HOW CANTON LEADS IN CHINA.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1770, 7 June 1913, Page 6

HOW CANTON LEADS IN CHINA.

THE AWAKENING. IMPRESSIONS OF MISSIONARY, Canton—vast, squalid, bnt wonderful in its way—formed the subject on which Dr. John Kirk, missionary, had 6omo interesting things to say to a reporter who interviewed him yesterday. Tho big city is the homo of most of the Chinese in New Zealand, and It is also tho city in which the -revolution which swept tho boy Pu Yi off the Imperial throoie was jhatohed. It is also the native city of ®r. Sun Yat Sen. I i iThe Striking of tho Clock. The coming of tho revolution in China, J)r. Kirk remarked, was liko tho striking |of a clock. It had been well prepared for ■.years, and a stimulus to it was supplied by Chinese who had been abroad, and lad experienced what it meant to livo (under other Governments. Much was Vlone through the secret societies with whioh China is honeycombed.

i Dr. Kirk combats the notion that tho revolution is a mere ruffle on the great fcurfaco of China. ,Vast sections of,this ■'mighty, ivreird, and ancient country aro as yet untouched by its influence, but such progressive places as Canton have ileft a heavy mark on tho courso of Events. . The first intimation' that tho "Canton got of tho rovoiuItion came in April, 1911, when an abortive rising was made. The revolutionaries tesembled 200 men to head an onslaught to the Viceroy's-yamon. They had roiied upon popular support, but within 'a couple of days their attempt was decisively defeated. Thereal -upheaval came through popular indignation at an at- 6 'tempt on the part of the central Manchu "Government to nationalise tho CantonHankow railway,. which was being conducted by Chinese shareholders as a local enterprise;' 'The "'roceduro of the old Government was simple. Failing to corno 'to terms with tho shareholders, it did not Buggest anything in, thevnature of arbitration, but proceeded to tako ovor• tho flint, with intent to pay tho shareholders -.whatever it thought proper. This was We of the 'last straws." North and South China. "One danger to China," said Dr. Kirk, "lies in tho fact that the north and south 'aro not by any means so strongly,' cemented together as they might be. -Men jWhol'haVo a...wider experience of China than I have will tell you the same thing; thaC the imperfect sympathy between north and south constitute a real danger to the future stabilitj' of the Republic.'" *The danger appeared, he wont on to remark, when the revolution was in protress, the southern party desiring to establish' tho new capital at Nankin, : while iYuan-Shi-Kai and the northern party held out for tho retention of I'ekin.. On that occasionthe : difficulty:", was smoothed away by negotiation, but fresh troubles had since appeared. ' As an instance, Dr. Kirk mentioned tho accusation i>f being implicated in the murder of tho ■ex-Minister Sung levelled recently by Sun lYat Sen against Yuan-Shi-Kai. Enter tha Newspaper. 'As an indication of Chinese progress, Dr. Kirk mentioned tho development of the press of late years. "There aro at least five daily newspapers in Canton now," ho said, "and four years ago I do not. remember seeing one. Newspapers ore springing up numwously, also in other parts- of China, and serve a useful {purpose everywhere in disseminating' modern ideas. At Koting, where I am stationed, 1 know men who regularly go up to the .train for their, papers every evening. Three years ago such a thing was unheard of; It is trtte, on the other hand, that amongst tho four hundred million 'inhabitants of China there are a number who have so far been impervious to modern ideas. At present, in many districts, trouble is being experienced in inducing-people to opsn up tho country," Molestation. Asked what sort of time the missionaries had during the Dr. Kirk eaid that the conduct of the regular soldiers of the revolutionary army was exemplary. They had been warned , beforehand that any molestation of foreigners would be sternly suppressed. The revolutionary leaders were anxious above all' things to avert foreign intervention, and they knew that if their ■ soldiers got out of hand intervention would be inevitable. A good deal of trouble was experienced by missionaries, however, from (bandits, who profited by tha disturbed Btate of the country while the revolution was in progress. One mission station in Br. Kirk's neighbourhood was looted, but no one was killed. The Chiuese themselves suffered much more from the depredations of bandits than did foreigners. Some of the robbers were, disbanded irregulars, enrolled by tho revolutionaries when at was uncertain how tho regular army would turn. The regular army declared for the revolution-, and the toroblem then arose of disbanding and disarming the irregulars. - This ' was only accomplished eventually At' tho cost of hundreds of lives, and even so numbeTS of them escaped into tho country districts, carrying. modern arms, and havo since worked grtat liavo& amongst the villagers while the regular soldiers bavo been occupied in the cities. Many of the lTreguJars are still at large, and have taken to their old pursuits of murder and brigandage. 1 The Church in China. AS a missionary Dr. Kirlc is keenly ap prcciativo of those features of the new Constitution in China which bear upon Teligion. ■ Religious liberty has been granted and Christians have been freed from many disabilities under which they formerly laboured. Another article in tho Constitution grants recognition of tho Chinese Church. This has removed a great barrier to tho progress of Christianity in Chinh and has already, Dr. Kirk states, induced a great forward movement. Hitherto Chineso Christians have been deprived of their nationality and of the right to hold property in their own names. Now they enjoy exactly the same liberty as their fellow subjects. Already, Dr. Kirk remarked, tho Chinese Church has decided to-'attcmpt to bear the burden of self-support and self-propa-gation—a thing for which missionaries havo been-longing. Henceforth, ho hopes, tho work of the missionary,workers will bo mainly directed towards organisation and training; leaving it to tho Chinese themselves 'to.'.extend tho sway of their church.- ' ' ' • ~, "I, believe/ 1 * Said Kirk,- that the Chinese nation will ; bring, its .own contribution to tlio beauty and ■ power of Christianity.' It may'be impossible to graft < iipon the mind 3 -of " the "; Chinese Bome.rof.the -conceptions of Christianity which • obtain among Western - nations, but that'they: tire capable, of' grasping, its central ideal, and nil essential features; is proved by tome of their .later. literature."" In New Zealand Dr. Kirk will-visit the' various Presbyterian churches with ' in- 1 tent to : arouse interest foreign mission work. ~He is also endeavouring to; raise a sum of ,£11,400 for the purchase of land and the erection of buildings in the Canton villages. It is a sign of tho times in China that the. mission was recently permitted to acquire four and a half acres of lftnd, a thing that would have been absolutely impossible a few £rear 9 ago.