Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-04-21
Poor Old China
ny DIR. FRANK CRANE.


Allow me-. ladies and gentlemen to call your kind
attention once to old friend China.
know it quite the custom shed tears over her
fate The expression seems to De POOR ola
China" When rambunctious American patriot wish
es to utter his oudest boo, to make sure he Will
scare us half death. white-vered paci-
fists do you want to Chinaize the United States?
Look Cnina," he allows in his mosr strenuous
voice. he upon his hind legs and addresses MS
fellow citizens See how she the prey to every rob-
Der nation The whole world picks on her. Note how
gobblng ner Alas and alack! That is pre-
cisey the fix will be in unless get ready to de-
fend ourselves by army big as Germany's and
fleet efficient England's."
All right. Suppose do take look at poor old
China We may discover some amazing things.
you will notice that China still on the map
And second that she has been the map in suostan
TALLY the shape at present for longer time
than any other nation extant
She there before Alexander the Great started out
to conquer known EARTH and before pious Aeneas
carried father his of Troy town and set
found Rome and still there, calmly eat
rice and dreaming of philosophy, that Greece
is two-spot in the pack of nations and Rome is little
better
Yes poor old China, example of unpreparedness, has
been invaded by hostile hores but somehow said hordes
didn't do to her what they did to belligerent Rome
After they got through conquerng China for
terous the conquerors disappeared and the
went right on doing business at the old stand:
Every nation has tried its hand licking China They
have all succeeded and came away blowing horns and
swelling out their chests After they away China
resumed drinking tea and otherwise proceeded with her
ancient task of minding her business.
Poor old China has national hymn and no national
honor, understand the We call them con-
foundedy unpatriotic If you to invade China
don't even have to take your army; nire
Chinese right the premises. But when you
done will find that haven't bothered China much
She is in hurry. Pretty you go away. and
invaded country is about the usual thank you
Yet for all that the Chinese have racial solidarity
greater than that of any other people They
proud as Germans or English You not like them;
but they not particular that. Their civilza
ton does not suit possibly but 1t to suit
them.
No wonder the arm-arm-ye braves partiots agi-
tating preparedness and passing preparedness resou
tons at luncheons in Kansas City, South Bend and
Seattle, shiver to contemplate the fate of old
China.
think of it! The only nation that has stood the
test of time that has stood by and all the others
rise and fall is the only that prepared.
Funny, amt it,
Japan now threatens her. Well probably Japan will
her. She will go there and slap poor old
Chinas face that Europe is busy interfere
and take her and the standard bandt-nation
stunt And China will say "Oh, very we'll. get
through after while. They all do. We don't mind
1t all seems to be in the game"
And then the Chinese of humanity will softly
close what's left of the Japanese among her, and
her strange, eternal folk will go medtatng the
maxims of Confucius, and wait until the
fool bunch Of dynamite experts takes notion to
quer" her
Copyright, 1915, by Frank Crane)