The Ekalaka eagle., 1916-04-07

OALS Of calumny and condemna-
ton. all the walls of wrath
~ which malice. envy. ignorance,
could manufacture. are being
poured upon the head Of one NAH
Yuan Shih Kai who now stands at
the foot of the dragon throne, invited
by all that is responsible and powerful
in China to mount it's steps and found
a new Chinese dynasty.
During the last month or so the col
umns of the American press have
seethed with indictments launched
against this son of Han who looms so
large on the oriental armament OF to-
day. Why is this: How comes it. in
the first place. that Yuan Shih kai has
transformed himself or been trans
formed from a mere pawn in the game
of world politics, administration, to be
the central figure of modern Asia:
What has he done to justify American
charges that he is Il traitor to young
China and to political progress: What
are the facts:
Refused to Decapitate Viceroy.
During the memorable autumn OF
1898 the young, inexperienced ruler.
kwang Hsu. appointed Yuan to the
command Of an army corps and called
him into secret audience Oh various oc-
casions prior to the coup d'etat. Yuan
was ordered by kwang Hsu to proceed
at once to Tientsin. to decapitate the
vceroy, Jung Lu. to place himself at
the head OF the latters army and to
return as hurriedly as possible to
Peking and imprison the empress dow
ager, Tsu Hsi. Yuan was expected to
''tremble and obey without delay.
Such, in brief. are the facts.
Yuan. instead of executing this order
of assassination. turned the tables on
his sovereign. Kwang Hsu suffered
the imprisonment and degradation
which he had intended to impose upon
the empress dowager. In plain words.
YUAN betrayed the emperor This is
true. History, so far il right. But
history, careful to give us the bones.
fails to provide us with the blood and
the tissue of the story: history fails to
record those vital circumstances which
disclose that in betraying the emperor
kWang Hsu. Yuan Shih Kai showed
himself possessed of all those nober
qualities which in all countries.
throughout all ages. have been recog-
nized and extolled as the prime attri-
butes of the true man.
Chinese Applaud Motives.
Tnsophisticated foreigners. seeing
only the political side of the incident,
emphasize the "betrayal'' of the en-
peror. The Chinese. however. over
looking this lapse of official rectitude.
applaud the motives which impelled
Yuan to ring true to the golden coin of
those higher ideals of their unwritten
code. Had Yuan faithfully carried out
his orders and cruelty decapitated his
own sworn brother his name would
have gone down in the pages Of Chi
nese history as that of the blackest
and most despicable among traitors.
He would long ago have paid the pen
atty with the forfeiture of his own
life.
1t is charged that YUAN betrayed
the empress dowager" How and
when: Up to the day of TZu Hsi's
death he was her favorite official, in
trusted with the serious work of re-
forming and reorganiZing. co-ordinat-
ing the various branches of the gov
ernment. There is no record of any
questionable action of Yuan Shill I<ai
against the old empress. the "old
Buddha' of her Pekingese admirers.
On the accession to the throne of P'u
vi and the elevation Of his father.
Prince Ch'un, to the regency Yuan had
to fly for his life to the sanctuary Of
the foreign settlements at Tientsn.
The dying emperor, Kwang Hsu. left
as his sole legacy to his brother, Prince
Ch'un, the commission to ''kill Yuan"
whom he held responsible for all his
misfortunes. And here again is an
other instance where family and blood
traditions and law preceded all other
obligations.
In the days Immediately following
the imperial deaths at Picking those on
the inside knew that Yuan's life was
forfeit. On the very day when he
was to have been arrested Yuan fled
precipitately to Tientsin to seek asy-
lum and support from his henchman,
Viceroy Yang. and when sanctuary
was denied him at midnight he hur
ried to the protection of the British
settlement and passed the hours of the
night in foreign hotel. In the mean
time the foreign diplomats at Peiiing,
headed by the British minister. brought
all their great influence to bear on the
headstrong young regent to preserve
the life of Yuan and to grant him
safe conduct to his home in Honan.
Yuan was stripped of his honors and
offices and ordered into retirement to
nurse his sick leg Later when
the revolution broke out in the Yangtze
valley and the pusillanimous Manchu
aristocracy refused to fight for their
own cause with one accord they all