Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-07

Above The reports Of revolution ana
the boycott OF the Japanese there rises
the important question of
Succession the succession to the
ov..+;or throne OF China. The
question is important to
the Chinese and likewise to the Amerl-
cans who now and henceforth must con-
s.de- China as within the sphere of their
friendly and protecting influence.
The emperor. koang-su. is a phantom
power. The queen dowager g old and
feeble. Who will succeed to the throne
is a question which constitutes the daily
theme Of the Chinese press and the queen
dowager. Recently she asked the opin-
Ions Of Tcheng-Tche-tong and iuan-S'e-
Kwai. during the brief moments that
these officials found themselves in the
sunshine of favor at the palace. But
neither OF the mandarins cared to ex-
press his sentiments. The old empress Is
reported to Nave said to Yuan-Sie- kwai:
prince Koang Is too old to take upon
himself affairs of state. but I know not
who will replace him. l And no one
capable"
livery curious says a writer in the
Review Les Etudes, this Imperial
court. curious mixture Of grandeur ana
grotesqueness Of generous and puerile
IDEAS, and Of scenes that cause one to
laugh and to cry. Listen: A comet ap-
peared last month, whereupon the queen
dowager. fearing some dreadful visitation.
asked his imperial higness. Prince Tsal-
ton, president of the astronomical OBJ
servatory OF Picking, the nature OF the
impending calamity. The prince reas-
sured the empress the comet announced
many years Of life to her majesty. The
empress insisted that the prince should
answer without fattery. I do not know
how to f1atter sovereigns. said the prince.
L assure you that the comet announces
long years Of life--ten thousand years.
The empress on hearing that could not
repress long sigh
China. unfortunately for it's unif1cation
is a divided house. divided between the
Manchu and Chinese. and
Divided this point In the present
uou.. situation is emphasized
by the publication in the
Echo de Chine Of September -, 1907, OF
paragraph from the Chinese journal
the Tchoung-wai-jenpao. His Excellency
Choci-bang memorialized the empress not
to suppress the barriers existing between
Manchu and Chinese These barriers
grew up under the following conditions:
In 1874 the Tartar Chen-tsou on the ap-
peal Of Ou-san-koli invaded China I'm or.
der to protect the latter and having
driven out the Ming dynasty. established
the present dynasty of Using. The son OF
Chen-tsou became the great emperor
Kang-Hi. The victorious Tartars and the
conquered Chinese have never assimilated
but. on the contrary. have perpetuateG
the distinctions which have augmented
with the years. Briefly summed up, these
distinctions are as follows:
First, marriages between the rival races
are prohibited; second, the Manchu are
forbidden to cultivate the land or to
trade: the Chinese are merchants and cul-
tivat ors, the Manchu arc soldiers: third.
all great offices are confided to two THU
lar agents. one Manchu. the other Chi
nese: fourth, Manchu women are pro-
hibited from following the Chinese fash
ion OF defOrminH the feet: the queue is
imposed upon the Chinese as sign of
servility and vassalage; fifth. every Tar
is soldier: sixth. every Tartar should
reside at Picking Or in Manchuria or one
of the Tartar camps which are estab-
lished throughout China; seventh. no
Chinese functionary may hold his office
more than three years. nor he may not
be employed in his native province.
1t Is tribute to the remarka BILE genius
OF the Chinese people that they have
been able to solve prob
Remarkable lens of social and eco
p.onl. nomical government Of
their own initiation and
inspiration and entirely apart from the
government at Picking.
China has been enabled to defend her
self from the despotism and exactions Of
the central government by the creation or
secret societies, and there exist today
labor guilds and trades unions for the
coolie. the soldier. the student and the
merchant.
Labor guilds existed in China accord
ing to the Chinese annals. 1000 years be-
fore Christ, under the name of kung- So.
The present secret political societies in
China trace their origin to the yellow
Bonnets." which appeared in the second
century AID. and which rebelled against
the Emperor Lien tt to avenge the execu-
ton of LOO of the literati. The Boxers,
it is claimed. were organized in 1900 after
the rites and formulas prescribed by the
Tzai-h. the big and Little Knives" the
odd Lanterns" the odd Brothers" etc.
From a political point Of view these as
sociations are generally anti-Manchu.
Sun-Y at-Sen. the chief Of the revolution
airy party. is also the chief Of the Trades.
The kemingtangs. composed Of students
returned from Japan, have attained great
influence, and although reformists they
are the adversaries Of the foreign ele-
ment. In the lower Yangtze there is a
new sect entitled 1.-The White cottons, -
whose object is to kill all the young lit
erary modernists, and it Is curious to re-
mark that this society had it's origin in the
same region whence sprang the Boxers
x
These secret societies constitute a per-
petual menace 10 the peace of China. GER
tainly during the period
trouble OF unrest that charac ter-
H.h.r. ICES the reign of Tsi-An
Without waiting the lapse
of 10000 years the Boxers may at any
moment inaugurate the tragedy of the
year 1900.
The first manifestation Of the reformist
spirit conceded with the Russo-Japanese
war in 1904. An imperial decree ordered
the putting into practice of the new rules
of instruction by the Niceroy 'rcheng Che
Tong. whose book IAN Appeal to study
has had great success in China.
Under the influence of the Japanesc
victories in 1905 the movement was ac-
ccntnated. 4 decree Of April o6 suppressed
torture a means of judicial inquiry
and retained only the death penalty by
decapitation. At present this decree is
not observed. except at Peking. Shanghai
and t1OngkonG. The viceroys dec.l.r,
that they cannot maintain order unless
they employ he ancient penal customs.
Apropos, the writer was in Canton in
1852. and, visiting the criminal courts
there. was received with extreme courtesy
by the presiding judge. Trial and execu-