Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1915-11-09
THE REPRESSION OF CHINA.

If you had filthy, bad tempered
and dangerous neighbor across thu
street whose house was a breeding
place for disease, who was menace
TO your children and a constant source
of anxiety and irritation to yourself
who had treacherously broken every
promise ever made of better conduct
who hated you bitterly for your
greater prosperity and advancement
and who would gladly aid any enemy
or rival you might have to destroy
you-what would you do about it?
Japan has such neighbOr in China
Contrary to the general superstition
China's hatred of Japan is not OF
recent birth and the late demands of
that government are not the cause
of it.
1t dates back to the time when
Japan decided that she must throw
off her ancient feudal cerements and
adopt western civilization. Up tC
that time China had been in the
position of mentor to the younger
country and it was a great blow to
her pride to find that her pupil had
learned to think for herself and had
come to the realization that this was
a necessary step in her development.
Chinese and japanese ways parted
then and ever since the gulf between
has been widening and deepening.
China hated foreigners and endured
them only because they were too
powerful for her to rid herself of.
Japan, on the contrary, after the
first shock of Commodore Perry's
demands, was like an eager and am
| bilious school boy, impatient to learn
and quickly adopting and adapting
whatever the foreign nations could
teach. In the early days the simple
faith that everything on the other
side Of the world was good and worth
emulating resulted in garnering much
chaff with the wheat.
Unprincipled foreigners, among
whom were many Americans, eX-
plotted and took advantage of the
newcomer until with his ready wit,
he learned not to trust too easily.
China slept on. If one may say it,
the momentum of her inertia had
become so great that nothing short of
cataclysm could change it. To be
sure, she had bad dreams now and then,
as in 1886 when the first English
ships sailed up the Canton River and
Captain Weddel took possession of
the Bogue forts; and again rather
often in the early days of the 18th
century when England forcibly opened
Chinese ports to trade.
Since then her slumbers have been
continually disturbed by night mares
of European entertainments and
Japan's growth has been a thorn in
her flesh. Such forced wakefuness
even for short periods is bad for the
temper, and every concession by
China to western ways has been forced
upon her until she hates both the
foreigner and the japanese with an
unmeasured and deadly hatred.
The average person has about as
much knowledge of the history of
China and Japan as he has about
TimbuctOo. They are chiefly names
TO him. By reason of well circulated
fables the Chinese are generally re-
garded as simple and honest people
while the Japanese, because Of their
military prOweSS and also pehapS be-
cause Of such books as Oppenheim's
japanese Prince and similar rubbish,
are regarded as demons of cruelty,
courage and design-a truculent and
aggressive people who want to swallow
not only the Philippines, China and
Australia, but America, Mexico and
South America as well.
1t is laughable! 1t is amazing
1t is irritating
The whole history of China shows
such colossal dishonesty and treachery
that when one begins to set down
not in malice-a list of the massacres
of foreigners within her borders, Of
treaties broken, of dOuble-dealing and
duplicity the like of which have never
been known before, and adds to these
things horrible memories of decapi-
tated prisoners left as food for the
dogs and flies of the execution
grounds, of the unspeakable filth and
disease which are the every day en-
virOnment of her people, of the atrOci-
ties always and everywhere practiced
upon prisoners whether of war or local
revolts, of the infant murder still
prevalent in the provinces, of the in
suits, thievery and 0mni-present
squeeze" which foreigners have to
endure all over China-then malice at
last is born-and one would like to
see the huge unmannerly monster
whipped into something like discip
line and civilization.
All these things are absolutely true
of China. They are as true as the
widely accepted stories in regard to
Japanese dishonesty, Chinese ShroffS*
in Japanese banks, and Japanese mill
tary designs upon America and the
Philippines are false, and yet most
people look upon Japan as the ogre
and China as a sweet tempered nation
If LOT alnno will her
own again.
Japan knows better. She knows
| China. She remembers that as long
ago as 1882, Li-Hung- Chang, in answer
| to a request made by the Emperor,
sent Memorial to the Chinese throne
| in which is said "Your Majesty has
graciousIy ordered me to undertake
the responsibility of preparing the
plan for the invasion of Japan, but
my humble opinion is, let US not lose
sight of our idea of invading Japan,
| but let US not commit the mistake Of
doing this in a hurried manner.
In one of the ancient maximS 1T is
said, Nothing is so dangerous as to
| expose ones scheme before 1T is
ripe" and then after advising the
continuous increase of the army and
navy, he goes on to discuss 1.-THE best
cause of bringing about a rupture
with Japan and coming to extremi-
ties"
Thus, twelve years before the Chi
nese-J apanese war, China's jealousy
at Japan's advancement had devel
oped into a malignant hatred and she
was planning to restore by force the
ancient supremacy which she saw
slipping 50 rapidly away from her.
1t would be too long story to tel
of the treaties broken both will
Japan and other countries that China