Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1912-01-05
END OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE.

lIle III MlnuCdpOllS JOul udi III bioSuoo
ing the New Republic Of China says:
China proper is about as large as
India, and each is about as large as
the United States east of the Missis-
sippi What has been known as the
Chinese Empire, however, embracing
Manchuria, Mongolia, Eastern Turk
esUan and Tibet, is larger than the
area Of Europe.
Manchuria is lost to China. Now
the cable reports that Chinese sover-
eighty is withdrawn from Mongolia
and Eastern Iurkestan, each auarea
almost as large as China proper. If
those two vast provinces become in
dependent, under Russian protection
or without it, probably Tibet also will
fall away. Thus ends the greatest
empire known to history, the longest
continuing and in historical sense
the most successful.
For the Chinese Empire, if inferior
to the British and the Russian in
area, exceeds either in population.
Its area, moreover vaster than all
Europe, is more homogeneous than
the European area, or the seadiVided
British Empire or the wilderness di-
vided Russian Empire.
Macau!ay'S New Zealander, musing
upon the ruins of London Bridge, IS a
literary igment. CaiuS Marius seated
among the ruins of Carthage is an an
tiquity. But in our time, a great
Japanese scholar, philosopher and art
critic, standing upon the mOderng
Chinese Wall. ruminated upon the
crumbing civilization, which had
been greater, richer, more illuStriouS
than that Of the Roman, and which
had tlourished from before the fall of
Carthage down even to modern times
The continuity of China-that is
the unique and wonderful glory of the
Chinese and their civilization. One
other unique characteristic of that
civilization is the fact that it was self
evolved 1t was original. 1t had no
alien sources. The civilization of
Indialis the result Of cOnglomerate
OF races. Japan derived her culture
from China Babylon derived hers
from India probably, and ancient
Egypt owed much to Chaldea. Mir
acle as she was, Greece was heavy
debtor to Egypt. Rome was merely
soldier and law-giver. Modern Eu-
rope received her every impulse from
Observation-Disclosures civilization
which preceded her. The three
Americas are the children Of Earope.
= China was civilization when the
Pharaohs reigned, was an empire be-
fore the Punic Wars, had evolved Con
fucian ethics before Socrates taught
Plato, had paper, printing and gun
powder when Eoropean scribes wrote
laoOriOuSly on parchment, had tea,
spices and chopsticks when Europe
swilled wine and ale and ate with fin
gers, had decoration, architecture,
Olympan Zeus.
ChiDa did all these things, acquired
all these accom- plishmentS herself.
She was isolated. Eastward lay the
ocean and the isles of the barbarians.
Northward lay the high frozen STEP
pes. Southwark and Westward stood
the highest mountains and loftiest
plateaus of the earth. Only India,
her nearest neighbOr, Influenced her
with the religion of Buddha, but in
no such deep sense as Asiatic Chris
tianity and MahommedaniSm have
marked Europe.
To be sure, Chinese civilization will
go on. But it will be modified. And
no man knows whether China itself
will be dismembered or divided But
one truth is apparent, and it is this,
that in our time is happening in
China one of those world changes
com parable only to the discovery of
America, the Crusades, the Fall of
Rome, the Defeat of the Persians at
SalamjS