The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1910-11-03
Empress Dowager, Mother Of Boy
Emperor of China, Opposes
the Favoritism of the
Acting Ruler
MAY ASSERT Her AUTHORITY
DR.. Gilbert Reid Of international In
stitute of China Declares That
Women are a Great Power
In the Empire.

Buffalo, Nov. 3.--Dr. Gilbert Reid
of the international Institute of Chi
ma, spoke at the Twentieth Century
Club here last evening on the social
life of women of the better class Chi
nese and Manchu families. He said
in part:
I'm America, we hear of woman's
suffrage; in China we have woman
sovereignty. The suffrage has not been
discussed because the autocracy of
woman has been secured without its
aid. For nearly half a century. a
strong-minded woman directed the af-
fairs of the Chinese Empire, in peace
and turmoil, in times Of calamity and
OF prosperity, with other nations as
friends or again appearing as foes.
With all these changes, il was a wom-
ans hand-that OF the late Empress
Dowager-that held the helm of the
Ship of State. Gray-haired mandari-
ma, aristocratic Manchu noblemen.
great scholars, renowned diplomats
experienced statesmen, entered the in
ner-hall of the palace and bowed their
heads to the ground in humble obei-
sance before the masterful personality
OF the woman sitting on the throne
with self-possession, stately dignity,
and recognized superiority. This is an
achievement realized in China, but not
yet whispered as a dream in America.
Empress Dowager Jealous?
Even now there comes another pos
sibility of leadership by another Man
chu woman. The prince Regent. while
possessed with power for the moment.
must not forget that there is another
Empress Dowager presiding i'm the in
ner precincts Of the Palace. and acting
as mother To the boy Emperor. She
may yet choose to come out more
openly, as did the former Empress
Dowager, into the life of the nation.
and exert a controlling influence on it's
affairs. While not the strong person
ality of her aunt, the late Empress
Dowager, she may yet be induced ont
OF opposition To some OF the measures
and favoritism of the Prince Regent
TO assert that which may be regarded
as her rightful authority. There is n
strong faction in Peking today which
turns away from the Prince Regent
and favors the Empress Dowager.
Even without asserting her full power
II is none the less true that she and
other women connected with the Court
of Peking. are influential i'm shaping
pubic policies of that vast Empire.
Women Are influential.
I'm China, there are Palace cIiaues.
i'm America. there is a partisanship that
Is more intense in its hatred and ami
mostly than exists amid the rivalries
OF Peking. In China, there are class
distinctions, but none Of the vile sep
aration of Capital and Labor that ex-
lists here. In China, there are differ
ences OF opinion and mutual jealous
les, which are only made known
through the quiet whispering of pri-
vate condolences: but i'm the United
States. we have, flashed out before the
whole world, recrimination. slander H.
bel. and false accusations. character
istic OF our national politics. In Chi
na' the women know how to gossip. as
they do here, but there Is less publi-
city and less harm to ones self or TO
others There may be idle curiousitv
among these women of the Orient. but
today this curiosity is being turned
into channels Of public service and use
fulness.
In the rapid changes that arc now
taking place. l would not be at all sur
prised IL within ten years, we would
see some intelligent. patriotic woman
sitting in the Imperial parliament and
discussing questions OF the Empire I'm
ease and fluency. with no criticism of
impropriety from anyone, Just as the
whole administrative power of the EN-
pire has for so many years rested SOLE
~ in the hands of a woman. There
may be Manchu woman on the
Throne. and a Chinese woman in the
Parliament