The suburban citizen., 1900-07-07
THE FUTURE OF CHINA.
A PREDICTION THAT SHE WILL NOT
LOSE HER NATIONAL EXISTENCE.


China's 6OOO Years of Life.
r Ohm w. BOOKWALTER, Of
Ohio, has for many years made
a close study of Russian and
Chinese affairs, in the pursuit
If which knowledge he has spent much
time in both countries, observing the
people and their characterictics. When
seen at the Holland House he talked
interestingly Of the Boxer riots in
| China, as follows:
"In making any prediction as to
China's. possible future as affected by
present conditions you must always
take into account the history of this
marvellous nation. For 5000 years
now China has been a nation, and has
preserved her integrity as such, and
has maintained her nationa, life. Dur
Ing that period she has seen the birth,
growth to maturity and decay of every
civilization in the world-Chaldean
Egyptian, Greek, Roman and a hun
| 1red other peoples have arisen, lived
their appointed time as nations, and
passed away, while China, nation be-
fore those periods began, nation to-
day, has inscrutably looked on and
pursued her appointed course. Almost
A contemporary of Rameses of Egypt,
Chin6s great Emperor, ,Confucius, lived
and ruled six centuries before Christ,
and the wise men Of his time referred
admiringly to works of the ancients.
During this great cycle of years China
mas faced crises that make the present
outlook seem trivial by comparison.
The Tartars, under Genghis Khan Ku-
ola Khan and Tamaran, twice con-
luered her in war; and China became
4 Tartar possession, but China, in the
.apse of time, absorbed her conquer
ors, and later emerged an integral ma
ion, still holding fatefully to her ap-
pointed destiny. The Boxer riots find
;heir predecessor in the great Tai Ping
rebellion, in which no less an authority
:han Chinese Gordon places the loss Of
life at 1S,000 900, and yet few years
after&that rebellion was over China
had wholly recovered from this tre-
mendous blow. In these sixty centu-
lies of national life the Chinese have
become the most fixed and persistent
;ype of humanity known to ethnolo-
gsts. The Chinese aIe more hOmOge-
leous than any other people. Take a
Chinaman and let him live fifty years
among an alien people. At the end Of
that time he is a Chinaman still. He
picks up no characteristics Of the peO-
pie he lives among; he does not ANAL
gamate with them. All other nations
are new compared with the Chinese
They constantly undergo change;
China never does"
"Taking these conditions into consid-
grafton do not believe China will lose
ler national existence" continued Mr..
Bookwalter. From internal disturb
aDce such an end is not likely to come
. 20 pass, for it is impossible that she
ever will have to face again as great
4 domestic upheaval as the Tai Ping
rebellion. l do not believe that any
foreign conquest or partition Of China
among the powers would end her ma
tlOnal life, for she has passed trium-
phantly through periods where she
was absolutely conquered and wholly
under the sway of the cOnquerOr. Chi
la's growth has been so even and well
balanced that every industry has been
developed to meet the demand, and the
whole agricultural and commercial
scheme of her existence is a smoothly
running and harmonious whole. Her
great misfortune was that the Western
world worked up so many internal in
terests in such short spaces Of time
that overdevelopment followed and
created a demand that compelled these
countries to look without their own
confines to find markets for their sur
plus products. China, with her vast
riches, enormous territory and tremen-
dous population, attracted and held
their covetous eyes as the field in
which they could most readily rid
themselves Of their surplus product,
and when this happened it was an evil
day for China.
"Of course the present dificultyemay
pass away without serious complica-
tions, but, again, it may not, and an
attempt may be made to control the
internal government Of China by some
so-called concert or agreement Of the
powers. In such case it would be well
to remember that no matter what
China is or what the Occidental peo-
pie think she is, the everlasting fact
stares us in the face that for G000
years China has Lad a vital, living
government that has afforded protec.
tion for one-third of the human race
and has that government to-day.
believe she could be able to preserve
that government by sheer force of hel
own inherent strength land the strength
in the absolute passivity of the Ori
entail is incalculable), but in case OF
a proposed partition she would have
outside assistance, in my opinion"
'Ethnological affinities must be
counted on, and an attempted partition
of China would draw together the
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