The Hawaiian gazette., 1909-02-05
CONDITIONS IN
CHINA NOW

"There is grave danger of an inter
nal revolution in China at the present
time,n said James Ware, who has been
doing missionary work in the Flowery
Kingdom for the past twenty-eight
years, last night Mr.. Ware is on a
furlough at the present time, and came
up from Australia on his way to the
mainland on the CanadiansAustralian
steamer Moana.
81 had an audience with Prince
Chun, who is the present Regent, some
time ago and he expressed himself, and
know that he is, in favor of the
grea reform movement which has been
developing in China to such extent for
the last five years. 1t is a question,
however, whether or not he will pre-
vail in his object of aiding the educa-
tional, opium, financial, and other re-
forms without coming to actual blows
with the mighty Manchu faction. The
Manchus, although not by and, means
popular with the great masses of the
people, are powerful enough to hold
back the present uplifting trend of af-
fairs, and they will do all in their
power to force the government to re,
vert to the old idolatry and heather
manners. There are two factions in
China besides the Manchus, and until
these unite, or some compromise is eff
fected whereby they match their com
bined strength against the Manchus,
the latter will hold the upper hand.
Prince Chun is friend to the missions
and the missionary schools, and L feel
that we can count on his support in
our war for the casting off of the
chains which have retarded the ad-
vance of civilization in China for SO
many centuries, but it may be that,
before a definite government policy is
established, the stronger faction will
rise in revolt and cause internal war
fare.
The Emperor's Edict.
"Until of late years Chinese stu
dents qualified for positions in the gov
D eminent by passing examinations in the
. ancient Chinese classics and it was on
ly by familiarizing themselves with
these classics that they were allowed
1 to receive an official appointment. The
g Mission schools were not recognized.
T, Ten years ago the Emperor issued his
e famous reform edict, which, in fact
t led to his deposition. The chief items
,
ious reforms, and under it the old tenn
n plies were to be used as schools. The
e Emperor issued this edict following up
r on his study of Christian books, espe
9 cially the Bible, but when he was de
posed the reforms proposed by him were
put aside and the Boxer uprising re
g suited. The Emperor was a friend OF
all missionary work, and it was freely
d rumored that he was a Christian al
d heart.
:. Reforms Being Carried Out.
&c ellis reforms, however, laid in abey
&c ance for five years. The Boxer revol
was a protest against reform of al
u kinds, and a movement to return to tn
II old customs that had chained China TO
IL centuries to an unenlightened standard
H. At the present time, every one of tn
81 reforms proposed by the Emperor, wit
Is several additions, are being carried int
,. effect. Notably among these are tn
III educational reforms, opium reforms, tn
y arranging for the opening of China ,
p mines, the building of railroads, tn
IL freedom of the native press, and tn
't greatest reform of all along religion
'e lines. A native editor said last June
y "Our religion has been but den o
demons in which has been imprisone,
the thought of the nation for ten thou
sands years Under these circumstances
r there has been, of course, no advance
d in civilization.
d The Opium Traffic.
IT "Now, in regard to the decrease il
9 the opium business of China. Opium
!, was brought into the country in 49,
- A. d. by the Arabs, and was used b,
', them for medicinal purposes only. Fo
u time, also, the Chinese used the dru
" as medicine, but when tobacco wa
u first imported from the Philippine Is
!. lands, the Chinese began mixing tn
70 two and using the combination in thei
pipes In 1871 Great Britain bega
. importing opium into China. Grea
!, Britain has. however, aided in the wor
- of overcoming the Influence of opiur
among the Chinese by refusing t
" country of late years. In 1880 tn
70 NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
is all right, and we will put Uncle Sal
Id out of Hawaii"
,fl When taken before Chief of Dete
ID tives Kalakiela, another long talk abol
er the formation of the government WI
II, had and he thought that the warrior
persons to whom he talked during I'll
course of the afternoon would be goo
Id cabinet ministers with Medeiros as Lon
to Chamberlain, the chief as Minister {
Id Police, Chief Clerk Asch as Minister
RS Finance, a newspaper reporter as Mi
he lister of Foreign Affairs and DR.. Enc
lie son he regarded as the Royal Househo
ct, Physician.
os On being conducted to the receiviI
lie station and shown the telephone al