New Britain herald., 1927-07-06
sees PASSING Of
MILITARY rulers
China Entering New Stage in
Her Life, Says Minister

Ill Sulud anu western NATIONS SQOulu
= have patience until conditions work
themselves out, according to Rev.
A. D. Heininger of the First Congre-
gational church. Rev. Mr.. Heinin-
ger, who spoke yesterday at the
meeting of the Lions club. has spent
considerable time in Russia and has
Just returned after having been at
he head of the Porter Middle school
1t Techow, in the Shantung province.
He said:
1T Is exceedingly difficult for us
in America to get clear idea OF
the magnitude Of the problems in
China today. 1t is hard for us to
comprehend the span of China's his
tory. II we go back through the
ISL years of our own national life;
then back through the 15o-odd years
of our colonial life; then back
through all the houses" and dy-
nasties Of English, Norman and Sax
on rulers of England; back through
the whole of the history of France;
back through the days of the Holy
Roman Empire; back to the glories
of Rome, mistress of the western
world: back to ancient and classical
Greece; back to Egypt and Babylon,
and the ancient Sumerian people,
from that time on right down
through these four or five thousand
years China has maintained herself
and has made history that is, in
spots at least, bright with achieve
ment. In the last hundred years she
has had very greatly increased con-
tact with the nations of the western
hemisphere - nations that in this
time have gone forward at a Lemen-
dous rate in the material things in
life. In the last quarter of CEN
fury China finds herself, with her
huge population making up one
fourth Of the people of the earth. 60
ing through not one. but whole
series of revolutions; an intellectual
and literary revolution. comparable
to the Renaissance of western Eur
ope four centuries ago; an industrial
revolution, where the change Is be-
ing made from the handicraft or
home-industry stage to the factory
with power driven machinery: So
cial revolution where the customs
and social sanctions of centuries
standing are being questioned and
nothing is too sacred to be submit
ted to the scrutiny of intelligent
criticism; and a political revolution
in which the autocracy OF a Man
chu dynasty has been shaken off. and
a government "of the people. by the
people, and for the people" is be-
ginning to be worked out along
Chinese lines and suited to the
neds of China.
Now 1t Is impossible to go into
all of these far-reaching movements
in China in my talk today; We Of
the West have had four centuries
and longer to encounter these revo-
lutions in serial order,-and we are
not yet through with all of them;
the mere mention of this fact ought
to call forth on our part an attitude
of sympathy and patience,-sym-
pathy because the Chinese are tack
ling all four revolutions at once. and
not one at a time as we did. and are
doing so under peculiarly handicap
ping conditions which we didn't
have: patience, because If we read
history of the western world for the
last five hundred years, or read our
own history in the decades immed1-
ately following the year 1875, we
shall see that the achievement OF
modern democracy, strong and
genuinely devoted to the best inter-
ests of all the people, is not an easy
task. We need notthink the Chinese
are peculiarly perverse, and uncom-
monty inclined to carry on civil war
fare and to kill each other and to
keep things stirred up In one big
mess all the while.
China is passing through one OF
the great crises Of her whole long
history,-perhaps the greatest of all.
Events of the last century have
made revolutionary changes in her
government, in her standards of in
dustry, and in the Intellectual and
national consciousness Of her people.
lneSe Changes nave Detll HdStcHeu
and crystalized by steady penetration
of foreign nations into China,
process accompanied by territorial
depredations, by political and econo-
mic domination, and the forced in
PRODUCTION Of trade. Out OF these
changes have emerged China's two
great problems today: the unifica-
ton and reconstruction of her politi-
cal and social fabric; and the CAM
paign towards liberation from op-
pressive foreign control.
THE basis from which the major
ity Of these changes have proceeded,
wither directly or indirectly, lies in
the provisions of the treaties negoti-