Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-09-24

Mr. Cheng Ching-Yi. a very lntelli-
gent Chinese gentleman who is presi-
dent OF the Young Mems Christian
Association OF Picking, China. has
published recently an illuminating
article on The Outlook in China,
which contains most important mat
ter with reference TO that country and
observations Of value with reference
10 any and all countries.
Concerning the supreme need OF Chi
ma at this momentous hour in the ma
tion's history he says:
1T depends upon the foundation
on which the new government viii
be based. The new form OF gov
eminent needs a new type OF men
men Of life, of principle, Of cour-
age, otherwise the nation will still
remain In its feeble and weak con-
dition. and here Christianity is
called upon for assistance. Upon
the new stage of China's reforms
the Christian Church has a large
and important part TO play, and
both her opportunities and respon-
sibilities are unutterably great.
How she is prepared to face the
situation is the problem to-day"
That puts the case admirably. The
new form of government needs a new.
type of men. This is simply a spe-
cific application of the general prin-
ciple that no government can rise
higher than the men who make it.
Were all the wisest men of all the
ing a government and imposing it
upon an ignorant and degraded peo-
pie, such a government would not
avail to make the nation pure and
prosperous; IL would be subverted'
and in the end that system Of political
organization would be adopted which
most nearly expressed the character
OF the people living under it. That is
very manifest in our own country. The
statesmen who fashioned our sys-
tenn OF representative government
were unsurpassed by any known to
history, and they wrought out a sys-
TEN OF extraordinary excellence. New
ertheless at this time considerable
number of people are following pic
turesque demagogue in an effort to
derange, il not virtually destroy, our
wonderfully balanced system in pur-
suit OF mammonistic ends disguised
under the euphemistlc phrase social
and industrial Justice. For many
years some of our public teachers have
been warning US that our greed of
gain, If unchecked. would in the end
be the ruin of our nation; but their
words were received as the utterance
of the idle fears OF lot of academic
idealists. 1t is now evident that their
fears were weIl-grounded, and that an
ambitious leader, endowed with the
powers Of plausible speech and ap-
pealing to the discomfort of insatia-
bic greed. may bring a real and ap-
palling peril to our political insti-
buttons. The quantity OF our money
has outgrown the quality of our men.
and II is now proposed to bring down
our political system to the level of a
people who care less for eternal right
than they do for what they falsely
call their rights: representative gov
eminent, which safeguards minOrities,
il is proposed. shall give place to the
tyranny of majority which may with
the frenzy of a Greek democracy
override constitutions, courts, and
the most fixed principles OF righteous
ness whenever they desire to take
a short cut TO the attainment of their
cOvetous objects. miscalled social
Justice. Ii is time we set about
more earnestly making men of the
lofty type required for the mainte-
nance OF the government which our
fathers fashioned for US. A base and
grovelling people can not live con-
tentedly under a system so wise and
good.
Mr.. Cheng Ching-Yi makes it clear