Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1911-11-18
CHINA'S THRONE
REPUBLIC MAY
Present Uprising Is the Most
Serious In Years and FL
nancialIy Strong.
by JAMES A. HDcERToN.
REPUBLIC in China! That ha

~ about the most startling sound
~ of anything heard on this earth
for more than century. Yet
that IL the avowed object of the revo-
lutionaries who recently captured WI
chang, Hankow and other cities of the
province of Hupeh and who are now
sweeping over the empire. When a
year or two ago II was announced that
hhe Chinese were abandoning their pig
tails and proposing to establish a par
fiament that seemed about as far on
che path OF progress as they could rea.
sonsbly be expected to 20, but now II
seems that they are travelling the whole
road The world Is moving so fast 1t
as hard to keep up with the procession
NO sooner is there revolution thai
brings a republic in Portugal than an
ether uprising starts a new era of lib
erty in Mexico, the Italians drive the
Turks out OF Africa, and then the old
est and most populous empire of them
all starts heller SHELTER toward de-
mocracy. The knleidosasps of world
politics changes overnight. The lords
are trimmed Of power In Great Brit
ain, France and Germany settle their
differences over Morocco with nothing
more serious than a few conversations.
and Italy slices Off Tripoli I'm thirty
three minutes by TIE clock. But Chi
ma! Well. when China begins to move
the rest OF Us might as well cut loose
and start toward the millennium.
The United States should be especial
3y interested in this latest Chinese up.
rising for the reason that il is move
ment toward popular government. also
that ever since the Burlingame treaty
we have been a potent influence for
liberalism there and for the further
reason that ii was John Hays diplo-
macy which maintained the integrity
of China. Moreover, we are especially
concerned in all that goes on around
the Pacific ocean, the new theater Of
! civilization in which this country
should play a star part.
Six Thousand Years Old.
Chiaa is so old that her legendar?
history goes back something like 5000
years and SO populous that nearly one
NASlh vi iut NUilu y SWuTiD
within her provinces. She had a civ
nization before the time OF Abraham.
was hourishing state in the days of
the Trojan war. followed great moral
and religious teachers ere the dawn OF
the Christian era and was very an
Client nation when western Europe
was emerging from barbarism. The
world IL strewn with the wrecks of
empires. but China has outlived them
all. She was a contemporary of Baby
Ion and ancient Egypt. She looked on
Rome and Greece as mere young up
starts among the nations. She ante
dated the Aryan migration West
ward the star of empire takes it's
way" but China's star Is older and
has hung steadfast In China the peo-
pie worship their ancestors, and it is
no w0nder-there are so many OF
them. II is land OF ancestors. An
old family in China has something of
which to boast The aristocracies of
Europe are mere mushrooms by com
parison. If ancient lineage is a dis
tinction the humblest "chink" has the
proudest MILFORD" beaten several thou
sand years.
Primarily the Chinese uprising aims
at the dethronemeut of the Manchu
dynasty This Is about 300 years old.
or goes back nearly to the settlement
OF jamestown. The Manchus were
called in To protect China from her
foes. They liked the country and
stayed. Though there are only a
handful Of them compared to the hun
dreds OF millions Of Chinese, the Man
chus have ruled the country from that
time to the present. Not only have
they furnished the emperors. but the
ruling groups that surrounded these
and many of the subordinate officials.
Just how inhumanly oppressive they
have been may he judged from the
fact that It was the Manchus who
made the Chinese shave their heads
and wear pigtails. That would be
like fifteen or twenty canadians goirg
into New York and forcing the VIII" .
male population TO wear bilivs at
whiskers.
The Chinese Washing IN.
Tie leader OF the revolution Is DR.,
Sun Yat Sen. who has $4,000 on his
head in China aud therefore lives in
America. England. India. Japan orany
where else except his own dear nat'v
Sand, where the living is not good. .lr
Sun is a scholar who s.cak9 ard
writes English fluently and VI , in a
student Of the career Of Napoleon and
of the revolutionary eras in western
nations. Rumor has IT that if the pres
ent instruction succeeds he is to be
the first president Of the republic Of
China. A gentleman who once met
DR.. Sun in New York thus described
him: 4.~
81 was first introduced to DIR. Sun
Vat Sen at a social gathering in a well
known club. | was greatly struck with