The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-01-24
The Republic of China
Shih K'ai.
By Frederic j. Haskin

ers have been in control over 80 years.
He was in the full flush of his glory,
feared and respected by millions.
Even Manchu princes of the blood did
his bidding. Apparently the double
dealing of 1898 had been forgiven and
forgotten. Chen came his downfall.
The aged Empress Dowager Til An
and Emperor Huang Hsu, whom Yuan
had betrayed, died within "a hour OF
each other. The widow of the emperor
became empress dowager and the
brother of the emperor, Prince Chun,
became prince regent for the baby
emperor. In obedience to the late
Huang Hsu's fervent and oft-cx>
pressed wish that Yuan Shin k'ai
should be killed at the first opportun-
ity. his widow now directed Prince
Chun to lay the statesman's head on
the block.
Prince Chun and the Manchu princes
We're willing, but they feared united
action on the part of the foreign in
~terests. So a distinctly Chinese thing
happened. In an imperial edict Yuan
Shih k'ai was lauded for his great
ability and past services, but because
Of the rheumatism in his leg he would
be permitted, yea ordered, to divest
himself OF all offices, titles, emolu-
ments, etc. the better to enable him to
retire to the restful shades of his old
HOnan home. Yuan stood not upon
the order of his going. The lamented
rheumatism did not interfere with a
hurried journey to the home of his
fathers.
Apparently Yuan the reformer.
thina'S strong man, had run his
ours There he stood at 50, hated
by the Manchus. scorned as a traitor
by the reformers, now feared by none,
degraded, powerless and i'll. He
seemed destined to go down in history
as China's Cardinal Wolsey. That was
four years ago. Today he is president
of China, bigger, more powerful than
ever, acting as only he can act the
dual role of a Diaz and a Washington,
at once the solution and the enigma of
the complex Chinese problem in its
present phase.
When the revolution broke out on
October 10. 1911, Yuan Shih k.ai had
been in obscurity three Years. He did
not stir in behalf of the revolt, nor did
he lift a hand to support the be-
~leaguered throne. The rebels We're
afraid to ask him to become one of
them, and the regent, Prince Chun, felt
that in restoring Yuan to power he
would be taking an adder to his own
bosom. But there was no one else in
all of China who could meet the crisis.
Four days after the storm broke at
N-,,b,,r v,,r S,l;,. I-,,; ,r,, -,
pointed ~viceroy of the HUI kuank prov
inces, to act as he saw fit in the sup
preston of the revolt. He refused,
and refused again, accepting only after
the Manchu court sent General Yin
Chang to plead with him personally.
In another mont he was in the city
of Pekin, called there to be premier
Of the empire with unlimited author
itN. He made a dramatic entrance.
thanked by outriders armed with head
axes, he himself wearing the imperial
yellow jacket, a garment which gives
the Wearer absolute power of life and
death over all who come before him,
and one which even the prince regent
did not wear when he received Yuan
at the royal palace.
From that moment Yuan Shih K'ai
has been the ruler of nina He quick
ly reached an understanding with the
national assembly, a new Legislative
body which didn't lccislate. thanks to
the Manchus, the members of which
sympathized with the revolution.
Within a month he brought about the
Resignation" of Prince Chun, the
regent who had dismissed him thre.
rhnrt ,-o, ~, 1ar-,.
promise cabinet Wen to pieces, his
trained army in the Yangtze valley
kept the rebel forces at bay. In the
meantime the revolution spread to
other parts of the country, he con-
WINGED the Manchus that only the abb
dication of the emperor would save
them from ruin. At the same time he
carried on a long peace conference
with the rebels.
On January 1 the revolutionists
made DR.. Sun Vat Sen president OF
the insurgent government. Yuan Shih
k'ai's peace envoy, Tang Shao vi, re-
ported after his conference with WI
Ting Fang, in favor of a republic. on
February IL came the abdication of
Emperor Pu vi, five years old. Yuan
Shih kai was given sole power to
treat with tho rebels. II Vat Sen
offered to resign if Yuan would agree
to a republic and ACCEPT the presi-
dencN. Yuan was ~inauguratcd in
Pckin, March 10, last year. just five
months after the Manchus recalled
him from disgrace. He has success
fully Withstood fierce internal strife
since then, and doubtless will continue
to rule for many a year.
In a recent number of the Chinese
Press, Shanghai, marking the first an
niversary of the revolution. he pleads
for a peaceful and united China, and
concludes:
might this be accomplished it would
be my most ardent wish to bid adieu
to the field Of political activity and
return to my rural home, there to
emulate Washington in personal atten-
ton to the cultivation of my acres.
supremacy happy in the fulfillment of
Il life-time's heartfelt desire"
Still, there are those who say Yuan
Shlh kai would be king. Only Yuan
sinh kal knows. Should q king como