The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-06
Dr. Wu 7ing-Fang Talks
 On the Awakening Of China

| be regarded as guides or indexes of
 the situation in the Far East. The l changes taking place are so kaleido-
 scopic In rapidity and mysterious in
 character that even native of the ! land. unless he Is a keen observer gets
 bewildered and is left behind in the
 swiftly moving onward progress of his | country.
 First of all. would like to tell you
 or the changes introduced In our body | polite, changes which have made our 1 governmental system efficient and up- to-date. At one time in your history | there was keen discussion and strug- l gle for power between the State rights
 party and National rights party, the | latter claiming that the nation is to be
 considered the fountain and source of | all sovereignty and the States as ena- nations from 1t. similar struggle | has been going on In China. one party
 favorins the centralization of power in the Picking government and the other demanding autonomy for the provin- l cial authorities. In view of the com l plicated nature of Cnina's foreign rela-
 tions. which makes 1t imperative that 1 the voice of the Picking government should be supreme in cases In which foreign interests are involved, and In view of the importance of the imperial governments holding unrestricted &C., ton in carrying out the items on its program of reform. many of our states men think that, for the present at
 least. there should be only one master in the house of China. The course of events seems to sho wthat this policy Is gaining ground, which will result In greater strides in the progress of my country. With the introduction of Western ideas and methods into the life of our people. the sphere of duties of the imperial government has been correspondingly enlarged. Where for merly six ministries or departments
 were sufficient. ten are now necessary. the newly created ones being that of Foreign Affairs. of Education. of Agri- culture, Works and Commerce, of Gem erai Constabufary. and of Posts and Communications. The mere mention of their names. I think. is sufficient to give you a conception of the new du- ties which have devolved on our gov ernment.
 Encouraged by Government.
 ''The earnest desire of the imperial government to promote the welfare of it's people is strikingly illustrated in It's recent decrees. in which (the pro- mitigation ofl a constitution was prom ised and. the system of local govern ment encouraged. With the develop | ment of self government in our coun- l try, and the establishment of munich
 
 interested in local adniinistration--in l such questions as improvement and widening of streets, sanitation of houses and surroundings, an efficient | police system; and as the standard of l education in self government is raised. | similar and wider interest is taken
 in national affairs. By imperial com mand, self government bureaus have been established in every provincial | center. and | large number of trans | lators are rendering into our language the constitution and the laws of dif- | ferent nations. Perhaps the time for l a parliament has not arrived, but the l government is broad minded enough I to listen more and more to the voice | of the people, and measures are being
 adopted which will in the near future lead to the formation of a representa- | tive assembly.
 "Our laws, as has been observed. l framed by the wisdom and experience 1 of a long series of ages and suitably | provided for the government of an l empire unparalleled in the history of | the world in extent and population, | must be proportionally numerous and complicated" With the spread of edu-
 cation and enlightenment and the birth l of new relations between man and man by the introduction of western inno- l vations, our laws have gradually been | found to be incompatible with modern | Ideas or inadequate to our present 1 needs. Commissioners were conse- l quently appointed, invested with full 1 powers and assisted by students who l have graduated from law schools in | foreign countries, to revise the old l laws and to codify new ones.s Ff By nature and choice a peaceable nation, taught from our infancy to | abhor violence and to reverence req son and right, we have been led to
 worship literary pursuits and to ne- | giect and despise martial life. We had | nominal land army of from 100000
 to 500.O00 strong. but in reality. there | were never at any one time more than | 200, 900 men, who contsituted not so | much a national army as a local eon- | stabulary force for maintaining peace l and order throughout the provinces. | The reorganization of the army occu- | pies a prominent place on our program | of reform, and the excellent showing | made by the troops of Viceroys Yuan l and Chang at the maneuVers of the | past two 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
 decree of seven years ago commanded
 the reorganization of the military
 forces of the whole empire. Training
 schools from the preparatory to the ! | tablished for officers of the land forces,
 the High Academy. modelled somewhat | after our Military Academy at West
 Point. to be situated in Pek 1t
 was also decided to organize twenty | army corps, each corps to comprise
 twenty-five thousand men. aggregating l a 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 bogey, which at one time swept
 over Europe and America. No, there
 need be no fear of any yellow peril
 In reorganizing it's army and navy, the
 Chinese government has been actuatec
 by one aim and that Is to place them
 in a state of efficiency for police and
 defensive purposes only. China hal
 never and never will be aggressive tr
 a military way--she is too fond oi
 peace and realizes too fully the hor-
 TOTS of war for that. At the sAms
 time. the government must possess ar
 army enough to nip in the bud any local uprising and perhaps to defent the hearthstones of her people from an outside foe. With the large mum Der of foreign subjects and foreIgr , l interests fin our empire, every disturb
 ance may involve international compli cations. and constant vigilance it needed for preserving peace within oul boundaries.
 Changes in Education.
 , But let me turn to a more conge , nial topic--the changes that have tA ken place in our system of education
 Under the old dispensation, teachinl was conducted principally within tn
 family by private pedagogues. Tn