The Ensign. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1911. WHY CHINA IS ASTIR.

Mataura Ensign, 29 November 1911, Page 4

The Ensign. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1911. WHY CHINA IS ASTIR.

The history of China, a land of teeming millions, where almost everything as we understand it is reversed in meaning of importance, is the classic land of revolt, for never a decade passes without a serious uprising. All however, are dwarfed by the present one. The Boxer movement, the best known of modern disturbances, was wholly'-different in origin, plans and purpose; it was created by reactionaries, fostered by the blindest superstition, and purposed to drive foreigners out of the Empire. The rebellion today is started by the group that led the young Emperor to disaster in 1898; its aim is reform ; it is financed by a widespread organisation of Chinese living abroad; and it is backed by modern trained troops and by many young men educated in Europe and America. It has spread rapidly because of careful organisation and general resentment at the feebleness of the Government, and because of famiim, floods and distress in mid-China this autumn. A starving people is usually desperate. To understand' the crisis, ; explains a writer of its inner history, ' (Mr E. A. MeKenzie) one must go back Three hundred years ago China was torn by another rebellion, and the Government invited the Manchu Tartars , —fierce fighting men from the north to send an army to crush the revolt. i They did. Then, uninvited, they adj vaneod further and occupied Peking. Arrived there, they decided that they might as well place one of themselves lon the throne, A Manchu has reigned over China ever since. The Manchus fought the coming of a Chinese Parliament, th? creation of a responsible Cabinet, and the effective reorganisation of internal government. The Manchus were responsible for the driving into exile of the greatest administrator in modem China —Yuau-Shi-Kai. A strong patriotism, an in- | tense desire for reform, and a passionate enthusiasm for Western education I sprang up among all ranks of the Chin-1 e.se people. The curb on progress was i Manchu officialism. The hatred of the' people for the Manchus led to the i spread of a revolutionary group known sometimes as the Chinese Empire Reform Association. When, in 1898, the young Chinese Emperor, after adopting many extreme suggestions for Westernising China, was arrested and deprived of power by the old Empress-Dowager, several of his advisers were executed. Two of the chief of them, however, escaped—Kang Yu-wei, the greatest reformer of al! and Leong Kai-cheu, one of his principal lieutenants. They had many sympathisers among Chinese abroad, and gradually they built up their society—in the Straits Settlements, in Japan, in Canada and America, and even among the Chinese in London. In time they were joined by an able and strenuous young man", a doctor by profession, Sun Yat-sen, who soon became leader of all. The story of the conspiracies of these three > would make an amazing romance if it could be written. Soon after the Boxer rising they began a steady propaganda , within the Empire which all the poAvers , of the Government could not prevent. They got hold of the young Chinese sent

abroad to be educated and imbued tliem with their teaching. After the Japanese war, when the Japanese had many arms to dispose of, they bought enormous quantities and smuggled them in to their sympathisers. So far back as parent that their hour was coming. five years ago Sun Yat-sen cn- ' listed the support of a powerful 'financial group in New York. Some weeks ago it became apThcre was famine in many parts. In the province of Kiangsu there came serious disasters from heavy rains, which broke down the dykes and flooded cultivated binds. Men muttered that it was all the fault of the officials, who had not attended to their duties. Peking cashiered the officials but the discontent grew. In the province of Szechuan the inhabitants rose in revolt because of the railway schemes of the Government. At first this seemed to be a ''China for the Chinese" demonstration and a protest against allowing foreign money and foreign influence to enter the province. Troops were sent to quell the disturbances. Some of the troops joined the rioters. Telegraph wires were cut. A great official, Tuan Fang, was despatched from Peking with

an army of secretaries and many modern trained soldiers. Tuan Fang would soon put things right. Oddly enough, it was the United States Government which obtained the first real light on the situation. In the middle of September it was stated in Washington that the Szechuan rising was the start of a carefully planned rebellion. So it proved to bo. Kang Yu-wei was in Tokio, moving from there, Sun Yet-sen was directing operations, and before the world had realised that anything serious

was the matter China was in flames. What next? Great revolts often arise in China, but for several hundred years no revolt has permanently succeeded. Th?. return of Yuan to active power is a blow to the revolutionists. The new army worships Yuan. The Government, following the usual plan, will make liberal concessions to progress. Tho great Viceroys and Governors are naturally averse to following the lead of a non-official revolutionist—Dr Sun. The hope of Peking lies in Yuan, his influence, his prestige, and his known and sincere love of progress.