Arizona weekly citizen., 1888-12-01
THE CHINESE NATION.
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
 IN THE EMPIRE.

The Peoples Incapaoity for Self Elevation
 Lack of Intelligence on the Throne
 Corruption of omeIaIs-Reverence for
 Antiquity-MongoIlan Prejudice.
 The Chinese throne has been conspicuous for its lack of great, strong, formative minds; and it Is so hedged in with form, ceremony and adherence to precedents that unless the incumbent be a man of supreme ability he falls under the guidance of bis eD tourage, and although an absolute despot, he makes little positive impression on the government of his people. The provinces ars governed by viceroys of governors, who, So long as they follow certain minute direc- tons laid down for them, arc at liberty to managel affairs as they please. And under them the mandarins do the same
 In the matter of taxation, if the tax gath erers turn over to their superiors their ex- pscted quotas, too careful examination Is not made into the amounts over and above those sums which they have extOrted from the psO- pie and put into their own pockets The civil service is honeycombed with cOrrup- tion. If from no other evidence, this is ap- parent from the fact that officers with utterly inadequate salaries retire with ample fort unes. Mandarins, as a rule, seldom enter office with large possessions; and it IS req sonable deduction that the wealth with which they smooth their declining years is nl got ten. Occasionally, the official who has been more successful in feathering his nest than fin concealing the fact, excites the jealousy of bis slIpsriors and suffers in conseQuence. Hang Ke, who was superintendent of customs at Canton prior to 1859, resigned bis seals with a fortune of 3OO,00O taels (SjO0, ,000, not withstanding his salary was only 2, 4OO taels a year, and the necessary expenses of his yamun Official residence) were 5000 month. He was ordered to Pekin, and before be had been many days in the capital one-third of his s5OO,O had been transferred to the inside pockets of the members of the government Occasionally severer punishment Is inflicted; {; but the crime apparently consists of being discovered, not of fleecing the peOple
 Without a strong, elevating force on the throne to lift them up, without representa- tive government in which they can partici- pate and raisa themselves df they wanted tol, without well developed and equitable judi cial and legal system to insure justice and encourage right living, with nothing to stin- ulate invention to ameliorate tho condition of the race, without anything to develop virility and stamina, with almost everything to press. subject, confine and servilizs them, it is little to be wondered at they they do not rise, expand and advance.
 But they do not seem to desire anything better. They do not aspire to Q higher con dition With an inbOrn spirit of subservi- ency, intensified by centuries of hersdity, which is reflected in a degree of abJect sub miSsiveness to parental and civil authority which is unknown in this country, they have not the spirit, courage or energy to lift up their hand for anything higher than they possess. Tho same lack of animus which leads full grown men meekly to submit to unmsrited and cruel fiOgging, without even raising a finger of protest, causes outraged people to neglect one of the most potent means of protection against oppression afforded in the imperial censors. Only the most aggravated cases arc reported to them and the rest arc meekly tolerated
 Ne doubt this condition of things is due in a largo measure to the intense and supersti- tious reverence of the Chinese for antiquity. We study the past to improve upon it; they to initiate it. Tradition and custom are everything to them They are linked to tho dead past by the unbreakable bonds of pre- cedent; they are chained to a historical corpse. Their government, as has been seen, Is crude; their language, without alphabet, infection or grammar, is unwieldy and un- suitable for a progressive literature; their blind prejudice against pOst-mOrtem exam nation still leaves them in ignorance of human anatomy, the functions Of the heart, lungs, liver and other organs are sealed books to them; they make no distinction be- tween veins and arteries. or nerves and ten dOusL By mere gussswork they have bit upon the gall bladder as the seat of courage and assurance, which, according to modern slang, is not so far amiss.
 In medicine, ignorance and superstition prevail, and the medical board at Pekin, in the exercise of Is profound wisdom, has sanctioned such remedies as dried rel spotted lizards, silk worm moths, tortoise and oyster shells, dragoon's teeth, vsrdigris, bears gall, sLavinEs of rhinocsros' horus, elephants skin, etc. In astronomy, their Chald(an heritage, they have progressed no further than popularly to believe that the earth is square and flat, and that eclipses are caused by some monster attacking tue sun or moon Their agricultural methods aro If tho most primitive sort And 80 1t goes through all their 50 called arts and sciences. They have not the inherent life and power to break tbeir way out of the codoon of early superstition Although as c nation they are forty csntu- riss old, they are yet in the first stages of evolution.
 One of the most striking evidences of the MongoIian prejudice against innovations is the utter absence of railroads in the country A few years ago some foreigners secured the right to build dozen miles of railroad and operated it for Q short time. The Chinese viewed it askagce, and at length purchased it-not to run 1t themselves, but deliberately to tear it up. America and China sfe as complete antipoies in this respect as they are geographically. We have half the railroad mileage of the world, they none; and when one considers the vast civihzing influence and the great potency for progress of a great railroad system, which brings the ends of a country together, givss quick comnunica- ton among tho people, ,excites ambition, opens avenues for enterprise develops community of interest and makes a nation homogeneous, it is evident that here Qpe finds great factor of the disparity between the American and Chinese people.
 While there arc a few miles of telegraph, the use of this means of communication is hampered by tho unwieldiness of the Ian GuaCe anl tho impossioiii-y of expressing it in teesraphic symbols, -Icept through the cumbersome and inadequate method of con- version into uuInbers.-Nsw York Times.
 Use of Paragraph Signs