Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-07-14
China Not Ripe For Republican
Form of Government in American
Sense, Says Reu. r. O. Void Today

That the Chinese nation is not ripe
for a republican form of government
in the American sense. is the opinion
Of Rev. r. o. Void, president of the
Central China Union Lutheran
Theological seminary at ShekoW,
Huphe, China, who is in this city to-
day. Mr.. Void will deliver an address
tomorrow morning at 1880 in the
Trinity Norwegian Lutheran church
or Conditions in China, political and
religious"
Mr.. Void has a very thorough
knowledge of Chinese conditions, hav-
ing lived in China since 1898. He is
now in this country on his second fur
Tough and incidentally delivers lee
lures about China and the Chinese.
When seen today at the home OF
Rev. N. j. Lohre. Mr.. Void a that
one-half of the population of China
consists Of illiterate women of whom
there are nearly 200, 100000; II pei
cent of the male population is totally
ignorant and attempts to teach them
reading and writing so far have been
rather futile. %
Exports Stop.
Asked about the influence of the
war on the commercial and industrial
life of China, Mr.. Void said:
Nearly all export has stopped be-
cause of lack of ships. The chief e
port articles, tea, wood oil and rice
cannot now be sent to foreign mar
kets, but it seems as though this fac'
does not affect China as much al
might be. expected. Regarding i'm.
orally said hat China does not rely
very much on foreign supply, except
possibly for wool and cotton and g
few other commodities. 1t is quite
peculiar to think hat all the cottor
cloth now used in China is manufac'
tured in the United States.
1.-THE average Chinaman hardly
knows that a war is in progress. O1
course. he may have heard hat PEG
pie are fighting elsewhere. but he does
not know why, nor does he care. Thu
issues of the great outside world seen
to be so remote that 1.-The man in thu
street. fails to grasp them"
First Sympathies for Germany.
The interview turned upon the sub
ject of popular sentiment among tn
Chinese regarding the war, and MI
Void said:
"Those Chinese who have any ide'
of the magnitude of the world con
flict at all, are inclined to have Ger
man sympathies-at least, they ha'
when he left China on the first o
March. But since Americas declara
ton of war, the sentiment has turne'
considerably in favor of the allies
this being the result Of persuasion b
certain leaders who for purely politi
cal reasons desired to see the pro-all
sentiment grow. In the beginning Q
the war sentiment was greatly arouse
by what many influential Chimes
termed a fragrant violation of neu
trality when the japanese, the allie
of Great Britain, captured the Ger
man colony. Tsingtao on Novembe
Z, 1914. Tsingtao was conducted b
the German colonial government as
model settlement n the schools an
other institutions. were of the vel
highest order. The Chinese resente
the Japanese attack which was mad
either at h behest or with the sane
ton of England. and from that tim
until America stepped into the aren
of war. sentiment was very hostile
the cause of the allies.'
!, Mr.. Void did not say whether or NJ
he believed the Chinese nation woul
, actually become involved in the wa
. but if it did happen he felt pretty ce,
tain now that it would be on the sic
o of the allies.
t 1.-The Chinese army has been orgal
n lied in accordance with approved ar
up~-to-date German military system
and prior to the war it was oficere
by Germans. The German officer
however, were sent out of the COUNT
} shortly after the outbreak of IL
\ war"
Deposition Not Surprising.
Mr.. Void had been much intereste
d in the events Of the last two weeks
China. That the ~11-year-old DO