The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-11-09

scheme is eIaDOTaIe, anu II pioFIueS
for a thorough reorganization along
modern lines. There is one great
branch devoted to the reforming Of
the courts, and this includes the es-
ablishment of law schools in every
great city and at all the provincial
capitals.
Another branch is devoted to the
creating Of a modern army, the steps
of growth going on from year to year.
and a third deals with education and
the gradual organization of a system
of schools which will make it COM
pulsory.
It is the same with the changes to
be made in revenues and taxation.
Everything is gradual. and in the emo
China will be as far advanced as Japan
today and will have all the govern
ment advantages Of other nations.
The Schools and the Constitution.
Take, for instance. the plan laid out
for the new school system. The year
1908 was largely devoted to the COM
position of easy text books along
modern lines. h year the text
books are being published, and the
laws have gone forth that they must
be used in all schools. At the same
time modern schools are being started
in all the large cities. Next year the
same program is to be pushed, and by
1912 it is expected there will be a
public school in every village and
market town. Today the proportion
Of Chinese who a read and write is
exceedingly low. The nation is not an
educated one, as many and l
doubt whether ten men in one thou
sand can read and write. By 1913,
those who have investigated the mat
ter say, one in every hundred should
be able to read, and du:ing the fol-
lowing year, if the school scheme is
- ~~;ol o,,f ono in oxnrV fffv ChO1IlO
be able to both read and write,
while at the close of the nine years,
when the first members Of parliament
are elected. the proportion Of literacy
should be about one to twenty.
The new schools will practically
create a new language for China and
a new system of phonetic writing.
School are now being organized by
the thousands, and there are tens of
thousands Of the old Chinese profess
sors who are fitting themselves to be-
come modern At the time
the edict was sent forth ten thOu-
sand went to Japan and spent about
six months there fitting themselves for
the new education. The most Of
these have returned. but there are
at present something like 5000 Chi
neSe studying in Japan, and there Will
soon be in the neighborhood of one
thousand studying in America.
IL Is a WOnOef1ul evidence OIL the
good citizenship Of the Chinese that
the introduction Of schools and the
abolition Of the old examination system
have been mad without causing a
revolution. Such a change would
have created a war in almost any other
country, necessitating as it did the
loss Of jobs by thousands Of the old
tutors and the making Of their CLASH
Ical education of no value.
Who Can Vote In China.
The new constitution is rigid as to
the qualifications Of voters. All cleo
tions are to be held by ballot. and a
plurality shall elect. All voters
must reside in the district for more
than a year. They must be able to
read and write. and must a V their
family records unblemished The
franchise is not given to men of bad
character nor to opium users It is
forbidden TO DULLES and criminals, and
there are certain low professions
whose members will not be allowed to
come to the polls. In general any
Chinese will have a right to the fran
chise, provided he has the ordinary
qualifications, and any boy may hope
to become a member of parliament
n to have a part in the government
The constitution provides for the
freedom Of the press, for the right OF
public assembly and for freedOm from
taxation except by law.
The Emperor Will Still Rule.
Throughout the whole Of this new
constitutional program the power of
the sovereign is respected. He will
stand in about the same position which
the mikado holds in Japan or the
kaiser in Germany. He is to be the
of the army and navy and
to have the right to declare war or
peace. He will have. in case Of emer-
gencies, all power over the liberty of
the people, with the right of pardon.
He can TX the salaries Of his own
and car take the sums
needed for that purpose from the
treasury, without reference to parlia-
ment. He has the right to appoint