The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-27
hY wILEIAM-T. ELLIs.

HN NAAAfkA NH EbhASs Some persons fhinlx1 of China as a land where laundering Is the principal business. others recall, instinctiFe- iy, pig-tafls and rats, and upside down' customs. A few, wiser, know China as the land Of teening hordes-- four hundfed millions of population-- and as of social inertness and indlf- terence to the outside world, Only the most alert are aware of the real significance Of the present awaken ing that is transforshing China.
 The new birth of nation is more personal and vital importance to mui- titudes of individuAls-
 China has the center of the worlds International stage. Her name is synofiynious with the awakening. of the East. It was Of interest to note, during the recent Church Federation Convention in Philadelphia that sl- most all the speakers who alluded to mission lands or missionary condit- ions spoke only of China. That great nation. with, it's powerful appeal to the imagination. ls taking strong hold of the thought. of feaders in religion politics. And within. i've years the rank and fife of people throughout the length and breadth of .ciyilization will be aware of the Rreatpess Of the change that has come over the Middle Kingdom.
 The very same. forces that make over an American or Briton are need ed to make over a Chinese
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 Much fun has been poked at China for its attitude toward foreigners, whom 1t has hitherto called foreign devils" The Chinese really have be- lieved that the white man t a differ ent--and of course, q lower-7-order of being from themselves After all, though. has the attitude of Western people toward China been very difer- ent?--in elf-complacency and inyui- nerable superiority2 By his attitude and by his conduct the foreigner fre- quentiy shows spirit even worse. than that of the Chinese wlo cry foreign devif' after the white man on the streets.
 The newspapers Of China are at once an evfdenc@ and an tnstrument of the nations regeneration. They are a fearless. fighting force for the new day. They attack the ancient abuses, and set forth the claims of the new order. They portray the nature of the. ".Western learning." and show its ad- vantages for China. These editors are patriots, and their honor will be great in a coming day Already they share with the new schools the distinction of being the most effectiye public ed- ucators. In the leading cities of the empire may be found public reading halls, where the days newspaper Is read to those. who cannot read for themselves and. take lectures upon modern sciences are given. In Peking there is even . comic journal, devoted to proeress and reform, which fear iessiy carioatures exissing eveIIs. In the same city Is pubiiahed a Woman's Daily, which Is powerful factor in bringing about the new order.
 New fife Tor a natloa, as for an h. < dividuaf, cannot be put on from the outside, like a garment. It must be a growth from within. ssatsssss ,. :.
 somsRoay with ! graphic pen a,,'a1, shesld 9,,l.i In China. It is q romance. In pic tuFesdueness. in poftentousness, and in It's deep revealing of an old nations new-f found consciousness. 1t has no analogy in history. except, on a small Ter scale, the case of Japan. China has long spurned tiie western learn ing Now--havIng been taught in the fiery school Of the Boxer days. in the bitter experience of the territorial rapacity of the stronger nations, and in innumerab1e humblings of an an cient pride-the whole people have set tfemselves to acquire the ways and wisdom of the West. So by thousa nds young men have been sent abroad to study. returning after a year or two with a smattering of the new education, to become teachers. Old temples are being turned into schools. Educational museums are being opened at important centers. The boys and young lneR--and, most remarkable of all, the girls and young women-are tfooping to school, ae they have opportunity There Is no room for all the applicants. no mat ter how rapidly schools multiply. The old educational system has been abol- ished utterly. A new China Is being erected upon the foundation of modern education. If Christianity possess any qualities of statesmanship 1t will ip- sure that this foundation be religious.
 For years stock subject for edI- torials and esays has been. The Paar tition of China" Now 1t Is assured that there will be no such partition. Japan and the United States have within recent days concluded an agreement insuring the Anation's in- tegrity. In ten years or, less China will be able to look out for herself. The world may as well make up it's mind that 1t must recken with this largest and oldest of nations.
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