The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-12-06
PEKIN NEWS LETTER

Picking, Dec, 6.-'Members of the
christian community are now free as
never before to enter into all forms
Of activities and to make their infiu-
ence felt in social life in Peking," says
j. S.. Burgess, one Of the young
Princeton men who are conducting one
Y. M. G. A. for Chinese and another
for the soldiers Of the various lega-
ton guards in this capital,
Mr.. Burgess has been devoting him
self especially to social work among
the Chinese. He has, as a result, ac-
CURED much knowledge of unusual
conditions in the prisons, insane asy-
lu1ms and poorhouses in Picking. At
the same time he has great hopes of
the Chinese becoming more and more
active in lettering conditions among
their own people. He thinks, too,
that the new liberty of ideas which
the republic has brought about will
increase the number of christian con-
Yerts more rapidly than heretofore.
Out Of a membership of 400. the Chi
nese Y. M. C. A. in Peking has at
present but thirty acknowledged
christians. One reason Is that the
converts made by missionaries have
generally come from the poorer class
es, and many of these christians are
unable to spare from their earnings
the annual dues OF So a year for mem
lbership.
AS a result of his Investigations,
M. Bugess says there are $4,000 rick
shaw coolies in Picking, and that many
OF them not only provide for them
selves, but also for families of two or
three persons on an income Of from
ten to fifteen coppers, worth less than
half h value Of the same number of
American cents, per day. "a brief
study of twenty of these men," says
Mr.. Burgess in a report just compiled,
revealed the fact that they are not so
grossly ignorant and hopeless as
might be supposed. A good
ton of them, can read, and thus are
open to the influence Of easy Chinese
literature. ,..s .., .-. t...- 80. \. 49, Z
There are thousands of apprentice.
es and employees in the large stores
who are virtually slaves, working
from fourteen to eighteen hours a day
with no wholesome recreation and no
chance for education. These men are
not allowed to leave the store. Mod
ern industry has as yet scarcely shown
its head in Picking, but now is the time
to create public opinion which will re-
suit in the enactment of laws making
impossible those conditions already
| existing in the factories of Osaka, and
Shanghai. In Osaka thousands of
women, lured in from the country on
false promises, are forced to work in
credible on starvation pay,
buildings under blankets tina are
never for an hour without a user.
That there is ignorance of the
grossest Kind among the lower classes
in Picking and a vast field for educa-
ton along the very simplest lines IS
evident. A coolie who was attending
the Social Service club night school
asked me whether America really was
a place, o. whether it was vague like
heaven. and added, What dc you
think? They say the world is round.
Anyone can see it isn't The rick
shaw coolies idea, Of a republic was
that Yuan Shih-kai had become en-
peroF. But perhaps this shows signs
of astuteness rather than ignorance.
Long training to consider bodily
exercise as ignoble, and many wise
precepts about the student who burns
the midnight oil have brought about g.
class Of students for the most part
physically weak, among whom tuber-
culosis and eye-trouble are common.
The westerner is struck with the
emptiness Of the lives of the poor and
of the rich alike, and the apparent
lack Of development of the play in
stinct. The coolies ideal of g. good
time is to go home and do nothing.
When a student of the College OF
Languages was asked what he did
when he wanted to enjoy himself he
replied, I eat. This is my fifth meal
today
THE lack of wholesome amuse-
ments naturally results in paEticipa-
ton In unWholesome amusements
Five years ago there was not a pool
room in Picking. There are now a
dozen OF them. Gambling and drink
ing are common in such places.
The theatre, never a place Of high
moral influence, is in some cases in
Producing modern drama, with or
chestra, curtains, and realistic acting
and speaking. Since the revolution for
the first time actresses have found a
place in the city. We are told by one
Of the police. departments that there
has been marked increase of open i'm
morality since the revolution. The
converting parliament was also coin
cident with an unusual sale Of girls
into slavery from impoverished Man
chu families.
1.-The sudden change Of this nation
into a republic has brought in q host
of new and totally misunderstood
western ideas about the supposedly
modern relations of men and, women
This a been noted even in the mis-
sion schools. On q pleasant summer
evening numbers of unchaperone6
young men and women could be seer
strolling about the groves of the Tenn
pie of Heaven, arm in arm. For
China such a thing was utterly in
heard of a few months ago."
Mr.. Burgess declares also that the
prisons range from heaven to help
There is a model prison. in Pekins
that compares fayorably with the
! prisons of Europe and America, ant
might be an inducement for MANY OF
the homeless, who lose their limbs
; and sometimes their lives by freezing
! in the streets of this city in winter. t.
commit crimes in order to be sem
there. But. as a policeman explained
to him, the prisoner cannot tell which
/ jail he will be condemned to occupy.
J Mr.. Burgess is trying to enlist tht
CO cooperation Of the Chinese wheneve]
and wherever possible in his work. III,
says he has been advised that witt
, some definite scheme in hand, YuaY
: Shih-Kai himself will heartily coop
crate in a plan of enlightenment. MIR
{ Burgess proposes that all the public
halls in the city. the theatres ana
schools, as well as the foreign mis-.
sions, shall be thrown open to a cam
paign of popular education, with pub.
lie speakers on the platforms.
{ The Factory Problem i n Japan.