The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1900-07-19

IN great emergencies tney nave no I'M
wavering faith in him. And yet there
are over l 200, 900 priests in the empire
who make a beggarly living out of
Buddhism Buddha has given them
little g d for everything. Every
thing that co Germs their temporal
welfare; nothing for the heart or the
immortal soul. They do not believe
in either. They say that there is no
future life, but if there is, then good
conduct in this life will ensure safety
in that. If the rice wants rain, they
appeal to the god of rain. If the
drought continues long, they drag the
little rain god out on his wheels and
let him stand in the burning sun until
1t does rain. They want him to see
and feel how hot it is. If the rain
comes too much and lasts too long
and the rice is sprouting in the fields,
they get their squirt guns and drench
the rain god every day until he stops
the pour down, We ought to have had
him over here this June and put our
Cinnamon to work on him.
But the government-the govern
ment of 600,O00,000 of people does not
cost half as much as ours, with about
80, 100000. The per capita tax is
about rs cents, and all taxes are paid
in rice. China has no bonded debt.
No revenue from whisky or wine, for
none is distilled or drank. Nothing
is in her way of peace and content
ment save foreigners and opium. I
do not know what is the salary of the
emperor or empress, but all salaries
are small. The prince who is to sue
coed the emperor gets only SIG, 900
per annum. Then there are thousands
and thousands of officials in every
province, from the governor down,
but their pay is small. A soldier in
the standing army gets but 81 per
month. That army is composed OF
about 1000, 900 of men.
The emperor has no arbitrary pow
er. He must conform to the laws and
must advise with his cabinet, and be-
hind all is the great board of control
that represents the people and is made
up of two or more learned and good
AAOh IL OdA OfOi PiofihSO' l. hio cNe-iN
does not act often or on trifes, but
when any great emergency arises they
meet at Pekin aud their word controls
the emperor and everybody else. That
IS not bad government, is it? The
emperor is entitled to an empress and
two other wives, who are called queens.
If the empress leaves no son, then a
son of a queen is taken, but nobody
knows which son until the emperor
dies, for Confucius ssid that if the
young man knew that he was chosen
1t might make him arrogant.
Another peculiar and democratic
provision of the constitution is that
the nobility shall not always be nobil-
ity. Every generation is reduced in
rank and power down to the seventh,
and then they become as the common
people. This keeps the nobility on
the down grade and keeps the govern
ment from being overrun by pam
pered aristocracy. That's good Yes,
it is better than the English law Of
primo-g eniture, which gives all rank
and the home estate to the eldest son
and tells the others to go to grass. L
saw a number of the grass fellows in
Florida.
On the whole, I like the Chinese
government and have respect for the
people. Bret Harte wrote
"That for ways that are dark
And tricks that are vain,
The heather Chinee is peculiar"
Yes, l expect Bret was trying to win
their money and they won his.
This is enough of geography. L have
written it for Kirby Anderson and
Bert Morgan and their sort. Paul
Akin called our little grandchild to
come out on the verandah and kiss
him goodnight. She had put on her
night gown and said to her mother:
Mamma, Paul doesn't know any bet
ter, does he?" There are good many
big school boys who know no more
about China than Kirby.-BILL ARP
in Atlanta Constitution.
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