The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-01-05
HOW CHINESE PEOPLE ARE RULED.
a MAT and Bed-qu!it" Government Has
che Celestial Empire.


The North China Herald of Shanghai
in a recent leading article describes
what it calls the ''mat-and-bed-quiit
theory Of government" in that coun-
try. 1t SAYS that the traveller who is
stroiiing about the principal thorough
tares OF Pekin is liable at crossing Of
the two main streets to find huge
screen OF patchwork cloth suspended
from poles in such way as to OBJ
strUct the view from all sides, only a
narrow opening being left for carts
and pedestrians. Pursuing his way,
he notices that the entrance to all the
many alleys is barricaded with rush
mats, and that the same kind of screen
is placed in front Of ruined temples
and vacant lots which have been used
as the places Of deposit Of filth or rub
bish. Whenever the emperor is about
to make his exit from the city or is
about to return crierS announce that
fact to the people, who then disappear,
not to emerge until the invisible mon
arch has passed, when things 90 on as
usual until the next occasion of like
nature.
There two main benefits supposed
to be attached to this characteristics
ally oriental proceeding-it helps to
preserve the fiction of the sacredness
of the person Of the emperor, and Of
his being something other than an or
dinary mortal, and it is q valuable
check upon reckless assassins Of the
Guiteau type, whom China could cas-
lily furnish in unlimited numbers. 4
third result is Incidental As the peO-
pile see nothing Of the emperor, 50 he
sees nothing of the people. He is
probably the only man in China who
is unable to form any idea of what the
Chinese are like or what they are
about. What is seen in the imperial
court is no type either of China or Of
the Chinese, but it must be q literal
impossibility for the emperor to get
anything else upon which to base a
notion of his empire. What does the
emperor think, how much does he
know hat does he think that he
knows, does he think at all, what is
the specific gravity of the darkness in
which he pcrpetually abides, and how
many bent rays of light reach him
through the opaque oyster shells
known as "boards?"
This mat-and-bed-quilt theory of
government is not confined to the en-
peror, but runs all the way through
the ranks of oilicialdom. The district
magistrate is supposed to be the man
that knows his district and the prefect
the man that knows his prefecture;
but these are mere figures of speech
used in purely ideal way. No one
in district knows less Of what is go
ing on within its boundaries than the
chief otlicials no one would have more
trouble in finding out what is going
on, supposing he really desired to
know. As rule there is no one who
really cares less to know, or who con-
siders it less his business to know, pro-
vided the taxes are paid and the peo-
pie are "tranquilized." 1t is very diff
fcult for most Chinese officials to come
to any useful conclusion as to their
duties, for the reason that they gener-
allv have too little interest in the mat
ter, and are in reality almost as much
pinioued in shackles as the prisoners
at the doors of their yamens wearing
wooden platforms about their necks,
but with this difference, that the sem
tence on the prisoner is for definite
term and ends, while that of the Off
ciaI is too often limited only by his
life. Chinese ofiicialdom is largely
shut up in a shell, just as it was a
generation ago, and if we hear the
bammering within it is much more
likely TO be n defense against those
outside to prevent their breaking in
than an effort on the part of the i'm
prisoned TO get out.-L0nd0n Times.