The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1922-01-26
MISS ACKERMAN'S
FINE ADDRESS

The address made by Miss Acker
man last week for the Business ant
Professional Women's Club merited ;
much larger audience than the ont
which greeted her. After seeing he1
audience, the speaker, for the secono
time only in all her many years Of
experience as a public lecturer, chang.
ed her subject and, for more than ar
hour, delighted her hearers with ar
Intensely interesting presentation Of
China and her condition appropos OF
the Conference of the Powers, now
meeting in Washington.
Though not missionary, she had
studied China at first hand, travel
ling about the country, naingling with
the people both high and low and be-
coming acquainted with the history
of China and it's relation to other
countries. A keen but sympathetic
observer, thus prepared, could but
give unusual and reliable information
Speaking of the exploitation of un-
fortunate China by various Powers
she mentioned the two so-called OPP
ium wars" by which Great Britain
forced the opium traffic upon peace
loving but resisting China. Not many
years ago, China made heroic eff
fort and rid herself of the opium trade
with British India, buying up, at the
cost of many millions of dollars, the
last of the stock of opium in the coun-
try and burning it.
Though it is true that China has
been too feeble to finance properly
the new republican government IN
stituted by her, the fact is that her
crippled state is due to conditions i'm
posed on her by these same powers
which have been profiting by her ex-
ploitation and which, in the role Of
creditors have been able to exact I'M
Just terms. On account Of these Chi
ma was allowed to impose only very
low import duties and was compelled
to allow England, France, Germany
and Japan to have their own post Of
fees in the country, thus depriving
her of vast revenue AS China could
not interfere with the working of
these post offices the Japanese had
Struggled into China many million
dollars worth of morphine manufac-
cured in the United States.
But almost the greatest of China's
wrongs is the betrayal OF the famous
province and peninsula of Shantung
into the hands Of Japan.
During the world-war, the United
States begged China to send many
thousands Of coolies to the fields of
France pledging herself to see that
China's rights were regarded in the
final settlement.
During the war all property of the
German Government or of the kaiser
in this country was confiscated by
our government.
When the war closed the port of
Kiau Chau, long held by Germany
should have been returned to China.
but, instead, it was handed over, to-
gether with the province of Shantung
on which it is situated, to China's i'm
memorial enemy, Japan.
What Shantung means to China can
be conjectured when we know that in
this province so famous for it's silks:
the silk industry Of China and all it's
indigenous arts were first developed
and that the Chinese hold this PENN
sula sacred soil for here was born
their great sage Confucius and here
is his sacred tomb and the honored
descendent of his line. Here too is
the sacred mountain which every en-
peror was required to ascend on tax
ing the throne of China. In touching
on China's new reforms, the speaker
dwelt on the marvellous and radical
prison reform which has actually been
established in 80 per cent of the coun-
try of China up to the present with
the reasonable prospect of it's univer-
sal Introduction in one of the most
conservative of lands and one notori-
Gus in the past for its barbarous and
inhuman treatment of criminals. This