THE AWAKENING OF CHINA.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue LIII, 8 April 1908, Page 5

THE AWAKENING OF CHINA.

A visitor to Hawera on Tuesday was Rev. T f Harrod-Smith,, o£ the,, London Mission, Pekin. Mr Snlith, who, xfaa for some yjears a resident iri "New'Z^land, volunteered for riussfiStf' and isf on a visit to the colonies aner a period of some years', service:- Aniqjpg other friends who have had. the,pfeisure of welcoming' Sim is Mr ,E. Dix^n, who was on- terms of intimacy. .wsh him at Palinerston North many"* yews ago. Mr Howard Smith is a 'firm believer that the present awakening of China is the prelude to great development — in fact has already led to great development, and in conversation jhe gave proof* of this. Figures he gave during a leoture at Wellington may .be quoted. Twelve years ago there was &o railway in the whole of China; xc»-dity there are 3746 miles working, and.i 622 in process of construction. ' Ten -yetos ago- the postal system was practicably nonexistent ; .' to-day there are 2056 posir .offices, which in 1906 handled 113;000j000 letters, 1,250,000- parcels, and pos>. office orders to the jalue^of one : an 4a. half million ounces r of |rive^.] Eight years ago Pekin. had one tel^rapli v line,_to connect tBe r Chjnese Foreign OflSce with the outer wbr^; •to-day the telegraph is as advanced eas in any other city* and- the telephones-is common. in Pekin. The natibn.jthat used the, teachings of Gonfuoitis. fjor 200/) years has now modern -schools^ all oveij the land., . . , rf , . Excellent primary schools verein existence, and ijotieges where chemistry, physics ;' biology'," mathematics j" and foreign language's were / taught/ .ancj a most significantifactjwasithd attention bestowed. by students; on.-fthe^art.^of war. One, thousand students .w;? 11 * last year to Japan, making a total .of fifteen thousand, all^of tirhom werV studying the' modern system of education. These students were breaking - dbwn prejudices. Officials were. converting temples into schools. In a land where newspapers were confiscated and reform editors were banished there were now 200 periodicals. . ITalls were engaged by the 'educated jvhere the newspapers were read and explained to the illiterate. • Mr Smith regarded Chinjkijas the widest field for literature in the world. They were casting off the ♦old., systems and looking eagerly and-, eternally for the new. As an illustration, the lecturer stated that one publishing house in Shanghai in 1905 sold 350,000 copies of a "Reader" and its- book trade amounted to £130,000. Sine© the edict against opium was issued, in Foo Chow alone, where 50 per cent, of the men gtixcl 2O T>er cent. ,of "fclxe •^om.^n. •w«x > « slaves to the. drug, no less than 3000 dens had been closed.

One circumstance mentioned is that in in his Wellington lecture is ihat in China all the Protestant churches sink their differences of name and government, and meet in conference and present themselves to the Chinese as a Christian federation. Unfortunately Mr Smith had- not time to lecture in. Hawera. During his short visit he was taken to the -various institutions, and at the Hawera school he happened to arrive at the period,, set apart for. a geography lesson, and on invitation gave the senior class a lecturette .dealing with the main features of the geography of China.

1 Mr W. Spemce, -the Economic, Hawera, has a replace advertisement to-day witfi reference to blankets for the winter months. - - . , BLANKETS -AND RUGS. AT "THE,, . ECONOMIC." . .. The warmest <vnd heaviest Blankets'* and Rugs your money can buy. Most Blankets go thin after being, washed.: a few tim<>B ? but the Blankets' 'you get; at • "The Economic/ seem to "improve . wjth washing There's long service 'in them, and they are just the Blankets to suit the woman who wants something good at a moderate price. Rugs for all purposes ore shown you, and <-you simply catt't leave the store dissatisfied. — Advt. #**For Children's Hacking Cough at nigbt ( WoofariQt&b Peppermint Gore. Is 6d and 2s id. — Advt.