Evening star., 1928-10-13
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

Long live the Chinese republic!"
Strength to the arm of the Kuomin-
tang, the party which has gained con-
troll over all armed opposition, and
now after being instrumental, II or
18 years ago, in overthrowing the throne
and the power of the Manchu dynasty,
through more than decade of civil
war following, has conquered the ar1sto-
cratic, reactionary regime which had
been the leftover from the old imperial
administration. The Kuomintang is
party of the people, for the. people
and by the people, hoping Tor law
and order in development.
Last Thursday President Chang Kali
shek and the is members of the State
Council bowed three times before the
portrait of Sun Yat Sen, the father OF
the Kuomintang; stood in silence three
minutes before it, and swore to uphold
his teachings and ideals. That was the
climax of the ceremony of inaugura-
ton of the new government.
Like Fascist Italy, China now recog--
nizes and permits only one political
party-the Kuomintang. But, unlike
the land of Mussolini, China has no
dictator, no one-man authority. Its
ideal is not autocracy but democracy
Mussolini holds that the Italians are
tired of democracy and desire dicta-
torial authority. The Chinese, with
their 400 900, 900 population. aim at an
ultimate republic in which all the
people will be sufficiently educated and
intelligent to hold a universal fran
chise. They know that that ideal will
require years of preparation. through
universal schooling, and in the mean
time the country must be governed, and
the Kuomintang assumes the respon-
sibility and obligation SO to develop. the
people which they have set free from
the former regime.
Twenty years ago, Sun Vat Sen was
in secret rebellion against the ruling
powers. He held secret meetings and
developed a following which in time
grew into party and set up a govern
ment in Southern China, with Marking
as It's capital. That, of course, led to
fighting with the Peking government.
which was the recognized government
at the time.
Sun Yat Sen died in 1925, before see
ing the realization of his hopes. but the
ideals he had held up to his party had
crystallized so that the party lived after
his departure He left book entitled
San Min Chu l." In which he set forth
the principles of his party, the Kuo-
mintang. On October 4, 1928, an Of
fetal document was promulgated by
the Kuomintang, known as the organic
law of the National Government of the
Republic of China. 1t says:
1.-The Kuomintang of China, in pur-
suance of the three peoples principles
and the f1ve-power constitution, hereby
establishes the Republic of China.
THE party, having swept away and
removed all obstacles by military force
and having passed from the period of
military conquest to that of political
tutelage, now must establish model
government based upon the five-power
constitution to train the people so that
they will be able to exercise their po-
litical powers and facilitate the party
in Fastening the handing over of such
power to the people"
+ +
The language is as plain as Bret
Harte might have wished. but still it
requires a bit of explanation: The
''three peoples principles" does not
mean three peoples at all, but 1t means
the three principles enunciated by Sun
Yat Sen as the fundamentals of the
revolution--the principles of the people.
The father of the revolution said IN
his book that the revolution would have
to pass through three distinct periods:
First. The period of military force.
until the opponents were conquered in
battle. That period has just closed
triumphantly.
Second. The period Of tutelage and
education of the masses. That period is
now beginning; it may take century,
but optimists hope for more rapid prog
ress. While in the United States, ac-
cording to the Army test, Is per cent OF
the people can read and write, in CHINA
at least 90 per cent are utterly unedu-
Gated. They have few teachers, lew
books and few schools. All these must
be created, which will require many
wears. Also, the resources OF the country
must be developed-transportation and
communication especially-and the eco
nomic conditions improved through
modern industries and agriculture. That
is the task of this second period" after
which will come the third period, in
which the franchise will be given to all
qualified by education to exercise 1t in
telligently.
The other expression In the organic
law requiring explanation Is ''the Ave-
power constitution" That refers to the
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