Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-04
CHINA PLANS
A CONSTITUTION
CONFERENCE, NOW AT WORK,
SHOWS SIGNS OF SPLIT
Vleeroy Yuan shih-kai, Who Has the
only Effective Army, Is a Disturb
ing Element Because Of Great
Power This Gives Him
by J. NJ. EAGAN
Special Cable to The Herald.

BY J. NJ. EAGAN
Special Cable to The Herald.
PEKING, Nov. 3.-The conferences on
the constitution continue and are still
eagerly discussed outside. All indica-
tions point to a sharp division between
the party of moderate progress, repre-
sented by the Viceroy Yuan Shih-kai
and the conservative elder statesmen,
many of whom are Manchus, whose
prerogatives are threatened. The situa-
tion is full of interest because of the
position of the Viceroy Yuan Shih-kai
who controls the only effective army
and who, welding a power rarely at
tained by Chinese official, has for
the first time in history entrusted many
of the most lucrative and responsible
posts in the metropolitan province to
Cantonese educated abroad, while every
high provincial authority who owes his
position to the influence of Yuan Shin
kai has Cantonese attached to his
staff. In view of the remarkable clan
nishness and cohesion of the Cantonese,
the question naturally arises to what
extent are Yuan Shih-kai's proteges to
be identified with the political activi-
ties of their felloW-proVincialS in Sim
gapore, America, Japan and elsewhere
abroad, whose avowed policy is the ex-
pulsion of the Manchus and the exclu-
sion of foreign influence.
While these important conferences
are continuing and while the out
spoken press is clamoring, for every
conceivable reform from compulsory
education, the establishment of par
lament and the abolition of racial dis
tinctions to the suppression of domes-.
tic slavery and eunuchs and even to the
alteration of dress, no attempt is being
made to improve the condition of the
Wai-wu-pu, the Chinese foreign office.
Broadly speaking, every internal change
called for by the press is in the right
direction, but the methods are crude
and the achievement sU far is inconsid-
erable Most satisfactory is the con-
tinued extension of western education,
for ignorance is the chief danger in.
China. Greater knowledge must bring
greater security for the foreigner and
greater demand for foreign things
Thus every power Is willing to assist
the spread of education, yet every
power is confronted with the difficulty
of dealing with China in the present
condition of the Wai-wu-pu. The re-
moval of Prince Ching from the post of
president is a pressing necessity. The
prince never attends the office, but
dwelling on higher plane, grants rare
audiences to foreign ministers at his
private residence, ignores dispatches, |
and is absorbed in amassing wealth.
To any one who has witnessed and
studied the rise of Chinese journalism, |
the remarkable talent and enterprise
displayed by the Chinese in editing and
conducting tehir Vernacular press can
not fail to convey sense of admiration.
Similarly to their general capacity for
handling the latest inventions of a me-
chanical age, such as the motor in all
it's forms, and emulating many of the
methods of modern civilization, they
have acquired the art of journalism in
the most natural way. With no in
herited qualifications or experience to
guide them, handicapped as they have
been till recently by an ignorant and
meager clientele and by the hostility of
the official classes of all degrees, the
fact that they have succeeded t. pro-
ducing organs which are having an
enormous influence on the evolution of
the New China is another proof of the
untiring patience, perseverance and in
dustry of the Chinese. When one re-
members that only ten years ago there
was hardly Chinese newspaper in
China, and that the one or two trump
cry sheets which then did exist had a
circulation of few hundreds only, it
is of truth wonderful to know that
there are now organs whose circulation
runs into hundreds of thousands, and
whose status is such that not only do
the local foreign papers quote largely
from them, but foreigners of standing
contribute to them and read them. 1t
is equally of interest to remember that
this remarkable progress is in a great
measure due ito the comprehensive lib
erty of the subject or individual of any
race or nationality whatsoever which
is afforded by the treaty ports of China
under aegis of that extra -territoriality
which at present forms such a promi-
nent factor in the relations existing be-
tween the foreigner and the Chinese.
Under the British flag in Canton and
Hongkong, in the international settle
ment of Shanghai, and the cosmopolitan
concession of Tientsin, to say nothing
of extra-territorial communities scat
tered along the seaboard of the celestial
empire, the writ of the Chinese govern
ment does not run.
, One of the most significant out of the
numberless indications of the great
quiescent upheaval and revolution that
is going on all round in China is fur
nished by the postoffice. In the year
1901 there were 1866 postoffices and
agencies scattered throughout the
country. and they handled ten and
half million articles. At the end of 1905
there were 1925 postoffices open in
China, and during that year they han
died tWenty-SiX million articles