The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-04-16

fifty years of Europe than cycle of
Cathay." M
But it is a mistake to think that
China has been stationary Compare
China of the present day with China of
fifty years ago, and the progress she
has made will be at once apparent
There Is we'll known law in physics
that when a body is at rest or in mo-
ton, it will remain at rest or continue
to move in a straight line unless acted
upon by some outside force. rms law
holds good in the political as well as IN
the physical world. 1t is unreasonable
to expect China to break away from
the long established sway of custom in
moment The meeting of the Chinese
and western civilizations is meeting
of two social forces. We must look Tor
the result not in the complete neutral
ization Of one force by the other, but IN
the union of the two forces. 1t is the
recovery from the shock of the collision
that requires time.
Mechanics also teaches us that if the
same force acts for the same period Of
time upon bodies of different masses
the velocity generated is inversely pro
portional to their masses. According 10
this law, when two balls, one Weighing
twice a much as the other, are thrown
from the hand, the heavier one Will go
only half as far as the other. Now the
population of the United States is esll-
mated at 100000. and the popuia tloh
of China is estimated at from $50 .0OO, :
900 to 400 000 900, or abOIe five times as
large. We should expect therefore,
that a social or political movement,
which would stir up the whole peoplc
of the United States, would, other con-
ditions being equal, produce only one
fifth as much effect upon the people Oh
China. But in order to Obtain
the same effect in China as IN
the United States, the force must te
five times as great; or, II the force ne
the same, the time it is allowed to act
must be five times as long. Thus Tor the
apparently slow progress of the Chi
nese nation, we have a scientific eN-
PLANTATION.
Though China may not have made
very rapid progress from western
point of view in times past, there are
signs everywhere at the present day
indicative of a general aWakehlnS
among the people. We have already es-
tablished a system of telegraphs Whlch
is now in operation in every province
of China. and a message can be sent
from one thousand miles in the interior
to the furthest seaport in few hours.
With regard to the railroad, 1t was
introduced in the north OF China four
teen years ago, and | had the honor
of being one of the promoters and d.
rectors that organized the first com
pany. Since then it has been extended
in different directions. A journey from
Tientsin to Picking, which by boat
wou,d have taken three or four days
a few years ago, can be accomplished
now in a few hours. The grand trunk
line from north to south is now being
rapidly pushed forward, and i'll inc
near future a traveller from the eX-
IRENE south of China will be able to
go up by the Iron horse" to PekinS
in forty-eight hours. The same is true
of water communication. We nave
steamers plying along the coast OF
China, and steamboats, of light draHght
are seen on most of the naV!gable
rivers. 1 do not say that all necessary
reforms have been made, and I frank
ly admit that something more Will
have to be done. Our government ana
people are aware of this, and they arr
taking steps in that direction. But IL
should be remembered that it is not
necessary to import by wholesale the
western civilization into China. what
is suited to one country may not pc
suited to another. Wise statesmen do
not rush forward to introduce new
measures without serious consideration
lest their introduction may cause dis
ruption and harm not counterpoi5ed by
the good produced.
The most important questions with
which the Chinese government has to
deal arise from the spirit of CONNER
cialism and the spirit of proselytism. In
all the treaties which China has con-
cluded with western powers, there is an
article generally known as the "tolera-
ton clause" This article provides in
effect that Christianity inculcates the
practice of virtue, and that those pro-
Tossing or teaching it should not be
harassed or prosecuted. This apparently
innocent provision has not, however,
helped to further the cause of Chris
tianity in China 1t must be borne in
mind that this official recognition of
Christianity was first obtained from her
after a disastrous war. The clause was
no doubt inserted with the best of in
tentions. But it had the apparent effect
of exciting in the native mind the I'M
founded suspicion that deep-laid
political object was intended under the
cover of religion. The provision itself
was hardly necessary as the subjects
of every treaty power are all protected
under the general provisions which ap-
ply equally to missionaries. Unfortu-
nateIy most of the troubles occurring
in China have arisen from riots against
missionaries Hence it has been said
by some foreigners in China that with
out missionaries, China would have no
foreign complications. | am not in a
position to affirm or deny this.
But let us put the shoe on the other
foot, and suppose that COnfucian mis-
sonaries were sent by the Chinese to
foreign lands with the avowed purpose
of gaining proselytes, and that these
missionaries established themselves in