El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-11

Plague and Famine Devas-
tate and Foreign Compli-
Cations Annoy.
BOXER UPRISING
AGAIN THREATENED
wv AsHINGToN. D. C., March
CBy Frederic ]. Haskin).

NV r ASHINGTON, D. c., March IL.
~ China, in the throes of a
constitutional CONFUSION of a
magnitude unprecedented in history
and grooming under an ever-increasing
burden of foreign complications, now
feels the heavy hand Of fate in the form
Of plague and famine. From Man
churia it is reported that 5000 persons
die each day of a viru1ent type of the
plague. from which it is said that there
is only one authenticated case Of re-
covery. In the central portion Of
China proper thousands and hundreds
Of thousands of persons are starving to
death.
On top of this, the dispatches from
the correspondents closely allied to the
diplomatic corps say that foreigners
in China are apprehensive of re-
crudescence of the Boxerism of a dec
ade ago.
1t may be possible that there will be
another outbreak that will bear the
name OF, Boxerism, but it is impossible
for another rebellion of exactly that
character to occur. That was reaction
airy, the next will be revolutionary
Every competent critic agrees that the
essential control of China by the pro-
gressive element dates from the Boxer
war Of 1900. Sir John Jordan, the
British minister at Picking, said lately
that China had progressed more, in
the European sense of the word pro
gress," in the 10 years between 1900
and 1910 than it had in the 10 centuries
previous.
Something Wrong in China.
But there is evidently something
wrong in China. there Is evidently some
great dissatisfaction. there is evidently
the danger of revolt. What are the
reasons?
The principal reasons are four in
number: Japan, Russia, Great Britain
and France. The secondary reasons are
two: The United States and Germany.
The Chinese, both governing and the
governed, are not only willing but
they are determined to push forward
a progressive program for the develop
ment OF the country. Railroads have
the first place in that program, for
without transp ortation facilities devel-
opment is impossible.
Such railroad development as has
been planned has been favored senti-
mentally and financially by the United
States and Germany But it has been
forbidden. practically, by Japan, Rus
STA, Great Britain and france. These
four great powers by obstruction. BIZ
intrigue, and by diplomatic delays have
succeeded in holding up loans without
which railroad construction in the
southern part of the empire cannot pro-
coed. The same four powers went far
Their and by thinIy yelled threats of
violence forbade the construction of
railroads in northern China where ia
pan and Russia have interests. In
Manchuria these prohibitions from the
four powers were absolute.
Friendly Advances In Vain.
The United States and Germany have
attempted to, befriend the Chinese gov
eminent in the matter of making rail-
road loans and IN advancing the gen
eral program OF progress. but these
two powers have not seen their way
clear to enter into open opposition to
the four other nations.
Whenever China manifests any ap-
parent design of insisting upon its SOW
ereign rights, something is sure to be
done to stop it. Only a few days ago
Russia without warning sent an ulti-
matum to the Chinese foreign office
demanding practical cession of a large
part of Chinese Turkestan. China pro-
tested, but Russia talked of massing
troops on the frontier, and there were
signs of military activity in the north.
Chinese Army Small.
China has small army, but it would
be no match for Russia And then
China has the plague to fight and some
millions of people starving to death,
China could not even pretend to fight.
So the Russian demands were granted
and again that territorial entity for
Which John Hay pledged the world,
was violated.
Yet it is probably true that there is
grave danger Of another uprising In
China The people do not understand
why their government is so weak in
the face of foreign aggression. They
only resent the oppression.
Bringing 1t Home.
Suppose, for the sake of illustration,
the problem be transferred to the
United States. If there was pneumonia
plague in New England; and if the
people of the Ohio valley were starving
to death and if the only bit Of terri
tory available for increasing the food
supply was Minnesota and the Dako-
tas; and If the only railroads in that
territory were owned by Canada and
went north instead of south; and if
we had no navy; and if four great mill
tary powers were to forbid us to build
railroads in our own territory; and If
four great maritime powers were to tie
I'D the finances of the world so that
We couldn't borrow $50, 900. 900; and If,
when. plagu and famine were killing
thousands of our people a day. Canada
would suddenly annex the state of
Washington; if all these things were to
happen here. do you think there would
be rumors of a Boxer. uprising, in
Kansas?
But Of course the Peking government
knows that another outbreak in China
would furnish the predatory powers
with the needed excuse to divide up the
among them. Therefore the
government is all for peace, but it may
be that 1T will not beet strong enough
to maintain it.
The Promised Constitution.
1t is practically certain that within
the next year China will have a con- /
stitution, a parliament and maybe a
revolution. The constitution was or
iginally promised for 1916. To prepare
for it, provincial assemblies were or
ganized and these sent representatives
to an imperial senate. That senate WASH
designed to be merely a practice school,
a sort of moot parliament. But it dsd
not confine itself to mere forms. 1T
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