Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-09

adaptation. The racial weakness is love
of display and extravaganza. The latter
Is sober. economical ana very much given
TO amassng wealth.
Among the prominent officials special
mention may he made Of Sheng-kung-
Fac because an enthusiastic partisan OF
occidental progress. He aided I'm the
Establishment OF the universities ut Ticn-
tsin and Shanghai. He was treaty COM
missioner with Lu-Hai-Huan and Wa
Tlng-fanS in making commercial trca-
ties with Great Britain. the United States
and Japan. He was commissioner OF
railways. and such made contracts
with the Belgians for building the rail
road from Picking to Hankow. with the
Americans Through the defunrt China
Development Company for building the
railway from HankoN to Canton. He -
born diplomat This Is not all
Sheng- kuny-Pao has proposed the radi-
cal reform OF the currency. which ne
recognizes as ore of the first and most
urgent reforms TO be initiated
Yin Chang. who returned to China sev-
eral months past to take the portfolio %
war announced that he would introduce
general conScrption for the army. l.
China accepts that radical measure
may he certain that she is much farther
on the road than her most ardent well
wiShers imagine.
Gen. de Negrier OF the French army has
contributed an article TO the Revue des
DcuN Mondes. entitled
PesSimistlc THE Chinese Forces In
1910" The author is pes
Vplnlon. simistic For him the
Chinese empire is not the giant who
awakes. but the smoker Of opium who IS
shaking off his torpor; il he is ever cured
of the habit he will never he strong"
The author declares that the ethics %
people direct its tendencies and push II to
action. or incite il 10 inertia. Peoples or
divers races may be united by their eth
les When these have been cemented by
centurieG there comes a mentality COM
mon to all. The Inhabitants OF the eight
cen provinces cf China are not of the
same origin; their languages differ. The
Chinese OF the north cannot comprehend
the Chinese OF the south. But their ethics
is the same being founded on the doc
trines OF Confucius and Mencius. Two
thousand years OF these doctrines have
nodded the Chinese mind and given il the
form which contact with the occidentals
may not change for centuries. ClinaS
pride in the superiority of her civilization
is immense. The disasters through which
she has passed have not diminished her
pride or self-assurance. and the Russo
japanese war and its results have given
it new impulsion The Chinaman's rea-
soning is simple: One Of the great bowers
of Europe has been driven back by the
Japanese. a nation of J2.Dgo.N1: China
has 40. U0o 900; the Japanese intellectually
are inferior and owe what civilization
they possess to China: they had the good
sense to appreciate the scientific meth
DDS and engines OF the Europeans. There
Is their success. When China shall have
acquired the necessary technical knowl-
edge the foreigner will he set aside. En-
gineers may exploit Chinas vast re-
sources. and II il shall he necessary mil
lions of soldiers will cause her to be re-
spected
The army. we are told. is i'm nrocess
OF reorganization and the old formations
have been replaced, as follows: First
the land forces for operations i'm the field:
second. the army consisting of the DO
lice: third. the auxiliary troops OF the
police: fourth. the imperial guard; nth,
the gendarmerie.
When the thirty-seven divisions Of the
new army are completed in 1913 the war
budget will reach the re-
Military spectacle sum of s6d.ooo,oc"
d.. Gen. de Negrier appears ~
""u60" be staggered at this figure
and expresses doubt that China may
raise II. He will not only discover that
China will find the means to con-
tribute to the maintenance of such an
army, but he will find that when her
patriotism is in full bloom China WIFI
bear much greater burdens. and do 80
with astonishing good will. and even en-
thusiasm. The boycott lessons recently
administered to her enemies indicate the
growth Of a national sentiment
The Chinese military instruction has
been both German and japanese. In
1895 a mission was sent from Germany
composed Of twelve commissioned officers
and twentyfour non-commissioned. At
Marking they established a school known
as "Tse-Kiang-Kun," or army of prog
ress by itself. Later on two lieutenants
and a non-commissicned officer were at
tackled with stones and the latter officer
was wounded. Nevertheless the first
troop of 800 was organized at Ou-Chans.
1t now numbers 5000 men. A school
was established at Lou-che- X iao-tang IN
1897 which served as model for sew
eral others In 1898 A Japanese superior
officer organized a school On the LIST %
January of this year there were some
Germans and a certain number of Japa-
nese officers remaining.
There are now eco schools, containing
30CNo pupils. On the 1st of January
the total number of mel comprising thu
new organization was 1a5.o0o;S those of
the old regime number 21.o0o.
Before the war with Japan China pos
sessed an important navy. The japanese
destroyed or captured it's ships. and China
has not yet reorganized a fleet worthy of
the name.
*
ApropoS to the reference to the Euro
pean-trained young men. Gen. de Nesrier
expresses the opinion that
Insurgent China must take into ac
n, count their revolutionary
S"o' tendencies. And he invites
attention to the fact that il was this
class of military students who in April
larst provoked the trouble at Hankow.
Gen. de Negrier declares that. although
the crown prescribes the study of popular
representation. these studies will last a
long time and end in naught. II they
should succeed. the Manchu dynasty will