The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-11-24
BELIEVE:
Continued from Page One.)

, Leave her alone and give her chance.
! That seems to be about the gist of
! the more intelligent popular demand
In order TO stimulate this demand
the Chinese are making earnest efforts
to explain the actual condition of their
country to Westerners. The casual
/ reader Of newspapers is apt 10 think
/ of China as a nation torn by civil war
/ and in a somewhat chaotic condition.
! As a matter OF fact, the civil war in
! China does not amount TO as much as
! did our recent coal mine war in West
/ Virginia. There are two national gov
ernments in China and they occasion
ally make military expeditions against
| one another. Yet extremely few men
are killed or wounded in these wars.
! Telegraph lines, mails and railroads
/ are not molested. The so-called civil
war in China is a political quarrel
which does not affect the life of China
as a whole in an appreciate way.
China is governed today, just as ii
has been governed for some 5000
years, by its numerous provincial gov
ernments corresponding to those of
our states Some of these provincial
governments are highly efficient and
just and others are more or less cor
:
The chief difference is that in this
country the central government for
over half century has been slowly
| usurping all the functions of the state
I governments. until local government
has been of minor Importance. In
China local government is stiIl the
real government, and national govern
ment is a farce.
In their strong instincts for local
government the Chinese probably have
a political asset. A strong national
government has some disadvantages.
Too much national government, in the
opinion of many political economists,
is just now what afflicts most of the
western nations. 1t is the national
Il governments that pile up great arma-
ments and that make necessary heavy
4 taxes. At the same time, these cen
trail governments tend to take political
affairs out of the hands of the citizen
4 and remove them TO a great distance.
Al In a country where the chief gov
4 ornamental power was vested in town
1 councils, nearly every man would
have such a share in the government
of his country as he was capable OF
4 bearing. In a country like ours, where
\ nearly all of the real power is vested
in a national congress and national ex-
| ecutive, government gets utterly be
yond the control and comprehension of
j the common man. He has to support
4 it, but it is a mere fiction that he
q controls it.
What China Needs.
China. therefore. is not altogether to
81 be pitied for not having a strong ma
q tional government. She needs bet
Il ter one than she now has to be sure
3 She will never have a stable currency.
s. for example, until she has stable ma
a tional government. But the prepon-
g derance of local power over national
q power may well be an advantage to the
y Chinese in their future development.
q What China needs. in order TO pur-
"a sue that development, is freedom from
"A outside interference, and that is the
q gist of all that she is asking of the
n conference. She wants her territorial
q and political integrity affirmed, she
u wants the policy of the open door re-
Is affirmed. She wants all spheres of
q influence abolished and a II secret
agreements revealed. She wants NJ
III plans made concerning her without
IA her full knowledge and consent. She
"a wants control of her natural resources
"a and of her public utilities. She wants
"a foreign troops withdrawn from China
"a She wants all of the concessions thai
ID have been made by China to foreign
"a iconcessionnaires, reviewed, and she
ia wants those abrogated that are ne
IN longer equitable or that have lapseC
"a by non-fulfillment of terms.
"a China wants her debts adjusted OF
IA the same basis as those of the othe
IA nations, She is no more insolven
I'M than the European nations, and sht
&l does not see why these nations SHOULD
~ assume the right TO take charge o
pN her financial affairs.
M These are the main things China
M hopes to get from the conference
s8 Her method is to seek to create popu
IA lar sympathy for and understanding
'A of her position, and to get her cas-
Esd before the conference early in It
' sessions, while public interest is still
III active. Closed doors and secret ur
MI derstandings have always been CHI
sM mas undoing. Even as she is the on
sd nation which can come forward wit
~ a clean record of not having disturbo
N the peace, so she is the only Oh