Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-06-24
THE FOOLS OF THE WORLD
SLAY ANOTHER WISE MAN
Forces Of Ignorance, Greed and
Aggression In China

Or. W. Tins.fans Fell Before the
Forces Of Ignorance, Greed and
Aggression In China
A cor NTRI like ours, which has been
"A content to base most of its views Of
modern China on dime novels. horror fiction
turned ont of European propaganda fac
tories chop suey restaurants and the movies.
isn't likely TO be deeply moved by news of
th" death of Dir. WI Ting. Fang. Yet it is
something to know that one Of the wisest
mon in the world has just been killed by the
forces of unwisdom.
DR. VII, whose death was announced yes
tcrday. seems to have pcriShcd as one of
those who went down with the South China
Gov"rnmcnt Government which. as
scholars viewed it. actually represented the
legendary China Of eXquisitencss and phi
ioSophy. Of quietude and peace and patient
labor. The regime at Canton, which has
Just suCcumbed under pressure from armies
sntd by some to be subsidized by Japan or
other alien Powers. certainly was in all its
pretensions like DR.. WI, its real spiritual
head And DR.. WI. who detested and de-
rided war. was caught in the final lombard
excitement, which may be another name for
grief
WI Ting Fang. during all his years in
this country and England. had an .Alice.in-
Wonderland manner of looking with eager
interest on what he conceived to be a topsy-
turvy world. and of being forever thrilled
by its reactions upon himself
Time and again Washington confessed
that the Chinese Minister amused it, Wash
inSton. in turn. certainly amused the Chi
ncse Minister
why does this fat gentleman talk with
the manner of hero. while he knows that
W" know that he does not mean what he is
saying? What useful thing does he do?
Does he cultivate garden: Why are those
buttons on your coat sleeve? You do not
know: Then why have thcm?"
Questions such as these conceived in the
utmost carne-tncss. were forever coming
from DR.. WI. Slim smiling. in the Won
dcrful clothes of his rank and country and
with English accented almost !mperceptibly
with the note of Oxford. hc seemed 10 be
Informed fully about all things under the
sun. lie had concluded that mankind was
meant TO find peace in wholesome labor and
happiness in the contemplation of the beau
ties of the natural world and the friendly
contacts of the human spirit
So war irrtatcd Dr. w. All human
conflict irritated him to the bone and left
him as angry and impatient as n man of his
endless sympathieS could he. At the pushcrs
and the climbers and the undisciplincd csos
Of Western capitals he looked with genuine
WonderInent and with the lifted eyebrow of
federation mixed ever 50 slightly with pity
or diSdain.
What. he would inquire. were all the
sweating and the fighting. the gestures and
the pr"t"nsc about What did the poor
gentlemen hope to attain by their exhausting
movement in circles: What mad way was
this We had of seeking happiness: I'm
your world, he said. there is no peace.
And he was convinced that the Western
democraces were agitated to their souls
only by the fut!l" violence and the erratic
emotions of extreme youth
China, DR. WI would impy-dclicatelv
for he was invariably sensitive and most
polite-had been through these fcvers in
forgotten centuries. China had even had
wars. But. since all intelligent and morally
competent Chinese always knew war TO be
utterly useless and stupid, wars we're left
to the lower classes
The Chinese gentleman. as at las, vou
perceived him through the restrained dis
courses of DR.. WI, might be very poor or
very rich. But he was Il gentleman ONLY
because he did useful things To be selfish
destructive or unwilling to do useful labor
was to b" d!shonorable. Your Chinese hero
was likely to be the philosopher who could
reveal the beauty of life 10 seekers after
the truth in which contentmcnt lies. For
him alone the great paper lamps were lighted
on sacred days.
Well. DR.. WI, with a charactcristicalIy
Chinese inversion Of concepts retired from
the diplomatic service of his country when
he was approaching seventy, and said
that the richest part of his life was before
him and that lie wanted to make the best
of It, He wished. he said. to sit In his
garden under a rose tree that he liked and
watch the butterflies and read the ancient
Chinese philosophers. Very wise and great
men these philosophers had been, great com.
forters Of the mind and allaycrs of pain,
But the fates didn't permit DR.. WI to
sit long in his garden. Officials of the allied
Powers. who knew nothing about the an
cicnt Chinese philosophers and who saw in
n butterfly n butterfly and nothing more,
camored at his gate, They besought him
10 help them persuade China into the war
against Germany.
Tell them" said the sage. "that DIR, WI
is becoming deaf and is no longer fitted for
public life.
That was Chinese humor-or irony. The
whirlwind at which DR.. WI used to lift n
humorous eyebrow had followed him to his
very rose tree. OF course, he felt that the
war was n monstrously cruel thing for NIL
the people of the earth. But at last he put
aside his ancient Chinese philosophers and
hpInad TO get China dn.