Evening star., 1922-02-17
YOUNGER CHINESE
|P|.AN XII KLUX KLAN
Would Rid Country Of Graft
ers and Mi|itarists by
p Secret Order.
by WILLIAM II. GILES.
Especial Correspondence Of The Star and
Chicago Daily News)

Chicago Daily News)
PEKING, China, January ~
With the object of doing away win
corrupt and dishonest officials ana 10
bring about better government
China's younger generation mas
launched a movement to form Sc
cret society based on the prlnclpies
of the Ku Klux Klan. o;o
China is the home Of secret socIe-
ties. Articles in the foreign press 30
have impressed a certain faction Oh
! the young Chinese with the idea that
an organization like the ku kluS
Khan would be a weapon that couid
be used to advantage in cleaisiis
the country's political IRE; life .Imboi;sm ImG nss
particularly the latter-appeai 10
the Chinese mind. as weird cere-
monials always have.
It was a secret society that brought
about the TAPPING rebellion, whlcn
cost the country many millions OF
lives and set the foundation stone for
the eventual overthrow OF the Man.
chu Another secret society prous NJ
about the Boxer uprising III l9oo. II
was secret society known AS tne
Tungmenhui, fostered by DR.. sun 1at.
Sen in Canton, that was the real cause
of the revolution in 1911, Whlch re-
suited in the establishment OF the re-
public.
Societies for All Purposes.
In China secret organizations are
found everywhere. Each hamlet mas
one or more. Even the growers OF
opium have one which they use 10
protect the interests of members and
to oppose the governments attempts
to suppress the cultivation Oh the
poppy. Furthermore, every tfade
guild, and for that matter even tne
beggars' guild. is a secret society
with an influence unknown IN 1oreish
countries. 1t Is not surprising, there
fore, that reports concerning the
activities Of the Ku Klux Klan should
appeal to the imagination OF the Chl-
nese.
1t must be pointed out that the
Chinese have not taken into consld-
Grafton the baneful influence of this
organization or paid any attention TO
the condemnation 1t has received
from the newspapers OF America anu
the action taken against It's artlVl-
ties by the authorities. What has I'M
pressed them is the secrecy and the
apparent immunity from punishment.
These young Chinese are looking for
some means to drive the militarlsts
and corrupt officials from power, SO
that an honest and constitutional
government can be brought into ex-
istence. They see that a secret So
ciety worked on the klan's lines in
China would be a power to clear out
a crowd of men who have brought
ruin to the country.
Powerless Against Grafters.
One of the promoters of this or
ganization states that every reason
able means had been used to force the
militarists and politicians to carry
out the necessary reforms, unity the
country and to put an end to dishon-
esty. but all to no avail. Therefore
he was of the opinion that force must
be used. The people were inartiru-
late and could do nothing for them
selves, but there were sufficient well
educated men who were willing to
risk their lives in the cause of patri-
otism. He explained that It present
the numbers of those interested were
few. and that was the reason why
secret organizati ton which could work
in silence and trust was necessary.
Just how far this organization has
gone 1t is difficult to say. but accord
ing to local reports the police are
closely watching meetings of return
ed students and those who have re-
ceived foreign education.
Since the establishment of the re-
public "dare-to-die" corps and SINH
lar organizations have been estab-
lished. They have been made up by
the young and fiery spirits Of the
country, both male and female. who
have shown a Willingness to sacrifice
their lives for some national object.
But these organizations have gradu-
ally faded away and become things
Of the past. With secret societies,
however, things are different-they
last.
/ Honor for an Assassin.
The Chinese have peculiar notions
! concerning assassination. The man
! who killed the German minister. Won
! kett1er, during the Boxer outhreak k
! is looked upon by the Chinese today
| as national martyr. The commem-
| orative arch which the Germans
! forced on the Chinese as monument
of their disgrace for numbering the
representative of a foreign power was
understood by the people at large to
be lasting memorial to the man who
had committed the deed.
|. When the arch was removed by the
Chinese after they declared war on
Germany the people were of the opin-
ion that either he or one of his FAM
lily had committed some crime of such
a nature that the honor that had been
conferred on him had been withdrawn
by the government.