The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-07

them. II we remember. It closes with the
same spirit OF adventures sweeping toward
.ns East Again, what is good and what is
evil? And in what element of righteousness.
Or regard for the rights of Others. respect
LOT the comfy OF nations. 10 THE conquests
the war lord of Germany?
NOT A QUESTION OF SENTTMENT
what Is written Is written. Let us consid-
er the practical aspect Of the Chinese ques-
ton and wash from our own hands the
STAINS OF the rapine of the Mexican var be-
Tore looking too curiousIy upon the hands of
our neighbors.
The United States can never be insensible
10 what is taking place in the East We are
nearer to Yokohama and Shanghai than we
We're to Liverpool twenty years ago The
development OF our Pacific empire depends
upon the closest commercial relations with
the East. These will increase tenfold with
sne construction of the Nicaragua canal, as
t thucn the duty of the twentieth as that Of
tne Pacific Railway was the duty of the
nineteenth century.
we are as deeply concerned in the auton-
iI nly Oh emma and Japan as in that of Mex
ico The natural tendency of the Oriental
Tau, la, IS toward our Pacific commemorative.
ana unless this trade is safeguarded il will
pass into stage of arrested development
whatever we may think of Chinese barbar-
ISM or western aggression, the question is
/ sense.
Can we depend upon the amenities of the
mes1e1n powers should they become para
mount IN the East, for our commercial
Fgntsg Can our commerce grow by suffer-
a di1 May we not be told, England has
.oin France when Egyptian ascendancy is
| III uebate that, as we took no Tart in the
civilization of the East we should have no
| part in eastern affairs? France refused 10
participate in the bombardment of Alexan-
ara, and therefore, her voice is silent in
Egypt. We shall have no share in The par
mains but silence.
Without anticipating a spirit of adven-
ture. ana keeping shy of any policy of en-
/ tagging Gntagonisms, as faithfully as in
oDedience to Washingtons precept we avoid
entangllng alliances, we SHOULD maintain in
/ the East an attitude of Vigilant and active
neutrality. The moral weight of the United
States is potent. 1t presents a nation en-
amored OF peace. with few interests that
Following the pursuits of peace not alone as
q duty, but as a destiny And yet it has
fought the greatest war of the times. In
that will be found an authority which no
power can fail to respect-the power of doing
whenever summoned what we did genera
All we crave is success to the markets
and fields of China. This was our policy
when we put upon Japan the gentle but :irm
gosies of the world Under Commodore
Perry It was an intervention, we may even
cay an arme9 intervention IN the cause Or
continued sealing up of the ports of Japan
against trade, how can we be Indifferent to
the sealing up of Chinese ports as a con-
sequence of the partition of China?
SHOULD WAIT AND WATCH.
1t will be said that American interests are
so bound UP with those of the western
powers that there can be no gain to them
without a corresponding gain to us; that
while Russia and Germany shake the tree
we may stand by with open baskets and
have our share of the falling fruit. The af-
fairs of men are not governed by these gen.
tie laws, and that nation fares best which
watches longest. 1t would be an abrogation
of our rights as commercial people, a neg
lect of our duties to our great Pacific COM
monwealths, to remain without a logical
policy in the East.
Here, in a compact form you have one OF
the greatest empires in the world. Even
with Alaska added to our domain. China is
600 square miles larger than the United
States A single province, but ten thousand
square miles larger than California, and
100 600 square miles smaller than Texas con-
tains almost as large population as the
United States. The seas and rivers make
1t one of the most fertile, it is among the
most SalubriouS, of countries. To the adj
vantages of nature, the soil ripe with rice,
and the waters teeming with fish, we owe
The vast population. A compact empire,
containing every element necessary to life,
it may close its gates 70 mankind and want
for nothing that mankind can give.
For centuries 1t has lived, in its own
fashion, with its literature and art, its laws
ization which vital when that of Rome
was dormant. In the course of events we
have become drawn to it. until our material
interests are alone surpassed by those of
England and Japan, and grow from year to
1t is wise on our part to heed such an ex-
preston of opinion as we read this morn
ing from Lii Hung Chang. If China falls
under the presume of Western powers,
who can foresee the consequences? There
is no chance of arraying race against race.
as England did in India There are no creeds
Ov MT dc hot % N he I'M q
of revenge. The Chinaman in Canton may
speak another dialect from the Chnaman
Of Peking, but he is Chinaman all the
same.
It would be a graver task than even the
lightest and most valiant cruiser would in
woke to attempt in China the policy of Cline
and India. China can be reached by pa
tience. example and time If We are impa-
tent that more has not been done remember
what has been done by such a man Ii
Hung Chang; that we deal with the glacier
rather than the avalanche; that there are
problems of overpopulation, for instance,
that well give pause to the wlsest states
manship.
It may be the end-perhaps it is the end.
/ am loath to think so. recall the idea of
Sir Harry Parkes There is that in the Chi
nese problem which even half a century or
farseeing craftsmanship could neither COM
prehend nor solve Asia is the land of sur
prise, of wonder, of the unexpected of Tim
our and Genghis Khan. Take the resources
of such an empire as China, the resources
in men alone; the temperance, the frugality,
the fataism which may be trained into the
courage of desperation and fanatlcism See
what Japan has done in a generation; re-
member then what Japan achieved is pos
sible to China Reflect upon the possibilities
of such genius as from time to time mas
arrested the destinies Of people. deal
ing with China as a military and mathe-
matical problem Compel these people to
abandon the faith which has made them,
to their sorrow ACKNOWLEDGMENT and shame,
lovers of peace Give them the supreme al
tentative and there is that In Asiatic condt-
lions which may make strange dream
come true.
Therefore it is wise to look beyond the
pomp and glamor of the German war lord
as he biesses his crusade to the wise, pa
thetic statesman who rules China. And,
finally it is not alone wise. but what is due
to our prestige and interests in the east.
and especially our Pacific commonwealths.
to maintain a neutrality of vigilance and
resolution--resolute in mindng our own af-
fairs but no less so in safeguarding them
from the contingencies Of wars of adven-
ture or the consequences of the selfishness
or indifference of those who propose the
elimination Of China from her place among
the nations
The Irish Difficulty.