Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-06-21

nese Question No Nearer Solution
| Now Than Before the Trouble.
The London Express gives the fol-
| lowing account of an interview, under
the date of May "a, with Sir Robert
| Hart, commissioner of customs in Chi
| ma:
81 do not think that we are any near
or to a solution today than we were be-
| fore the trouble" he said. ''The ac-
ceptance of the peace negotiations will
not really advance the situation in any
| way. for China is for the moment Mt
bay and Will sign anything. Nor have
at all high opinion of the terms laid
down by the powers. Some of the con-
ditions are futile and unnecessary, and
much has been omitted which should
have been inserted. / look on the pro-
posed fortified legation quarter as a
very injudicious move. Ii is n mistake
strategically, politically and socially.
'Strategically because, however
strongly such Il place may be fortified.
the Chinese will be able TO capture il if
they wish to; politically because le-
CATION is in theory sacred ground, and
il should be our purpose 10 make the
Chinese understand that 1t must be so
in practice. We ought 10 throw the
onus of protecting the legations on the
Chinese government and take measures
to see that they do protect them. How
can we have serious political dealings
of any sort with n country whom we
cannot trust even to this extent?
Socially it is a mistake, because the
presence of such n stronghold in Pc
Iii NN-i1 hn
face which is n more serious matter |
than some folks think. but above all * |
will cause relations between the white |
man and the Chinaman to be more
strained and unsatisfactory than ever. |
IL you are going TO fOrtify the lega- |
tions, which are in theory Il protection |
in themselves, how much more neces- |
sary must it be TO fortify the dwelling |
places of all other foreigners through |
out China who will have no protec-
tion:"
do you mean 70 imply by this that
tho time has come for the foreign |
troops TO be withdrawn, and that we
should hand back the control Of Pei
king to the Chinese:" Not ut all, for /
We're Picking TO be without foreign /
troops today there would not be a for
eigner alive in this city tomorrow"
Then how can we establish this rule
of peace and good will and mutual con-
fidence. which / gather you believe TO
be feasible:'
cit will be work of time and OF deli
cacy. l think we should, 10 carrying on
our negotiations, sometimes try ana
put ourselves in the Chinaman's shoes
and look at things from his point of
view. The failure in the policy of
western nations in dealing with China
is due to the fact that no attempt is
made to treat the Chinaman as IA
tional being. If we would deal salts
factorily with him, we must endeavor
to understand him. y Chinaman, like
anybody else. will sign any contract
when he is forced into IL, but when
you force a man to follow n policy he
does not believe in that man will be
forever endeavoring TO find n means to
his prosecutors. If you look
back at the international dealings with
China, you Will find that nearly every
contract that has been made with her
has been forced upon her against her
will.
People make great mistake in inn
agining that the Chinese are not Sensi-
tive. They are extremely so, and the
manner in which thing is proposed to
them goes Il very long way. People
imagine that Russia is more unpopular
with the Chinese than are the other
powers, but such is not the case. What
ever territory Russia may have acquir-
ed and whatever means she may have
adopted in occupying that territory,
her success at Picking is not wholly due
to China's knowledge of Russia's pow
er or TO bribery. Russian officials al
ways treat the Chinese dignitarieS
with great courtesy and amiability, and
the Chinese like their methods. Only
recently al member of the tsung-li-ya-
men said to me: The Russians are so
polite that when they take something
from us they do it so nicely that we
feel we must thank them. Whereas.
even when certain other nations fall in
with our views they do SO in a manner
which makes ii clear that they have no
respect for u.s."
HAS the foreigner improved his po-
sition with the Chinese by this display
Of strengthY'
''That all depends on how he makes
use of his temporary advantage. If we
expect that we shall suddenly be able /
to push the Chinese into becoming Il
race like the Japanese, we |
shall make a great mistake. Not only
would it be impossible for US to alter
the Chinaman's nature, but, as 1 have
pointed out elsewhere, it is essential
that we should be most careful to treat
him very gently in the matter of re-
form. Why do we want to make him
do this and do that, and above all why
In the world do we want to arm him
and make a soldier of him?
eve may thank heaven that he was
not a soldier when the recent outbreak
look place. and we may thank heaven
that it will be some time before he be-
comes one, for on the next occasion I
when he attacks the legations he will