Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1912-01-09

IL WAS Ndpplron boNdpaitr WHO Tc-
ferrcd To China as Il sleeping giant"
The name is an apt one in that with
in the borders OF that great empire
there live 400.0O0.00O people, more than
one-fourth the entire population of the
world. And for tens of centuries
China has been asleep.
But now the giant is awakening.
At least he il yawning and is show
ing other signs Of returning cons
ciousness. The political cataclysm
now in progress in the Orient is !
sign Of that, the stupor is about 10 be
thrown off.
1t is extremely difficult for Amer
leans 10 understand the Chinese sit
uation; and the principal trouble is
that we have regarded China from the
wrong standpoint. We have been
prone To put these people on the plane
of the lunch counter and the laundry;
when. as a matter of fact, both ment-
ally and physically, the Chinese have
marvellous powers. But the vast ma
iority Of the people are unframed
But at that China has done some
wonderful things. The Chinese in
vented gunpowder. centuries before
the white race knew OF its existence
4 Chinaman invented the mariners
compass hundreds of years before Sir
John Vaudeville was born. There are
forms Of art practiced by the Chinese
that are the despair as they are the
admiration Of every other race. And
the system of astronomy practiced by
the scientists of that country IS as
wonderful as the system discovered
biz Copernicus. Chinese astronomers
were able to forecast eclipses hun
dreds OF years before the birth OF
Christ. Ii is evident that race which
has accomplished 50 much cannot DO
taken as 4 joke.
In some respects the causes which
have brought about the present re-
volution in the Celestial Kingdom are
similar to those which melted the
American people to proclaim their in
dependence Of Britain. The empire
is governed by the Manchu dynasty
and the Manchus are not strictly
speaking. Chinese 1t is, in a sense.
the case of a democratic people under
the control of an aristocratic ruling
class.
The brains of the dynasty is Yuan,
the premier The emperor is but five
years old and of late years the affairs
of the empire have been largely di-
rected by the Empress Dowager, the
mother of the present nominal ruler.
II must be remembered there is no
narliament or congress in China. There
are. strictly speaking. no laws. In
theory the emperor is the source of
Iawmaking and law enforcement. The
laws are promulgated by imperial de-
crees. And both the lives and the
property Of the people are subject To
the within Of the throne.
Ii is against these conditions and
a multitude of abuses growing out of
them that the Chinese people have
rebelIed They demand the abdicatiOn
of the Manchurian dynasty and
share in the government. And since
.he revolt started the throne has
shown disposition to make con-
cessions; but it seems probable the
revolution has gone too far. What
the people of China would have ac
cepted gladly a year ago they are
now not likely to accept at all.
Wu Ting Fang. formerly ambas-
sador to the United States. Il uni
versity graduate. and one of the will
lest din!omats i'm the world. is allied
with the revolutionists. So is DIR.
sun Vat Sen, recently chosen presi-
dent of the republic. II is little
difficult to understand WI, and it
is not certain that the Chinese have
got almost as much to fear from him