Evening star., 1925-07-14

in asking that the nine nations which
signed the pact of our 1921 peace
conference should now stand by the
agreement and give China true auto
nomy, relinquish extraterritorialty
and authorize the central governments
of the republic to levy a tariff on
imports high enough TO provide a
revenue adequate for d strong govern
ment-all this is not a new departure
from Americas past policies toward
China, but fulfllment of inter.
national pledges.
In the light of this fact, two things
are notable: ID The inadequate differ
entiation by the Chinese agitators be.
tween the friendly American record,
as the friend of China, TO protect the
American missionaries, officials and
travellers, as contrasted with the
peoples who have not shown such
unselfish friendliness toward them:
t2) The unreadiness of certain nations
Great Britain in the lead-to join
with the other powers of the nine
power pact in building up a strong
China, through a conference support.
ing Chinese independence and an ade-
quate freedom to control her own
revenues, whereby she could suppress
rebellion and brigandage.
President Coolidge is frankly cons
cerned over the attitude of England
and Japan, but the conference will be
called for the nine nations to consider
carrying out their agreement made in
the disarmament conference.
Until the revolution in 1912, China,
had been ruled for a thousand years
Except from 1863 10 1644 by con-
querors from the north-the Tartars
and the Manchus. The Emperor
reigned, absolutely. under the claim
| of divine right" as the son of
heaven. When an Emperor died. he
was believed to ascend to heaven in
| a dragon chariot, to be a guest on
high. All other nations OF the world
were to pay him tribute and must
send missions every few years to
| recognize him as their supreme ruler.
1t was with no inferior complex"
therefore, that China first came into
contact with the outside world, when
the Portuguese forced trade in the
early part of the sixteenth century.
Yet, with all that subsection to a Z
foreign Manchu conqueror, the Chi
nese have maintained their capacity
for self-rule, as demonstrated by their
| local governments in their p prov
inces, each with almost as much inde-
pendence locally as have our As States.
The population of some of these prov
| inces amounts to $4,000, ,000-nearly
| half that of the United States. This
| institution OF local self-rule dates back
to Confucius, hence is inbred into the
| Chinese character.
X X X x
In October, 1911, at Wuchang. a
revolution. broke out for the purpose
| of overturning the Manchu dynasty,
which dated back to 1914. 1t developed
into a revolution to overturn the
monarchy and establish a republic. 4,
This resulted in the surrender Of the'
throne to Yuan, former Governor OF
| Shantung. who became president OF
| the council of ministers and finally, in
1912, President of the republic under
a. provisional republican constitution.
Yuan plotted to restore the throne,
with himself as Emperor. He dis
! solved Parliament and attempted to
mount the throne in 1915, under a new
dictated constitution, but he died in
1915, without having achieved his aim.
The action of Yuan left as a legacy
| to his country two constitutionS-the
| one legally adopted after the pro-
visional constitution Of 1912 and the
one he attempted to- superSede II in
1915. Each constitution has been sup.
ported by a Parliament-one at Pc
king, backed by the military party
and northern provinces, and one at
Canton (revived in 1920 after q period
/ of oblivion) backed by President Sun
Vat Sen, with the support Of the
southern provinces.
This conflict of the sections compli-
Gates the situation, and makes 1t
particularly difficult for outside powers
to intervene. Neither section advo.
Gates secession; both claim jurisdiction
over all China. Now, to that sectional
or constitutional rivalry there is add
ed the growing spirit of Young China,
educated in Western lore through the
public schools, demanding free and in!
dependent China-"China for the Chi
nese."
(CopyrigAt. iess, BY Paul Y. coiiiaaS