New-York tribune., 1912-01-15
Since Prince Regents Resigna.
ton Premier Has Held
Enormous Powers.
TIMEWORN CUSTOMS UPSET
Present Supreme Ruler Spent
Weeks Gathering His Forces
and Making Himself Strong
Enough for the Job.

/ tator' greater than thOsc Of any president
or sovereign in countries where peaceful
( and normal conditions prevail Both the &C
/ casion and the man have arisen in China,
/ and to-day the Premier. Yuan Shih-kai. is
everything that the government OF China
really is. His control is absolute over that
/ part OF the empire which remains loyal.
and he is apparently making rapid strides
toward increasing the governments sphere
+ Of influence.
Two days ago. at the instance of Yuan
/ Shih-kai. the Prince Regent resigned"
! Nothing mere momentOus or dramatic than
/ this has happened in this whole Chinese
( affair, and If Yuan Shih-kai has a spirit of
! revenge anywhere i'm his makeup he must
surely be GloGtnF now, for the Prince Re-
gent was directly and solely responsible for
! Yuan's dismissal from Office and humilia-
tion three years ago. When Yuan was
naively informed ny the throne in 1875 that
he had an aling foot which physically dis
abled him from further service, although
Yuan knew nothing OF this painful trouble.
there was general regret on the part Of
many Chinese and foreigners over the
. forced retirement Of this eminent states
man.
/ After his return to his own home there
were frequent predictions and rumors that
he would he recalled by the throne. But
until the present crisis this never happened.
( Then the throne was forced to bring him
back into official life. First he was appoint
ed viceroy OF the Hu-Kuang provinces.
| Later he was intrusted with supreme con-
[ troll of the armed forces Then he became
7
/ honor yet the throne insisted, and finally
Yuan. after what seemed to be disastrous
delay, came TO Peking. and. after still more
delay. accepted the Premiership.
Reasons for Delay.
II now seems that Yuan was all this
while gathering his forces and making him
self strong enough to run the empire. Re
Gently an edCt was issued at his behest
or perhaps II would be better to say by his
direction. suspending certain audiences be-
fore the throne This relieved him OF the
necessity of running TO the Forbidden City
every time he wanted something done. It
likewise upset n timewOrn custom,
Now has come the greatest thing Of all
the retirement OF the Prince Regent In
his memorial asking permission to resign
the Prince Regent says that he Is RESPONSE
BILE, through his mistakes. for the condi-
tions which prevail in the country. From
the Chinese point Of view such self-ac-
cusation ordinarily is a mere show OF
modesty and abasement. and is nothing
more than form.
In the present instance the bad things the
Prince Regent has to say about himself ring
very true and are thoroughly believed on
all sides. His efforts at reform and his
general conduct Of the government have
done more than anything else 10 bring on
the revolution and the present crisis Yuan
Shih-kai and those who are working with
him 10 save the government nope that this
disappearance Of the hated Prince Regent
from the scene will have a great effect
upon the rebels and that II will make an
adjustment Of the situation possible. To
many foreigners II seems that this action.
like so many others. has come too late. but
the Chinese. who know more about these
things than do foreigners. say that the
effect will be splendid, and that the chances
Of settlement will be vastly increased.
May Encourage Rebels UnduIy.
There seems to be ground. however for
the belief that this vast concession VIII
serve to encourage the rebelllous elements,
TO make them think that the government IS
still on the run and that their cause has
better chance Of success than before This.
to a Western mind. would seem TO be good
enough reasoning, but IL appears that a
good deal of Chinese psychology enters into
an event OF this sort. and the effect will be
different from what would seem most logi-
cal to a foreigner.
The cdict granting permission for the
Prince Regent TO resign was issued by the
Empress Dowager, who appointed Shi-Hsl,
a Manchu and -Shih-chang. a Chinese.
as guardians TO the Emperor during his
minority. He is now seven years old. In
the mean time, the regency is left vacant
and the affairs Of government remain with
the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. which
means that Yuan shih-kai is supreme
The edict is not as explicit as II might
be, but II seems that the Empress Dowager
and the Emperor will henceforth have
naught 90 do with the government save to
act as figurcheads on ceremonial occasions
such as the receptions of foreign envoys
and tho like II is true that the seal, which
must he attached To all cdicts. remains with
the Emperor, but this. according TO the
present view OF the situation, means but
little.
The rebels assuredly have obtained more
I'm the way of concessions than they ever
thought OF getting. The Prince Regent has
gone, Chinese Premier is running the
affairs of the government, a parliament is
assured. there Is a responsible cabinet,
a constitution IS certainty. steps are
being taken for holding peace conference
and the Manchus have been absolutely Tele-
gated. Their power Is nil and the Emperor
must do as he is told Under the present
programme of the government the voice of
the people, through the parliament. can be
made stronger than in any republic In the
world for the parliament would have pow
ers as great as any other parliament and
could operate without fear OF veto, for
there is no one to exercise the power OF
VETO This will probably be a menace when
things are settled and parliament gets TO
work but. nevertheless, the matter of veto
has so far no place In the structure of
,bis .,ew form OF government for China.
Hundreds of Queues Sacrificed.
The throne issued an edict this week
orort,ne permission for all who wished TO
do en- 10 cut off their queues. To-day hun
1r.ds NJ persons here, high and low. are
visiting the BARRIERS, and this ancient badge
~ subiection 10 Manchu rule Is passing
awav There are. however, thousands Of
chinese who do not care to part with their
cneues. and II will probably be years. as
,,.as the case In Japan. before this peculi-
or,tv Of headdress passes completely away.
| ,rhe fact that there were many who did
~, care TO lose the queue was responsible
sor the matter being made optional. To
foreign minds there is something a little
,.,,,,, about the disappearance of the queue.