Evening star., 1923-11-05
EAST is EAST
BY FRANK II. HEDGES

@-none INC ponce, BeuoarmeS ana
soldiers who parade the dusty streets
tof Peking as Official guardians Of
law and order is one group which
stands out In vivid contrast by virtue
OF the military appearance and car
rage cf Its members. 1t is the group
OF police especially trained for duty
under the direction Of a European
officer. Gen. Munthe Of Norway.
Embodied in the notes that have
passed from the diplomatic corps in
Peking to the foreign office as a re-
suit OF the bandit outrage in Shan
tung province last May is the state
mont that one of the reforms in view
Is the Reorganization of the special
chinese police. who would be placed
under the supervision of foreign off,
GERS and fntrusted with the protec-
ton of the railways"
Gen. Munthe has demonstrated in
visible way what Chinese can do
under efficient foreign supervision.
me example unquestionably was a
major influence in determining the
action OF the diplomats when they
were wrestling with the compljcated
/ problem Of helping China to insure
safety for foreigners within that
nation's borders while travelling on
Chinese railways.
NO person who has watched the
tion his individual bravery. He
seems to be entirely lacking in ner-
vousness and fear-in fact, to be AL
most 1ooihardy In exposing himself
10 the nre or the enemy. During the
war between Marshal Chang Tso.Iin
OF Manchuria and Gen. WI Pei-Fu Of
central China in the spring OF 1929
the foreign military observers Law
crouched behind protecting hills and
e,nDanhments en- ajthan ats while the foot soldier,
the roadWays. He knew that he
might be shot at any moment. but
the idea did not seem to bother him
particularly. When the command to
hanging back or shirking and tbs
gray clad troops stormed up hilIsides
In the face of heavy enemy fire with
our single man wavering in hi.
duty. III MS
The fault with China's many armies
lies not In the soldiers themselves
but in their leaders. China has manv
officers capable Of training and guild
ing Chinese troops. but it has been
the exception rather than the rule
when such men have been placed In
command and given free hand. The
spoils that fall to the victorious n;1i-
tary chieftain have proved q greater
attraction than the desire to COM
mand efficient troops. so that the
nuik OF the. higher officers have had
building up Of well trained miiitarv
UNITS. They have succeeded admj
raDiy In their ambition, but at the
cosI or law and order.
black uniforms and white puttees
trained by Gen. Munthe give assur.
ance OF what Chinese soldiers. noIice
or gendarmes can do and become
9nder efheient leadership When
Presldent Il Yuan-Hung fed from
eh,hg rs 70 Iientsin last June Ameri-
cans and other foreigners residing
IN the capital felt safe there because
or Gen. Munthe's men. They take
pride in the confidence reposed in
them by foreigners and are intense
ly loyal to their Scandinavian com
slept peacefully while Gen. Munthe's
men walked the streets in little pa
trolls of two or four.
This same assurance of safety is
what the diplomatic corps is seeking
'e group of Peking police officered
by foreigner would be expanded so
as to cover the railway system Of the
country, in order that the American
mfght take the train at Peking for
Shanghai or Hankow and feel assured
that he would arrive at his destina-
tion instead of being yanked from
his berth in the dead Of night by
brlgands and carried into the hills
as pawn in their game of politics
and spoils.
But the demand of the diplomatic
corps that foreign officers be put over
the railway police was a blunder
China resents 1t. The Peking govern
ment. or most certainly the foreign
office, realizes the necessity Of af-
fording adequate protection to Amer
republic, but the Peking government
refuses to be coerced. 1t may be ex-
pected to act Independently, but not
at the bidding of the diplomats. In
for the expansion Of Gen. Munthe's
police to the railways. but Peking
will never consent to the appoint
ment of other foreigners by the diplo-
matte corps. II Peking itself desires
to appoint them. that is another
China thinks in terms Of centuries.
not years; her critics must do the
same.
There is but little despair in China
nation for there is the abiding reaH-
zation that in the future. perhaps
the distant future, all will be we'll
and China shall once more occupy
a proud place in the world, as proud
a place as in the days Of Marco Polo.
r
The impatient son Of the western
world is not content with laborfng
that his children and his children's
children shall enjoy the fruits of
that labor. He wants 1t for him
self, in the little span Of his own
lifetime. Therein he differs from the
Chinese.
When it is his own people that
he is dealing with the westerner
NAV be correct in working In the
present instead of for the future.
BY taking care of his pennies the
dollars may care for themselves. But
when he deals with a people looking
into the future, he must shape his
course accordingly.
Further foreign Intervention in
China is dictated by the needs OF
today It's advocates are unwilling
to suffer Temporarily That there mn may
are thinking in terms of years, not
of centuries. They believe they are
looking into the future. for they
would attempt, in their own clumsy
way, to help the Chinese to erect q
great nation.
This China will unquestionably do
jim the future. And when that is
accomplished, the aspect Of the world
NAV be different A strong and re-
unified China, a. China as powerful
in peace and in war as is the Japan
Of today, will be a major element in
the world situation. If that China
be guided by principles Of peace and
good will. all will be we'll. but il
be actuated by hatred. desire for