The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1919-10-24
Form Patriotic Society-Close
Shops and Banks to Gain
Patriotic Demands.
GOVERNMENT ALLOWS POINTS
Miss Harriet Smith, Y. w. C. A. Student
Secretary In China, Relates Amaz-
Ing Story Of How 10000 Stu
dents Organized Themselves.
BY BERNIcE GRISWolD.

STUDENT secretary or the Young WOm-
ems Christian Association in Shanghai,
China. relates the amazing story of
how 10000 Chinese students organized
themselves to oust the militarists from
Government offices in Peking and how
they succeeded In becoming the lead
ers Of China.
Fearing that China was not to ne
protected from the aggression Of other
nations by the Peace Treaty, as she
had expected to be, some 10000 stu
dents. all OF them between the ages Of
twelve and twenty-one years and in
Guiding 5000 girls organized them
selves into the Chinese Students Pa
triotic Society Immediately after the
publication OF the first draft Of the
Peace Treaty to fight for Chinese
rights.
Their first move was to strike from
school or, rather, from lectures, as
they remained in their respective
schools and spent so many hours daily
In private study. They then organized
into bands for getting out propaganda
literature and for public speaking in
the country and small towns and In the
tea shops In poorer districts Of the
cities In order that they might rea ch
the vast numbers OF people who could
not read.
Immediately upon organizing, the
students published their demands, four
In number: U that the militarists
who as party were pro Japanese and
practically controlled the Government
at Peking, be put out OF office; (2) that
Shantung be returned to China: (3)
that the twenty-one demands made by
Japan IN 1915 be cancelled; (4 that
there be freedom OF speech and of the
press They also insisted that the
Chinese constitution be finished
An immense amount of literature
was put out, much Of II I'm the new
phonetic script which is being launch
ed In China, so that the uncducated
classes might learn what was happen
Ing. Students lectured everywhere on
the demands, stirring the people to pa
triotiSm. When many OF them were
arrested while paradinS In the streets
OF Picking they formed an Association
or Imprisoned Students within the
prison and refused to be released, pick
citing the stockade themselves when
Government guards were taken away
until the Government submitted a
proper apology for having imprisoned
them IN the beginning
When 1t became evident that eco
nomlc pressure was all that would be
effective both the bankers and mer-
chants guilds were called upon to back
the students. "In less than two
hours" Miss Smith said, "the shutters
were up at every shop in that great
city OF Shanghai, where telephones are
few and communication difficult.
Every shop, whether large or amall,
was closed. The laboring people, feel
Ing as patriotic as the bankers ner-
chants AID students. also joined the
general strike. For q week everything
was closed--ShopS, money exchanges,
nsh markets, shipping, everything
The students struggled TO keep public
utilities running. The telephone serv-
Ice was stopped for n short time but
the students soon had ii running again.
They held meetings day and night, try
ing TO keep the railroad employees at
their posts and explaining that ii was
patriotism for them and for water
works and elecric light employees to
continue to work. At the end of that
week the students had won the first
point and the militariSts were ont OF
power"
When suffrage in any form finally
comes tO China Miss Smith feels that
1t viii be granted to both men and wo-
men because of the way women are
helping to build things UP now Wom-
en- students took an active part in all
OF this blood!css revolution They had
their places on all OF the councils.
Their part of the work was to trans-
late much of the literature into phonet-
ic script and when boycott was de-
clared on Japanese goods TO begin pro-
duction OF goods In China
"All Of the students threw away
their straw hats-purely Japanese
products-at the beginning of their
movement, and the women students
set about making white duck hats,
which were called patriotic hats and
Immediately became very popular.
Then they began devoting themselves
TO the making OF parasols and of tai
cum powder. Some of them paraded
but none was arrested
"China Is the last country I'm the
world to fear class feeling and antipa-
thy, which seems TO be gripping the
rest OF the world" Miss Smith says.
"In China there is wonderful social
solidarity. People get together, not so
much by localities, but by trades and
professions. Every one belongs to q
guild, and these guilds are wonderfully
organized. as the Chinese have
genius for organization. Despite