W.W. Allen to Charles B. Boothe November 25, 1908 ...it would appear that in the searching for money one must go to another class of men and put his demand on the basis of concessions and benefits to be derived from the loan of the money. --------------------------- Charles B. Boothe to Yung Wing December 28, 1908 Of course, Mr. A[llen] will need to have pointed out to him clearly in what manner the financial backers are to be reimbursed. I had depended upon the meeting of the leaders here to determine upon a plan and to give positive assurance to that end... It is perhaps the most important point which you will have to consider in the negotiations with him. --------------------------- W.W. Allen to Charles B. Boothe January 29, 1909 [Yung Wing] has a limited patriotism. Perhaps the moving cause might be best described by our term “enlightened self-interest.” That the project under consideration is the deep and all-powerful moving impulse of his life I do not believe... We are undertaking work with mighty poor timber... --------------------------- W.W. Allen to Charles B. Boothe February 1, 1909 Judging from fragments dropped in conversation this person [Yung Wing] has had no organized system of correspondence and I doubt if he has had any trusted representatives to continuously inform him of current conditions or to keep his name before the public. ... He recognizes that the great project may not go through, or may fail, so he is providing himself two other roads to affluence: one of these is an exceedingly rich silver mine... and the other is a new discovery for the degumming of ramie fiber, and a further refinement which would make it suitable for the adulteration of silk, to an immense profit. ... Observe that... it is faintly written between the lines that, this work shall be done in or near the silk reeling districts and the product incorporated with the silk, presumably to be sold as silk, or “near silk”... ... Beyond any question our Hartford friend suspects himself to be a shining mark for the imperial lightning and he is not disposed to put up any apparatus to dissipate it. In other words, “The Imperial Bee is buzzing in his bonnet.” Without going into details now (it would be inopportune) you will do well to consider this idea as one to be reckoned with sooner or later. --------------------------- W.W. Allen to Charles B. Boothe February 6, 1909 Our principal difficulty, aside from the known objection of Americans to foreign investments, lies in the weak basis of which we have to work, and a general intangibility. We have in sight only an elderly gentleman [Yung Wing] who has continuously resided here for eight years; who has been entirely outside of the public eye for that time; who has maintained no organized correspondence from, or representation in, the sphere of action; who controls only a few of the student class, or hopes so to control; and who can be rendered valueless in a moment by those now occupying, or lately occupying, very much more prominent positions than he ever did. --------------------------- Yung Wing to Charles B. Boothe February 19, 1909 Now to kill two birds with one stone, I have this proposition... I perceive that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get a financial syndicate to carry out our enterprise. The simpler and quicker method to solve the whole problem is for you to get me $100,000, by means of which my other son (in New York), General L[ea], C.C. A[llen], and myself, all go to China on a tour of inspection, to find out the actual conditions of mines... Now the purpose of the $100,000 is not only to pay for all the expenses of the party, but also for the project of introducing the Ramie interest into China... It is my purpose to organize two Cos. for the Ramie Industry, for the conversion of Ramie into Silk. Ramie in its crude, marketable state costs in China from $4.00 to $7.00 per Picul of 133 1/3lb. silk costs $1,000 per Picul. So you can form a rough idea of the profit... In case our great enterprise should fail... I hope to fall back on the Ramie Industry. --------------------------- Yung Wing to Charles B. Boothe February 22, 1909 Just as soon as I hear from you that you are willing and able to raise the $100,000, I will buy the process for converting the Ramie into silk. With this invention in hand, I will go to China to organize two Ramie Cos... making my younger son the Superintending Manager of both. I will pull up stakes and go as head of the enterprise myself. --------------------------- Yung Wing to Charles B. Boothe November 10, 1910 My own opinion is that if the leading thinking men of the nation knew enough of the history of representative governments... they would be slow to adopt democracy for China. Popular government... on paper looks easy, simple, even fascinating... but altogether a different creature when reduced to the Concrete. At least this is the case with the democracy in America whose social and political problems are constantly rising up for solution. If the leading minds of China at this juncture knew the true interest, they would not head the nation for a Constitutional Government, nor a Parliament, but stick rather to a limited Monarchy... [which] would be worth more to train up a Republican polity than any political Experiment which may plunge the nation into a chaotic revolution like that in France in 1788 and 1790. Such are some of my vague reflections on what China ought to do in her fresh awakening.