The Daily News. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1911. THE AWAKENING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 107, 26 October 1911, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1911. THE AWAKENING.

If we can believe the, cables, the revolutionaries in China are overwhelming the Imperial troops, capturing city after city, and having things generally their own way. The Imperials are lighting without heart, and it is not surprising to learn that many of them are going over to the enemy. The latter have so far been careful to prevent their movement developing into an anti-foreign crusade, unlike the Boxers some years before, and have the goodwill of the different Powers. The Imperials' chief hope, the famous Yuan-shih-kai. who is referred to by Dr. Morrison as "the most able and far-seeing of modern Chinese stale-men." has turned on his Mnnchu masters, informing them, in that; inimicnble Chinese way. that his "foot is not healed." and therefore he is unable to take the Held to suppress the revolutionaries. with whose aim-, doubtless. he is in entire agreement. The revolutionary movement is purely antidynastic. Competent observers like Dr. Morrison and Dr. \Y. I-:. Ceil, hold that (lie ( ourl is not only corrupt in itself, hut a source of corruption throughout: the official world. In [he words of a recent writer: "Every change of ofiicials means a payment, io I'ekin. Locust swarms of -ineiirists prey upon the people. Monopolists rise (he price of their one food. rice, and provoke riots. The finances are in as bad a tangle as in Port una I. Taxation is pressed to its utmost limit, yet the nation is almost bankrupt. The Maritime Customs are mortgaged up to the hilt. The tea and silk industries are declining. Vet the undoubted wealth of tin l eonntrv remains to a large extent unexploited. I'ekin is powerless to make any improvement. The K-gent's !uud- are' tied by the intrigues ol the Empress Dowager's part v. A new driving' force is abs/dufclv necessary.'' Probably the new driving force rci|ttired to regenerate China will be found in the present revolution. The reforms we heard so much about as raak-

ing for tlio awakening of China were Wiiilc almost in spite of deliberatelycreated adverse Court influence. The gradual supi-reession of an autocratic for a popular regime, the growth of (lie press, the spread of education among Imth sexes, the abolition of the queue and the forbidding of foot-binding, the inauguration and conduct of army reform, the campaign again opium," and the establishment of provincial parliaments, welcome as these have been, and lauded as they were by the outside world, have left the millions of Chinse people not. satisfied, but determined to press for more, even to the point of making a clean sweep of the Monarchy and the. Imperial Court, at Pekin. The decree of Willi provided for the gradual transformation of the government into a parliamentary system in ten years. As a beginning representative assemblies were established in the various provinces. During the past year a National Assembly was convened. Strictly speaking, this was but the beginning of a National Assembly, its members half chosen by the Emperor ami half by the provincial assemblies. The men sent up from the provinces were men of character and force, who became the mouthpiece of the demand for progressive ideas in thina. The National Assembly began by criticising the Emperor's ministers and private advisers. It called npon them to appear before it and explain various acts. It passed resolutions in favor of the immediate formulation of a constitution. Whilst this demand was resisted it was at least successful in accelerating the programme of reform. The l'rince Regent promised a multitude of administrative reforms, including the creation of a. responsible Cabinet within a year. A census was to be undertaken at once, preparatory for a Parliament to assemble in 1!!13. To promise reforms was one thing, to grant them another. The Chino-.Tapanese war in 18!tfi made plain the hopelessness and rottenness of China and the Chinese people from a collective and national standpoint. The late Dowager Empress, one of the greatest women in history', certainly held tilings together with 'a following of the best men in Chinese officialdom who were greatly devoted to her. but upon her decease the most prominent statesmen were shelved by l'rince Chun, the Regent, and all the important positions, we are assured by a writer in the' New Year Outlook, who speaks with the authority given by a Jong residence in China, are held either by old men in their dotage or youu-r princes of the present reigning family, ignorant of all things modern, and filled' with conceit, arrogance and a desire to fill their purses. There never was a time in the last fifty years when the Imperial Government, of China was so headless and officialdom so invertebrate. The much-talkeil-of modern army is declared by the same authority to be a farce. The officers are few' and inexperienced, the discipline slack, the nay uncertain, and the whole organisation permeated with an unrest that may at, any moment turn into a. dangerous mob. l-inancially the. Government i.s approaching a crisis. The credit limit for foreign countries is about reached unless better arrangements are made for financimprospective railways and the national resources of the country. It is a notorious fact that hardly one single Chinese limited company has become a success from the standpoint of the shareholders. Since the Chinese took rrer the Pekm-Hankow railway from the Belgmns m lflOS no regular repairs or replacements have been made. The profits have been squandered, and both road-bed and rolling stock are goin<r to nun. The present" system of 'irnvernment is hopeless, The Central Government has little hold upon the provinces, and fears them. The taxes and revenues are practically farmed out. and l.ufc a small percentage of the amount taken from the people ever reaches the Central Government. The whole effort is to get money at any cost. As an example. when the railway from Pekin to Kalgan. l-lo miles north! was opened the amount of traffic and profits was laprc The Government established six more likin fCustoms) stations to collect duties on all traffic. Within a few months the cars were running empty and the goods were being transported in the good oldfashioned way—packed on mules and camels. The people have no confidence in the officials or the Regent, and durin* the last two years this lack of confidence has broadened into utter contempt. The only thing that has held the powers that be in place was the lack of a leader for the people. The only thing that could now save China, in 'the opinion of the writer quoted, would be the appearance of a strong virile leader, who bv his character and ability could make the people forget their own petty commercial selves and hammer into them the idea of doing something without expecting an immediate money return. China, with her wealth, natural resources. and millions of hard-working, industrious individuals, is too great a prize to he lost for lack of a "master. The master will arrive, and China's millions will be hammered into shape. Tf he does not come from within in the course of t.lie present contest he will assuredly come in the near future from the neighboring islands of Japan.