The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-18
The Globe 5 g ttoms.Jnay
Jhe Storm Center Of N5e G)orId
BY DR.. r. WARREN coNANT

And now comes the over-shadowing
international question of the twentieth
century Are broken bits of China to
pc distributed among the European
powers; or will its heterogeneous ele-
ments, welded by blows into a compact
projectile, be impelled by the memory
OF years of insult and injury with a
momentum which shall crush the ma
tions?
Ihose who find light for the future only
IN the ashes of the past must grope IN
Inc dark, Tor no duplicate Of China IS
TO be found in history, and no situation
IKE the present The nearest approach
to parallel is Japan, but even there
comparison fails. The Japanese a.
though supposed to have come originally
from China, are of an entirely different
character While the Chinese are sinh
pornly opposed to all progress, the Japs
are always as eager as the ancient
Athenians to tell or to hear some new
thing; the former are slow and stolid,
the latter alert and quick; the former are
hXed in the thoughts and habits of cen
turtles, the latter are versatile and
adaptive; the former cling TO their iso-
lation, the latter welcome strangers: the
former will never change exceDt under
irresistible pressure from without. the
latter have worked out their political
emancipation in two decades in their
own way.
Consequently the experience of Japan
IS Oh little value in fCrecasting the flu
.ufe. Inc best we can do is to get be-
low the surface of Chinese character if
possible, in sympathetic spirit, while
weighing carefully those minor circun-
stances which serve as straws to indi-
cate the direction in which the nation is
drifting. For it is true of nation, as OF
an individual, that nothing happens with
out cause; given the thoughts and feel
lhSs OF the great mass of a people the
course Of the nation under given condt-
uons may be predicted. For the nation
IS only an aggregation Of individuals
plus the moral effect Of numbers
oupefhcialIy the Chinese are the most
stoAd people on earth, in reality they
are among the most sensitive The
Englishman and the American are re-
puted to carry the concealment of feel
ing to the highest degree of perfection
yet their words and faces are an open
DOCK compared with the Chinaman's
= natural talent for secretiveness, a
pride nourished by measural concei+
the imperative requirements. Of a com
pllcated etiquette, constituencies which
IS CALLED by the slightest failure r. ron
oef all the consideration which that e+i-
quette requires-all these. intensified bv
centuries OF custom, have made the Chi
naman past master in the art Of sssav-
ing his face"
John never says just what he thinks
ne VIII never give you simple YES or
no. The directness on which We nride
ourselves he regards as a. mark Of crude
ness WitE him it is a matter Of pride
70 nice his real self completely behind
Ilie lIhpehetrable mask of his yellow face.
" Il ne GOES desire to express his real
wishes, he considers it more civilized
more dignified to reveal them Indirectly
and leave you to infer his real thought
TO him our frankness seems childish ana
It IS one Of many reasons why he calls
US barbarians. In this he is thoroughlv
a man of the world"
The extent to which this is carried
whether in the howell or the palace il
almost beyond belief For instance If
your servant-and there are no better
servants anywhere in the world than in
ChIna-Is dissatisfied with his paw. he
Will not say so; he will come to YOU with
some yarn about his father being very
sick or his mother bed-ridden and will
state. with many apologies and the nro
founde5t regrets, that he is obliged in
consequence to leave your exceIIency's
most honorable service
II you are green. You will sympathiza
with his misfortune and express r..
gret at his being obliged to Ieave-aU
to his intense disgust. A few little mis-
ia hes OF this kind will earn you the pro
foundest contempt of all your servants
as an unmannc~ly cad. And they will
make you feel their contempt in WAYS
which will be none the less effective be-
cause they leave you no possible ground
for complaint.
But If you are to the manner bred.
You will soon find occasion to induira
OF his fellow servants why 90 Long e
dissatisfied Having learned that oe
wants larger pay you will in a day or
two inquire after the health Of his na
rents, and in the course Of the converse
ton you will mention casually that Won
are going 70 raise his wages. Apparently
he will take no notice Of this but if vou
are careful to save your face by all the
tire keeping up the pretense that Won
believe his story, his parents health viii
improve rapidly, he will be able to re-
main with you and all will be serene.
All, the rest Of your servants, recognizirx
tnat though barbarian, you do know
something of manners viii treat you
with the respect due to a gentleman.
The same indirection will be practiced
by the government even in matters
of international Importance This nation
al popularity has added to their we'll
earned reputation for deceit, and ignor-
ance of it has been at the bottom Of
much Of the difficulty with foreigners.