Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1908-05-13
AWAKENING OF
| CHINESE NATION
MEANS LASTING PEACE IN THE
FAR EAST SAYS WI TUNG
FANG
HAS BEEN TAUGHT TO DESPlsE
WAR AND COURT THE VIRTUE
OF PEACE.

I
To my mind it means. in the first
place, true and lasting peace in TIE
Far East The moment China be
comes strong enough after her awak-
ening TO maintain her sovereign rights
and protect herself from aggression,
the far eastern question will have
been solved. Again the awakening or
| China means the development of COM
merce, and the day is not distant
when the Pacific Ocean will rival the
Atlantic with the number of ships
that sail on its surface The world
VIII then witness an expansion Of
trade never before known in its his
tory, and this trade will also be a
safeguard in the interests of universal
peace.
So said WI Tungfang, minister of
China to the United States in an adj
dress before the Civic Forum last
evening.
The speakers subject was The
Awakening of China and he said that
China has been dubbed The Sick
Man OF the Far East" THE Sleeping
Lion" The lettering Empire; and
other names more or less picturesque
and complimentary have been be-
slowed upon her With some people
it is the conviction that China has
only historical interest, that her
glory is of the past--that the leopard
oh
mains forever in her ruts, the same
yesterday. today and tomorrow
But while this gloomy picture o.
the state OF affairs might have been
lpartly true of the China of few dec
AIDES ago, ii j. no longer true now. The
Sick Mai rapidly canvaleseing,
the Sleeping Lion" is awake, and the
hoary and tottering Empire has had
new blood injected into her system
China is moving, and she is moving
with a rapidity difficult for one who
has not personally witnessed the won.
derful changes 10 understand and
Irealize"
Nearly forty years ago, Wen
Esiang. who was a minister Of the
! 2'sungli YaIhen (the foreign oficel. in
treply TO person who was complaining
Iof the slowness with which China was
moving. said that once she began C
move. she would do so with the rapid
ity and momentum Of an avalanche;
and to-day we are witnessing the
retaliation of his words There are
many forces, some of which have beer
working quietly but none the less CT
fectiyely for years. to which this
awakening may bo ascrbed but wan
of time does not permit me to men
ton more than a few, nor to dwell
on them at great length.
First and foremost, is the spread
Of education-a By this | mean the
diffusion Of general knowledge. know
ledge Of men aud OF affairs of the
world. It is a far cry from the time
when high officials in Picking, Il
whom the wonderfuI performance OF
the Morse telegraph apparatus was
shown and explained, expressed
simply their opinions that China got
along without ii for four thousand
years; 10 the present day when every
official residence and department In
Picking is connected by the telephone
and every provincial yamen. or ad
ministrative office, is supplied with
the telegraph service"
| WI Tungfang acknowledged the
services of American Missionaries in
China and told Of the changes in the
body polite OF his country, He said
that by nature and choice a peaceable
nation, taught from our infancy to alb
hor violence and to reverence reason
| and right. we have been led 10 wor-
ship literary pursuits and 10 neglect
/ and despise martial life! I'VE had a
nominal land army Of from 40O. 600 TO
| 500 900 strong!" said the speaker
but in reality there were never at
any one time more than 100000 men,
| whp constituted not so much ma
! '.Onal army as local consiabuIary
force for maintaining peace and or
der throughout the provinces. The re.
organization of the army occupies a
prominent place on our program of re.
form, and the excellent showing made
| by the troops of Viceroys Yuan and
! Chang at the maneuvers Of the past
;wo years. which were Witnessed by
correspondents and military officers OF
different nations, proves that there is
good material In our people for the
making Of soldiers. An Imperial de-
' cree Of seven years ago commanded
| The reorganization Of the military
forces Of the whole empire. Training
schools from the preparatory 10 the
college grade we're ordered to be es-
tablished for officers Of the land for
ces, the high academy. modelled some
what after your military academy at
| West Point, TO be situated in Peking
| II was also decided 10 organize twenty
army corps. each corps 10 comprise
| twenty-five thousand men, aggregating
total effective force Of half a million
men Now these plans and figures
may appear very formidable to you
and may lead YOU to think again Of
the yellow peril DOGGY, which at one
time swept over Europe and America.
No, there need be no fear Of any yell
low peril In recognizing It's army
and navy. the Chinese government
has been actuated by one aim, and
that is 70 place them IN a state of