Evening star., 1924-01-07
EAST IS EAST.
BY FRANK H. HEDGES

T.
d, tragedy Of Egypt 1t is to be hopeo
that. just as Egypt, once a sovereign
and magnificent power. and later
i PROSTATE vassal, has fought back 10
virtual Independence, SO may Hion
| golia. This Is the dream or inc
Mongol patriots Of today. They ny
longer follow the glimmer OF Wora
conquest, but the princes ana ouhee
| who are the descendants OF the Great
| Khan seek only that their country
| shall not be dominated by Pekihs'
| by Moscow or by Toxic.
r In tho days Of Gengfis and kuplal,
| that inland section of centrai Asia
known as Mongolia brought al ,ane
cast save japan a;a unaer md nd threat-
ened to sweep as far west as France
and England. The military genius oI
the Mongols was paramount anu That
Ghristendom .svaa was Mas afafIIH due not to
direct failure on the part OF the
Mongols. but to the death of their
great leaders and the cohssqtuens
tdiyigion and wrang ins ann,ia a lies Of
| the mighty empire shrunk TO smaIier
| and smaller proportions, unl,i eveal ad
| China. to which the khans mao HoFeo
their capital. threw off the yoke @ oI
awnastv mounted the dragon throne.
Today Mongolia presents a patneIlc
face to the world. Her people'
stepped in superstition and isnoraHce.
sSmi-fertile district that the world
| has chosen to miscall q desert. Inc
| life they lead Is very mucn that leo
| BY Abraham in another part OF ASA
I wealth ii reckoned not in gold ana
| siiyer. but in cattle. sheep and horses.
| Queer shaped tents Of felt are erect
\ Cd near some spring or stream "nsae
the grass is green, e9t elbaMsted W they
are struck and the little group moves mo 81
on to new nelds. Perhaps a,thiTd ot
the men enter the prIesthooo o
Buddf1isrn. for religion has a. tre-
nendous hold over the people oa
Mongolia. Their nominal ruiel, 99uh 2
| temporal and spiritual, Is tne lu
tuktu. or Living 'adha Buddna', Is n beiievad mno
| TO bo incarnated.
Tho fall from high place TO insig-
nificance of this once mighty people
may bs traced to two basic causes.
The immediate cause, dissension
among those in power severai cen
turtles ago, has been mentioned nut
the true reason for the Tragedy Hes
deeper. The flower of Monaghan
manhood vanished from the eartn.
Most OF the viriIe blood Of OLD MOI on
| golia was spent on the W,
4 FOR the plains and mountains OF hoii- :.
| eoIia were drained of their best LOT
| the army Only the weaklings Were
! left to carry on the race. ihosS
riors who did not fall in battle pc,
came the victims OF tne ease eaaee1ooneA- A
| ing people. The second cause
Theoretical. Biologists, in partcular
those of the third Asiatic expeoitioia1
now in Mongolia say shst s,owIy .ne risen iae
| through the centuries. This upWaro
| thrust is still going on. with II
fthere has come change OF clinlates
and where once were iea'He He,,,i. arid
4 plateau and rugged moun.alms onn
new climatic and agricultural CON
| ditions have not been conducive To
breeding great people: ID
| tonomy under China more than tEo
| eenturies ago, that empire gradually
| encroached on this liberty. In isils
when revolution was swe9pins ~ Jhfua dsa
| clared themselves entirely lnoe
lpendent of Peking. Russia. anxious
that a friendly buffer state be main
tained between Siberis and Chiha,
i and as counter-irritant TO the
Japanese in Manchuria. offered her
| services as a mediator. and four year,
later q tripartite agreement among
Russia, China and Mongoaiiai trne
| drawn up which gave Monsolla rue
! autonomy under China.
! SThe events of 1917 in Russia ga.e
Peking the opportunity to oreak Satness lss
pI,shtsaa M9ad' ,n9a the sPa eapits its city of
Grsa, once more .'reclaiming" Mon Mon,
soiia. In the :meantime Baron
Ungern Won Stcrnburs; husai ..a,aa
white Guard leader; Iisn was Hripeh horser IsHlri
Bloody battles and massacres ioi,
lowed. until Ungern succeeded IN
capturing Urga in siIas Fsnruary' 1;si5s ts1t,
and driving out the Chinese. s nr
ried on his war against the REDS
across the siberian border, until they
| in turn captured Crga and put tue
whites to flight.
l Siberian troops were prouSht ih'
to be later replaced by soldiers from
Moscow, and the republic OF Mon
eoIia vas erected. The Living
Buddha IL still the nominal head OF
the state and every important office
| is occupied by Mongols, but each
| minister of state has. a .bolsheyist az
/ II,
hands Of this group. The, minorlty,
party, known as Young Mongolia,
and consisting of Mongols with d
| smattering of Russian and with IN
| clinations, in that direction, IS IN eae
saddle politically. Taxation has been
heavy and oppression great, Hlthoueh
1t must be confessed that MOSCOW
J replaced the first bolshevist. ADVISER
with far. more liberal man;
! and economic conditions have ap-
| preoiated to considerable extent.
| The loss Of Mongolia rankles In the
! hearts Of the Chinese, and many
plans, all tabortive, have been con-
has repeatedly asserted that 1t has
no Intention of annexing Mongoha,
\ that ALI IL seeks is the independence
| or autonomy of that country, ana tnat
| the soviet troops will be withdrawn
| when wished by the fMongols them
selves and when guarantees are
given that Mongolia will not be useo
| as a base for antt-boishevist endeav-
ors There is no good reason 60
believe that. the. present aims OF
terially from those formerly held by
PetroErad--the creation of q friendly
| buffer state In Mongolia. Although
not publicly stated, It is the influence
| Of Japan rather than that OF China IN
MSSxoliMa Mon9aj. sna5 Rdsssa themselves 1 do not
| wish to return to China, but neither
do they wish to be dominated py
Russia or by Japan. Most of them
fear Peking as their major enemy.
END and SO psslep Hossib But it Is merely
! statements OF both so-called pro-
Russian and pro-Chinese Mongols are are
Sua.I.s.4 sndepen4enea A Of our country. We
would GLADLY return to the autono-