The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-11-27
AN EXTRAORDINARY WOMAN

The dOWager empress of China. like /
C2tharine l. of Russia, was a chapter
ont Of the Arabian Nights. Neither
would have been possible except in
an Oriental environment.
one was the daughter OF a starving
Cantonese, who sold her into slavery.
The other had a serf for d mother
and presumably a Lithuanian peasant
for a father. The one fell INFO the
hands OF q Tartar general in com
maud Of the troops in the province,
ana eventually passed into the harem
OF the emperor Of China as a concu-
niuo Of the third class. The other
fell into the hands Of the Russian
general who captured Marienburg
and became the mistress of Peter the
Great and his most trusted adviser.
The former established her son on
the Chinese throne and as dowager
empress ruled nearly 4oo,000,000 sub
j,crs for almost half century
through two puppets called emper-
ors. The latter induced Peter to mar
ry her and 10 proclaim her empress.
After his death she ascended the
throne of Russia in her own right.
Two great romances OF TWO great
empires. Yet Tsu Hsi was even a more
striking figure than her Russian pro
Jo,ypc She deserves comparison
not with one Catharine but with
three-with Catharine L. whom she
resembled in the manner of achiev-
ing sovereignty: with Catharine H.,
whom she resembled in mental vigOr
and administrative talent. and with
Carharine de Medici, whom she en-
ulated in cruelty, in genius for in
trigue and in unbending opposition
TO liberalism and progress.
An extraordinary woman. it is bet
ter for China and better 70 ciyiliza-
tion thai she is dead whatever may
have been The manner of her taking
off Her reactionary policies We're q
grave menace 10 the integrity Of the
empire. because ;hey constituted a
continuing invitation to foreign in
reference. For the same reason
'n.> We're an equally grave menace
.. Zoe peace of the world.
D. is not conceivable thar the Chun
regime can show The capacity for re-
E-'aucc 10 the great Chinese reform
.oy.ment which characterized the
~.Ir of Tsu Hsi But fer all that.
there VIII ice no sudden awakening Of
china after the manner Of Japan.
The Chinese are an Intensely con
-cHatiye people. Many thousands
OF them have lived in this country
for years. isolated in the midst Of
rhe most incense and most strenuous
OF western civilizations: yet it has in
$50 way affected their manners. their
customs. their way of living or their
habits of thought Even their dead
are sent back to China to lie with the
bones of their ancestors.
II the United States in forty years
has not been able to make an impress
sion on 10000 Chinese cut off from
contact with their own cOuntrymen.
il is idle to suppose that any man
now living Will las; long enough TO
see the centuries-old customs and
habits of &S0,0o0,0o0 Chinese greatly
affected by external influences Of any
kind.
China will not soon be modernizad.
and there is no good reason why it
need be: bur II is decidedly in the in
rerest OF the United States and Great
Britain that the empire should have
central government sufficiently
strong to maintain itself and resist
foreign aggression. and sufficiently
progressive 10 meet the aims and as
piratiors Of the most enlightened
members of a truly remarkable peo-
ple.-WOrld.