Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-05
TSzE HS| ANS ED|CT
Of Great Importance and Wide
Scope.
CHINA IS VERY SECRETIVE
Affairs Of the Country Not Behind the
Times.
"A CONSTITUTION PROBABLE
No Heir to Throne - Half q Century
Will Show Results Of
Civilization.
CONSTITUTION PROBABLE

China is the enigma of the world of d.
plomacy. Every statesman will confess to
this. There is not one chancenery, whether
European or American, which does not re-
ceive special reports from its agents In
China. A rumor, whether false or not so
long as it comes from Peking, will at once
disturb the most prosaic of ministers for
foreign affairs. The slightest uprising in a
distant and almost unknown province will
Immediately cause war talk bearing upon
the problematic moves to be made by each
of the great powers. An edict from the i'm
perial house is viewed with alarm, and the
diplomats accredited to the court of Tsze
Hsi An will make it the subject of an in
spired message to the home governments.
Such has been the case with the latest
edict from the pen of the dowager empress,
which was received by the Department Of
State two weeks ago. The edict, it must
be acknowledged, is wide in its scope, and
deserves more than passing interest on the
part Of the foreign nations and their lead
ers. But in order to study its scope, well
as It's limitations, it is necessary to look
into the Chinese question as it stands today
as mysterious now as it was two centuries
ago-and this can only be done from the in
side, as it were. China has been and is es-
suit what can be learned of her must be
done by dint of hard work and through
high influences.
To begin with the Chinese question is
complex, and leaving behind the status Of
that nation, which was a recognized entity
at the time of Confucius, it is necessary to
touch upon China as it was ten or twenty
years ago, and even less.
Reorganization of Army.
In the edct the empress calls for reor-
ganization of the army and the further
ance of education. And this, in spite of a
certain advantage which China already has
over the average western nation China
has awakened to the needs of western
methods of living. government and instruc-
ton. 1t must be taken in consideration
that it is practically isolated from the rest
of the world, and whatever intercourse it
receives with the outside world is through
a few Representatives sent abroad, either
on diplomatic or industrial missions. 1t is
difficult, under such conditions, to bring
country of over 300 100000 inhabitants to
adopt measures as easily as another coun-
try whose people are neither as numerous
nor of different ideals. Yet one who
processes to know the celestial empire will
not say she is far behind the times. the
momentouS American question of railroads
and other big industrial and commercial de-
velopments was solved by that country
many years ago. While Chinese industries
are not enormous, in comparison with ours,
they are sufficiently large to require
board of commerce, which directs and is
the controlling authority of all railroads,
mines, telegraphS, etc In fact, China goes
so far as to make a trust of its own gov
erning power, so as to offset any indus
trial growth. This administering trust is
something which the most autocratic of
governments has never thought Of Its
ends are directed toward the public's own
good instead of private plumber. -...
There is one part of the decree which
reads: 80 We can but consider care
fully the form of government best suited
to the needs of the times, and adopt a
constitutional policy in which the supreme
authority shall be vested in the crown, but
all questions of government shall be con-
sdered by a popular assembly. AS
yet, however, constitution is not pre-
pared, and the people, too, are not roperly
equipped with the necessary knowledge
China for the Chinese
This clause read specifically, shows
nothing out of the ordinary. But to the
one who has followed the fortunes of China
and her rulers, it tells a great tale. In the
eyes Of the government China will not
change, but only modify herself sufficiently
to carry out more successfully the same old
program-China for the Chinese and away
with the foreigners The empress has al
ways been known to be a rabid enemy of
the foreigners, and wherever and whenever
she could show her dislike without fear of
always been, what is more, an autocrat
among autocrats. Up to 1899, in which
year the reactionary tide rose to it's high
est point, Tsze Hsi An adopted drastic
measures to stamp out the reform move
ment which had gained some Roadway,
and this same movement is what she ap-
peals for in her latest edict. Why this
change? for reason: In 1899 and
before that, there were hopes for a long
life, long REGINA period of supreme
command. She disputed at different times
with her son his right to reign. But now
that death is near-and with death a sud
ple-she is DESTROYS for reform. She knows
that eventually China will be changed,
whether through her own efforts or those
of the foreign poWerS-and inaSmuch as
she has lived her life and has had the sat
isfaction she craved, she does not care if
her successor is to be an autocrat or not
Accordingly Tsze Hsi An wants only one
thing-that when she dies, autocracy in
China must die. She, the grand old woman
of the Celestial empire, must be remem-
bered in history as the last of the Chinese
autocratS.
Future Chinese Ruler.
The great question today in the eyes Of
the diplomatic world is the one relating to
the successor of the empress. The foreign
powers are interested in the choice of a
suitable ruler, inasmuch as there is no di-
rect heir to the throne-one who will facil-
itate diplomatic communication, which will
eventually bring industrial and CONNER
cial progress. 1t was stated some months
ago that the dowager empress had ordered
several eligible princes to be kept at Picking
for some years, and from them choose the
man who later was to become emperor of
China. This was denied by several Chinese
high dignitaries, but it has been generally
accepted a fact by European officials.
Yet none of the former will deny, if they
condescend to speak of it, that their coun-
try is sadly in need of an heir. 1t will be
remembered that on January "a, 1900, the
Picking Gazette, an official organ, published
an imperial edict appointing heir-pre-
sumptive to the throne Pu-Chun, a son Of
Prince Tuan, a grandson of the Emperor
Tao-Kuang. This was regarded in China
at the time a preliminary step to the
formal deposition of Kuang Hsu, the son of
Prince Chung, who was selected to become
emperor when he was only three years of
age Influential memorials from Chinese
officials deprecating TsZe Hsi Ans meas
IRE of. Amounting Pu Chun as heir-nre-