the row. Chang Hsun was a Monarchial sympathizer
and escaped from Nanking with his army, and, planting
himself with his troops in a corner of Kiangsu Province,
for three years levied on the inhabitants for the subsistence
of his army of about forty thousand men. When the two
factions at Peking got to the point where they could not
agree, the President ill-advisedly invited Chang Hsun to
come to Peking as a mediator. He came in a peaceful way,
but incidentally brought five thousand of his best troops with
him, all fully armed. In a couple of days he had sized up
the situation, and saw how weak the Government was, so
he put the thirteen-year-old Emperor on the throne, believing
by this act he had re-established the monarchy. As his
troops had been well placed, he easily got possession of the
city. But the troops in adjoining cities stood true to the
Republic, and, coming in from all directions, surrounded the
city. Fighting commenced, and Chang Hsun, seeing he had
been caught in a trap, deserted his men and went to the
Dutch Embassy, where he claimed their protection. Had it
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not been for this move, his head would have parted company
from his body. It is well that this test came, as the provinces
declared unanimously for the continuance of the Republic.
In Chinese politics there is always something next. The
old Government is in power in Peking, but Sun Yat Sen and
Tong Shai Yei are in Canton getting together the young
Progressives, as they are called, evidently for the purpose
of starting another rebellion. The last one was started with
Sun Yat Sen and said to have been fmancied in Tokio, but
Yuen Shai Kai had been fully informed and was ready for
them, so it fizzled out in a short time. Some newspapers
state that this time funds will not be forthcoming from
Japan. If that is correct, then it will not likely amount to
much; but, if money can be obtained, there will be another
ugly civil war. Poor China is having her troubles, and all
her well wishers hope that trouble will cease before foreign
intervention becomes necessary. If the good, well-thinking
Chinese could only see the situation as Americans see it, they
certainly would get a United China.
We got back to Shanghai by the Tientsin Pukow Rail
way, passed the rebel stronghold and saw a number of
soldiers, but were unmolested. Had a week in which to
close the business I had on hand, and sailed on the steamship
" Empress of Asia," on the 5th of August, for Vancouver,
where we arrived August 20, 1917.
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