The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-08-30
CONDITION OF THE CHINESE.
Poverty and Ignorance Among the
Common peouTe

Poverty and Ignorance Among the
Common People.
a copy Of the Shanghai Mercury re-
| Gently received in Washington contains
I the following article on the condition OF
| the Chinese.
When n certain United States Senator
] objected TO an appointment made by
President Lincoln. saying that the man
| chosen was such a common man. Lin
coin IS said TO have replied. I think the
/ Lord likes common men: He made so
many of tHcm.' There is no EainsayinE
the fact that the commoners form the
great mass Of every nation. and Mencius
has well said that the common people
are the root Of the State The condition
Of country. the degree Of its civiliZa-
ton and the value Of its institutions are
all to be judged by the condition OF the
masses Of the people. BY their material
welfare, their education, and their moral
culture We must measure the progress OF
the nation When Minister WI and 9TH
ers point to the antiquity Of Chinese civ
llization and the great teachers which IL
mas produced in the past as evidence OF
Z the enlightened condition OF the Chinese
race they may captivate their hearers.
but their reasoning is specious and mis-
leading.
Greece could show many OF the arts
Of civilization centuries before the Chris
tian era. and could point with pride TO
the intellectual attachments Of her phi
losophers and the skin Of her artists. yet
the masses Of the people in ancient Greece
were ignorant slaves advanced but lit
tie beyond the stage OF barbarism in their
manner Of life or their moral sentiments
And Greece and Grecian civilization per
ished before the advance OF Rome. with
its stronger political organization
ITO judge properly the social and indus
trial condition Of the Chinese today.
therefore. we must look at the character
and condition OF her peasantry and he
artisans who form the great mass Of her
people. II a chain IS no stronger than its
weakest link. what shall We say OF one IN
which the greater part is constructed or
untemPered and badly wrought links.
with only here and there one that is sub
stantial and shapely? Such is Chinese So
ciety.
1t is true that China as a nation passed
the boundary between barbarism and civ
lization many centuries ago, yet her Gov
ernments have always been weak and
readily overturned. and her territory cas-
lily despoiled by the cOnQueror. because
the benefits Of her civilization have been
confined 20 the few. Her chef strength
has been derived from two sources-the
absence Of any barriers 70 the rise Of able
men from the midst Of the masses to a
share in her literary and political honors
and the rnodicum Of Industrial and com
mercial freedom wrested from her rulers
by the organization OF her artisans ana
merchants, These favorable features
have done much tc preserve the loyalty
Of the Chinese people in the past to any
de facto government that may have been
able to seize the throne. even though that
government may have been a very cor
rupt one. but they have never been sum
cient 70 prevent the repeated conquest Of
the Government by Mongol and Mauchu
trlbesmeu, or its defeat by mere handouts
OF western men from over the seas
Inere IS so little patriotism in China Tor
the very good reason that the Govern
ment does SO little for the people 10
awaken in their breasts any loyal afec-
ton
The people retain much OF their print
i've organization The patriarchaI consli-
tuition of a clan and the existence OF the
village head men and elders preserve in
me hanQS or the people much authority
over their property, and considerable con-
lrol or local aualrS- BY the assistance of
The s. institutions and the power Of combi-
nation IN their Industrial and commercial
guilds they have compelled he Govern
have tenaciOusly resisted every attempt
10 curtail them when once obtained But
circumstance have never been such as TO
enable them 20 eXtort from their rulers
such precious liberties as were obtained
by tine srce citi-s Of Germany in the thir-
teeuth century. or the bOroughs OF Eng
land in their long contest with the crown
= long as these privileges are respected
however. they VIII endure much miSgOv-
eminent. though not without protest Tha
possession Of property is one Of the
strongest Incentives 10 loyalty 10 any eN-
listing order But when we consider the
condition Of the vast ma iOrity of the Chi
nese people We see that even this re-
stralnt upon rebellion Is wanting for the
amount OF property per capita Is so small
mat the eject OF its possession upon the
action OF the masses in times Of political
disturbance Is practically Insignificant
Here We touch upon the chief source Of
China s weakness. the poverty Of the
masses. or the unequal distribution Of her
wealth But poverty Of itself is no bless
ing II may have been a blessing 10 this
or that individual that he was born Door
provided the means of Improving his COR
ulu0n have not been taken away. HIS
poverty may prove suCI. stimulus as will
lead 70 the development OF strong char
acter. but this strength OF character c0-ues
only with the pursuit and successful at
tainfnt Mt OF better circumstances