Santa Fe daily New Mexican., 1897-12-31
A LESSON IN CHINA'S MISFORTUNE.

A LESSON IN GHINA'S MISFORTUNE.
writer in the current number of ar
eastern publication sees in the present
condition of China a warning to the peo
pie of the United States, and draws {
parallel between the two countries.
According to the writer, the Chinese
empire in its original integrity occupied
the same geological relations to eastern
Asia that the United States does to North
America. With fine resources, fertile
soil and varied climate, and populated
by naturally intelligent and industrious
people, the Chinese thought they were
acting the part of wisdom in shutting
themselves in from the world and going
it alone.
In his farewell address Confucius had
warned them against entangling foreign
alliances. 80 they shut the door and
went In to cultivate the arts of peace and
progenitiveness. 1t suited their rulers to
suppress the military spirit. formerly
strong among them, and so, barring some
occasional internal disturbances, they
soon forgot how to make war. In our
own time they have been armed only
with the same spears and bows that they
used centuries before the Christian era.
The full effect upon nation of such q
history and conditions did not appear
until after the war with Japan. 1t had
been believed throughout the civilized
world that, with potential military
force of millions and with ability to lose
as many men as circumstances might re-
quire, if China should adopt modern
arms and tactics her armies might over
run the Eastern hemisphere. 1t was sup
posed that che had made some advance
in those respects. A vast amount of
treasure was spent from time to time for
ships, guns, rifles, powder and shells, but
most of it seems to have been stolen
The breaking out of war with little Japan
found China totally unprepared with any
thing but the raw material of an army
millions of men, but no arms ready for
them, or time or talent to teach them
how to use arms if they had been at hand.
1t used to be favorite saying all over
China: "Oh, we are safe enough! We
don't want to 20 abroad to fight, and, on
our own ground, we can raise volunteers
enough to whip all the rect of the world"
The mistake concealed in this gospel was
realized when the Japanese landed, and
just spriuted across the country with
small force, and would have sub jug ated it
but for the interference of Europe.
The civilized powers then saw the point,
that nation like China, become submits
sive and slavish through long era of
peace and the low scale Of life incident to
over population, cannot be considered as
a possible military power and can be
whipped by small expeditionary force
properly organized, differed and supplied
with all the latest improvements in death
dealing tools.
China had sort of a Monroe doctrine
in her policy of exclusion, but Europe
refused to acknowledge it, being not
obliged to, because of the military weak
ness of the proponent. Remarks, alleged
to have been made by the German en-
peror, tend to indicate that the same view
and action might be adopted and taken
with relation to this country.
The partition OF China is the logical
result OF it's peace policy, it's failure to
provide itself with the means of defense,
and its GRASS idiocy in believing that moral
oonsi derations would keep the struggling
aud hungry nations of Europe from
grabbing what the natives could not pro-
tect.
The lesson is serious one to us. We
have vast population long unused to
war. Does it not OCCUR to the average
Intelligent citizen that we ought to econo-
nize on public buildings and the i'm
provements of creeks and rivers and
prepare ourselves for the inevitsbles