The Dominion. MONDAY, MAY 4, 1914. AN ASTUTE STATESMAN

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2139, 4 May 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, MAY 4, 1914. AN ASTUTE STATESMAN

Those well-meaning people who imagine that the work el two ov three thousand years can he undone in a generation in one of the most conservative countries in tiue world must have had their eyes opened to the unreasonableness of such expectations by recent, events in China. The leaders of the reform movement in that ancient nation dominated the wliolu situation for a time, but they made Hie pace so' fast that the mass of the people .became bewildered and alarmed,' and a reaction set in. The astute Yuan Shih-Kai took a more or less active part for a while in the modernisation of the nation, hut. there wfts n geneva I feel- ' ing that he. was playing a clduUn game. Subsequent events have i

■p proved that his heart- was not in tb •^: now movement, and when lie sav s that tho people were getting tired o -- ' being hustled along by tho innovators to some unknown goal lie begin pi to display his true colours. Yuan Siiih-Kai knows human nature ii nil its phases, and no one under a - stands the workings of the mind o: sf the average Chimimau bettor timr he docs. No doubt he realised at tin id outset that the Chinaman is still c « Chinaman, even after his pigtail hai boon cut off, and that his nature cannot be altered merely by dressing him in European clothes. Thi climax came with the csfcahiishmaw of representative institutions. There arc people who think that good gov. eminent is impossible without s Parliament, but it is very; doubtful s if Western .methods of law-making ' and administration are suited to tin Chinese character. At any rate tlw proceedings of China's first .Parliawent were not far removed from a tragic farce, and it soon became e-H----dent that the new regime bad drifted into troubled waters,' The psychological moment had now ar:e rived for tho wily President to assert f himself. He out-generaikd his on- ■(} ponents- at every point, and soon put ; y an one} to the wild rush from the old a to the new. Parliament itself was "reformed" and became an instru- ;' mont in his hands for the' discomfiture of Sun Yat,S-en and his- comrades in the progressive movement. Even those who may be disappointr_ cd at the. collapse of the shoft-liwcl reform regime must admit that the ' President has had the support, broadly speaking, of the great body of public opinion in China in his conservative policy, but it is just possible that ho may tush his reactionary ideas to a dangerous extreme, and by so doing play into the hands of his adversaries, A cablegram which appeared in Saturday's issue ot Ths DoMtSioN announced that the amendment of the Constitution has 1 now been completed, leaving Yimn Swih-Kai in the position of Dictator, Ministers-., being made directly responsible to him—indeed, he is Emperor in ail kit name. As a matter of fact he anticipated these constitutional amendments of the State Convention when he- recently j offered the' sacrifice at the Winter | Solstice to the Most High at tf,r> Alter of Heaven. In this way lie declared himself an autocratic res.pon--1 sMe. to the Almighty alone, and thss act will he regarded bv the great , mass of tho people as a elain; to fee SrOTermgn of China. It is true that Chinese scholars have endeavoured to [ show that a Ifcpirblican President may offer the sacrifice' without incon- ■ sisfency, and profess to have disnovercd precedents in support; of this contention; but there daft be no doubtthat tne purpose of the revival of this , form of worship is to increase the jww and dignity of Yvua Shui-Kal Ihe .President « now treading on perilous ground, fov many of those ' who supported him in the work of demohstjng the unstable and somewhat ridiculous imitation of European methods of Parliamentary gov* oiMiment erected by the i-eforWrs are strongly opposed to the re-estafi-h-sliment of a State religion and th" giVivaJ of the' Worship of Heaven" This aspect of his policy is. swre to give serious offence, and if. he eo»s' tmjch inrtter in th'is direction' he will be inviting disaster. It is to he hoped that, lie will row realise that lie '■ has gone jar enough in the Way o! D-e-rsonal airgraridiseniftftt, for it i s tittle that he took prompt and effective steps to justify the new order'of things.hy crushing White Wolf and his gang of ruffians, and restoring peace and sood government to the country. Without'order, confidence, and stability permanent prosperity is impossible, and China's greatest' need at present is a- period'of polifcijca] and social rest.