The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-24
The ADVERTISERS
 N HOME STUDY CIRCLE

they form a sort of ex-officio privileged the actual officials, exercising a power toi to innuence on each. The people look 10 them for leadership and instruction. eeapeciaily when they are suffering from hand. the officials must respect their powerful influence. for they are of equal rank s with themselves and may be called dt any time to take their places
 Under these model conditions, of course China is the paradise alike of the office. nolner and the civil service reformer? Well. not exactly. Here as evcrywhere we must make important reseryatiors' omciai corruption and intrigue flourish m China. and plenty of misgovernment nuI IL IS ny no means universal While 1t is true that the entrance to official life IS oniy through the examinations as above described, it is also true that pro- motion is often hastened by the judicious p,aethg et or money where it will do the There is also much extortion from the people with one hand and stealing from the government with the other, so that few officials die poor. There is this ex- cuse for them, that their legitimate sal aries are infinitesimal; still, there are honest officials. even in China But there are important checks on the rapacity of oncials through the influence of the l.iterati above mentioned, and through the disposition of the people to combine of associations for every conceivable purpose. business, political and social The infamous highbinders," too well known in San Francisco, are an instance s of one of these transplanted to our yves. tern shore, as the Mafia has been from Italy to our eastern coast. Consequent ly, although there is some similarity be- tween the Chinese and the Turkish pro- yincial system, no such wholesale plum dering of the people Is possible as is en- Joyed by the Pashas, who are like wolves placed in charge of sheep.
 But of course, the filling of all offices by men of the highest education. insures an official body of exceptional ability, enlightened views. and high ideals? We'll capable, kigh-minded gentlemen among the rulers of China, but the majority is marrow. conceited, and conservative to the last degree This Is one of the most significant illustrations of what has al. ready been mentioned, that everything in that strange country Is fossilized. The Middle Kingdom is like one of those pre-. promise of childhood. In the beginning they easily outstrip their playmates in everything which predicts a maturity of their brightness fades, and they become nonentites while the dull and disorderly boys forge ahead to success.
 The explanation of this official failure is found in the peculiarities of Chinese education. and this in turn has its roots in Confucianism. There is no room here for any description of this dominant re- ment that one of its cardinal inciples Is the worship of ancestors. People who have scant respect for either fathers or tSrefathers tSn x1 n can i have , no conception of into Chinese life. It is bred in their very bone and marrow. Their highest concep ton of learning Is perfect familiarity with the books of Confucius and a few other classics equally up to date.
 The Chinese boy begins to go to school there are no native schools for boys at the age of five or six, and his school hours nine daily fnr daxya it, the week. His task is to learn to read these musty classics, and then to mem orize them so perfectly that he can write them out without missing a single char acter. All study must be done aloud; if Johnnie is silent, down comes the teach- CTS long bamboo with vigor and precis- ion. This seems more logical than try ing to enforce silence by discipline; fur thermore. 1t is excellent for the boys lungs; long practice enables them to shout their lessons with an effect which makes boiler factory seem the home of silence.
 By eighteen years of age the young man has generally accomplished his tre- mendOus task. and is ready for the ex- aminations. If he were to be examined in anything of practical value or contem- poraneouS interest. he would fail utter ly. but the sole object Is to test his fa- miliarity with classics nearly 2,000 years old, parts of which are lInintelligible to even a Chinaman. This method of edu- cation has only this to be said for 1t: It SNSo pOWSTlul and very thorough acquaintance with their own language. But all originality is carefully discouraged. for that would be equivalent to an insinuation that the forefathers could be improved on. Any signs of such heresy in an examination paper would be sufficient ground for re- jecting the candidate without hesitation
 In arts and sciences the same arrest ed developments appears. After making many brilliant discoveries the Chinese have failed to profit by them, either neg lecting them entirely or using them with out further development. The explana- tion is the same-everywhere the Dead Hand.
 But there is this additional explana- tion. which is even more interesting. For we see in Chinese art, sciences and edu- cation a condition which might be ours also. were it not for the Inductive Meth cd. This is the debt we owe to the In- ductionists. particularly to Sir Francis Bacon. Before their time European thought was frittered away on abstrac- tions and fantastic philosophies. and was no nearer to practical, useful results than is Chinese thought today.
 Copyright, 1900)