The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1900-07-12
THE EDITORS LEISURE HOURS
Points and Paragraphs Of Things
Prsssrt, Past and Future.

the following from the Youths Com
panion shows:
The Industrial progress of the South
Is finely Indicated by some recent,
reported Incidents IN North Carolina
A man had been living on a small
farm, almost crushed with debt, wen
into cot:on-m1ll with five of his child
ren, and N five years earned and savee
enough money to pay Off all his debt
and to buy another farm Of eighty acres
Another poor farmer vert into a cotto,
milf with seven of his children, and ir
tour years was able to pay off the mort
gage that had burdened him, to buy
another farm of hundred acres, anc
still to have money left in the bank. A
land In which such things are of com
mon occurrence is on the high road tc
prosperity, and very near the goal"
China is the gazo of all the nations
OF the earth, and has been for some
weeks. A writer in the Saturday
Evening Post suggests that it is we'll tc
look at some things from the stand
point of the other man. For instance,
what would the people of this country
think and how would they meet tie
| effort If the Chinese should send mis-.
sionaries over here and undertake to
teach US that we have all the while
been worsbiping a false god? What
would lie our attitude against the
'eaching that our religion is all false
How w3ul1 we meet the attempt to
have our churches torn down and their
heather gods set up for our worship
instead OF Jehovah whom we now wor-
ship?
The Chinese call all missionaries
'fore,gn DEVILS" AID so would we call
them.if they were attempting 10 urge
thelrfellgion on us as we are ours up
on them.
To be sure, we all feel com missioned
Of God to spread the gospel of His Son
over all the world but to consider mat
ters from their standpoint little will
give us more patience with them
Says one authority, "In point of in
teIlect, as in business and diplomacy
the Chinese are the equals of the ablest
and most civilized ratioEs of Christen
dom" Viewing them in this light j.
Is not strange that they should resist
such encroachments as ere unpleasant
to them.
The present "Boxer movement" In
the great empire is something so new
that it is said nothing en- be learned
Of it in books. There are various ir-
terpretations of the term "Boxer" In
Chinese it is 'tYl Ho Chuan,' which
means, they say, righteousness, bar
mony and lists - Society OF the Grea
or strong Sword. Mr.. F. M. Royal, q
North Carolina missionary to Chin:,
who has just returned to this country,
says that the Boxers there call them
selves ''The Great Knife Society" They
are opposed to all foreigners who 60
amongst them.
1t is generally thought from the
present outlook in China that the
great empire Will go to pieces. o.
the yastness OF the empire the Satur
day Evening Post says:
''And yet with all this Intelligence
China has meyer had census. That
is why the figures you read about the
population of the empire vary so won
derfully. Millions are handled In
Chinese guesses as If they were the
veriest trlfes. You will read in orr
authority that the population is 35O,-
100000 and in another that it is over
400 100000 Fifty million Chiname..
more or less do not seem to count.
.'The very latest figures that seem at
all depsndab'e-lf gnesses can ever be
dependab!e--show some extraordinary
totals. China proper--that IS, Genital
Ch,na--bas 1922 ,S41 square miles
and 393, ,0O0,OC population. Manch u
ria-inclnding what Russia has grab
bed-has 362,31O square mites ana 49,
100000 population. Mongolia has
1,2S8,CO0 square miles and 2,OOO,OOO
population. Iii, comprising several
countries, has $40, $50 square miles and
1,18O,OOO population; and Thibet has
$3.50 square miles and 6,0OO,OOO
population. Add all these together
and YOU will have what has been known
as the Chinese Empire.
"No nation in the world can produce
such totals. No nation can adduce
such variety and wealth of natural
products. China has range OF Gil
mate as great as that of the United
States. In China proper every acre OF
land is cuitivated--it IS the most
thoroughly cultivated country on the
o,oba. tt has all tho cereals and all
the fruits it has both anthracite ana
bituninous coal, and it Is rich In golo'
silver, lead, tin, copper. petroleum anu
natural gas. Its great rlver--the Yang
tse Kiang-is open to foreign trade Tor
100 miles, 600 miles of which Is navl-
gable by the largest ocean-golng sh'ps
80 6n0 no;les more of which is navl-