Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-03
REFORM AND REACTION In CHINA

January Is contributes q long article de-
voted to Tong Shao-YL Mandarin OF To-
day." In which In brief he says:
Tong-Shao-Yi Is a Cantonese educated In
America, aged about forty-fve years, and
possessed of the characteristics of the stu
dent class, which bravely endeavors to adapt
oriental ethics and policies. ito pour some
OF the new wine of personal liberty and
equality into the old bottles of Chinese
philosophy" True" adds the correspond
ent, those who know Tong best say that
since his rise to power many Of his unor
thodox tendencies. or at least their display.
have given place to conservatism Of the
Classical type. Tong Is for China and the
At the time of the Boxer trouble Tong
was managing director of the Northern
railway and subsequently, when Yuan sue
eeeded Ii Hung Chang as Viceroy of
OF the Taotai Of Tientsin. There. in close
touch with Yuan. who subsequently be-
came the de facto ruler OF China, Tong
laid the foundation Of his future career.
Tong Is actually director general of rail-
ways, including the Luhan. the Shanghai.
Nanking and the Cheng-ting Tai Yuenfu;
vice president Of the Wai-wu-pu. especially
fntrusted with the Manchurian negotiations
now proceeding. high commissioner Of Gus
toms. and. II rumor speaks truly. member
OF the grand council. His official salaries
are SStluldl0Q III 3ZO,UUU a year. fTOm one
railway alone he draws $1,000. and new
ofhces are being thrust upon him every day.
1t Is not rare, 1t should be added, tnat an
ohcer in favor Of the throne should re-
cetve pay from half-dozen railways. But
then this should not be charged up against
Tong as q Chinese popularity. There are
other countries In the occfdent where ia
vors are dispensed literally to its favorites.
The correspondent of the Times moraliZes
thus: For so young a man to hold such a
position Is sufficiently remarkable, and
there can be but little doubt that for good
or evil he and the viceroy. whose policy
he has SO faithfully supported, will leave
their names writ large on coming events"
It looks as if Tong will do the writing all
by himself, unless the fall Of Yuan is a
part Of the play which Yuan
Cn1na IN and Tong have imagined. It
Eerment, should be born in mind that
China is in q ferment: famine
Is widespread and revolution is growing.
The North China Herald of December IL re-
ports that the rebels had won complete
victory over the imperial soldiery and were
moving in a northwesterly direction toward
the Human province, where, in anticipation
of their coming, martial law had been pro-
claimed. The separation Of Yuan. the SOL
der, and Tong, the diplomat and ffnancier.
in such a moment, when more than ever
they might be enabled to control conformity
the fate of China, would appear doubtful,
The correspondent of the London Times
mentions Tong's attitude with reference to
China's ability to manage her own admins
trations. "Confronted' he says, "by such
pretensions, we are forced back upon the
unpleasant conclusion that behind these as
pirations lie those forces which have been
for centuries identified with Chinese official
dom, /. e.. self-interest and the greed Of
money. We hesitate to adopt this conclu-
sion. and we hope for its disproof. the more
hoe no hact
duced by that western education from which
so much was, and still is. hoped. We feel
that whatever may be the ignorance of the
literau of the old school, men like Yuan
and Tong are perfectly we'll aware that
their boosted reorganization Of an enormous
national army is an idle dream; that the
corruption of the administration Is as great
as ever. whilst its necessities are increased
by the exactions of the court; that the re-
form Of the judicial procedure is neither
seriously intended nor feasible In the pres
ent state of the country and that the In
cessant cry Of sovereign rights mas IN II
nothing of cohesion or purpose except 1t
be those instructive race prejudices which
the mandarinate so studiously encourages
for its own ends"
In 1900 1t may be recalled Tong was
brought into prominence through an unfor-
tunate incident connected with Admiral
Seymour's relief column, when In conse-
quence of his refusal to authorize the use
Of the Northern railway locomotives, Tong
was placed in arrest by order of the Brit
ish naval authorities. 1t was on the per-
sonal Intervention of the Russian military
commander, General Wogack, that he was
released.
The North China Herald Of December %
contains, under the head Of 1.-THE Awak-
ening Of China" the views
Russian Of high Russian function
Opinion. airy. returned to Russia after
ten years of official residence
In China. The official scouts the idea that
China may constitute a peril for Europe.
He cites among other reasons the COM
mercial rather than the military spirit Of
the people. 1.-THE military schools estao-
lished six or seven years ago have given
to the army very few permanent officers.
because once the young men who entered
there learned little English or German
and discovered that they could make ten
ftary service, the natural and traditional
bent OF the Chinese toward commerce led
them almost invariably to choose sooner or
later a commercial career.
The military profession. 1t fs well known
to all European residents in China, Is de-
spised by all self-respecting celestials, de-
spite the attempt OF the government to re-
habilftate 1t. War is looked upon az de-
grading and barbarouA and the peaceful
and commercial instincts may be changed
only after many generations, II ever
The correspondent Of the China Herald
attended q review Of the troops under Gen.
Yuan Shie-Kwai at Tientsln. He says:
I'VE sat together on a hill underneath the
vfceroy's great state umbrella and watched
the soldiers going through wonderful per-
formances in the valley below.
"One Of these performances consisted In
forming themselves with the greatest ra-
pfdity and accuracy into hollow square.
On the viceroy's raising his hand the man
at the north corner Of the square fired his
rife, after which the man next him fired.
and so on. the vo1ley travelling round and
round the square with great quickness.
They then formed themselves into circle,
in a star with six points and into various
other geometrical figures and went through
the same fancy firing. It was really beau
tiful, but 1t was not military. They are
somewhat better now. but the mistake of
training for snowy effect. not for real work.
stin makes the Chinese army useless and
will make 1t useless for long time to
come"
Reform and reaction IN China are comph-
Gated by revolution and famine. It is re-
ported that the distress in the famine
stricken districts has assumed such ap-
palling proportions that China alone cannot
cope with the situation. Ten million people
are actually suffering for lack Of food.