New-York tribune., 1912-03-31
HOW CH|NA'S EMPEROR
GAVE Up THE REINS
Birth of Great New Republic De-
srribed by Tribune Core
spondent in Peking.
A HAZARDOUS EXPERIMENT
consummate Work by Yuan
sbih-kai Insured the Passing
Of the Dynasty with
Minimum of Friction.
-. REGULAR Correspondent Of The Tribune


Minimum of Friction.
,a, the Regular Correspondent OF The Tribune
w in pek!ngl
p.Li,g Feb. 1S.-The Ia Ching Dynasty
-. co,re 10 an end and the last OF the
tine Of Manchu emperors, some OF
-, Oero the most brilliant and aolest
80 has ever had, has retired from po-
',.,,al mower. never again to administer the
-, and look after the wants OF the peo-
-. rrstead a Republic Of China takes its
80 and China is launched on the haI-
I.ao,,s experiment forced by the people OF
ust,on. who. sick and tired OF Manchu
,.-,,s demanded a change and ineXoraoiy
800 the ruling ManChus from one sur
- NJ mower TO another. and now TO a
-.,,s,a csnitulation to the will Of the peo-
and the republican army OF the solth.
7, is far too early TO describe al that mas
,..,n,od 10 endeavor to relate how this
,r.rvsllous thing has been brought about
drring these comparatively Few weeks IN
..-,Aning between early october, when the
s.rorut,on was started, and now. Much
hss been done that does not yet appear on
-. surface and most OF this has to do
,its the redoubtable Yuan Shih-kai, who'
,svord al doubt, has been mainly response
Ne for this extraordinary event.
The militant rebels Of the south had
-.,,.p ~ do with II. Of course, but Yuan
e,b.ksi is the man who engineered the
,-.st game. II was q contest between him
I'D the Nanchus. and one Of great magnl-
,uss The Premier gradually brought about
~. concession after another working some
lines in the open. but more often, and more
snecuvely il appears certain, behlhd the
scenes II was ne, there Is good reason 10
believe. who brought about the now famous
demand OF the generals OF the northern
INV for a republican form Of government,
md 81. vas this demand that finally forced
.ra Fr0~ress DoWageT and her Imperial
Ltrsr,an reluctantly and with tears 70 dele
cate 70 Yuan Shih-kai power to negotiate
with the republicans for what the Throne
calls terms Of courteous treatment for the
retirenent 70 private life Of the boy En-
r4ro- Yuan Shih-kai did not forget his
.---a-tal master in these negotiations, and
.ss terms he obtained are generous and
fair and. most OF ALL the agreement Is
Forded in such a way that the face OF
,rs lIarchu regime has been saved.
Question Of TerminOlogy.
The negotiations were begun some time
ago. and when once started, Yuan having
full povers. there was little doubt OF the
result. Abdicati0n was certain. but It all
took time. There was little quibbling over
r-a money grant 10 the Throne or over
many other points. but concerning the terms
10 he used 10 describe abdicatiOn there was
q vast amount of telegraphic discussion. In
the Chinese Language there are numerous
terms indicating abdication, and It was
.orsr these that there was so much discus
sion.
The Throne did not desire to abdicate
in the sense Of the term in English-an
absolute surrender Of power and position
10 some one else. The Throne wanted 10
surrender political power and to permit the
Emperor 20 retain his title. The rebels
held otherwise for a time, and an agree
ment was only reached by the convenient
method Of combining the various characters
Of the written language in such way as
10 satisfy al. sides. They simply took the
characters recommended by one side and
those advocated by the other and put them
all together tu such a way as 10 satisfy
every one and let il go al that
Y i- inpossible 10 describe the shade OF
meaning Of this interesting group Of char
acters. In English It means abdication
with a qualifying phrase indicating aodi-
cation Of political power. There IS no
other translation. but the English speaking
Chinese say that there is a shade OF mean
.re there which cannot be translated. II
8. this shade that saves the face Of the
Nsnchus The saving Of face was by far
the most important consideration OF all
save only the actual retirement from po-
I-cal power.
The three edicts bearing on the subject
the last OF the sort this nation will ever
sec. unless some day there is revolt lead
ing 20 the establishment Of monarchy
were issued Yesterday The first recon-
-rcrdrd the establishment Of a republic and
said
Ee. Yuan Shlh-kai organize with full
powers e. provincial republican government
and confer with the republican army as
70 The methods Of union, thus assuring
peace 90 the people and tranquility 10 the
empire, ard forming the one great repuo'
lC og China.
This Yuan Shih-kai has already set
about doing In q communication 10 the
legations he signs himself chief Of state
The Cabinet Is being reorganlzed. Inc
heads Of executive departments are no
longer minister's but chiefs, and steps
are being taken 20 amalgsmate the repub-
ican government at Nanking with the pro-
v!s,oral government now under the control
Of Yuan Shih-kaL
Chna's Troubles Not Over.
n the opinion Of many competent OBJ
servers here the troubles Of China are by
no means over. IN fact, declare observers
Of repute and experience, China's dificul-
ties are just beginning. The organization
Of republic. involving as IL does the bring
ing together Of innumerable factions OF con-
tending politicians and the coordination OF
diverse interests Of various sections OF the
country Is a tremendous task. attended by
difficulties and intricacies that may easily
prove impossible Of accomplishment
Il IS an almost superhuman task that
Yuan snih-kai has before him. II is his
work, ror he IS the only man available 10
undertake the work. It is said that there
an understanding between the rebels OF