CHINA AND ITS FUTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14644, 1 April 1911, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHINA AND ITS FUTURE.

. /,-; BY REV. JAME3 MILNE, M.A. " # The Chinese Empire covers territory as large as Europe, its population is estimated at 400,000,000, about a-<iuarter, according to further y estimate., of the inhabitants of the world. This-vast domain consists of •, China proper, with the. provinces of Manchuria, Mongolia, Eastern or Chinese Turkestan, and Thibet. Of these Manchuria, the scene of the Russo-Japanese conflict, •] is the best known and most important. Lying to the north-west of China proper, \ it is within easy access of Japan, by which . enterprising country it is now mainly , dominated, although previous to. the war '■■ Russian influence was asserting itself there. Mongolia, the province lying to the north and separated from China by the famous Great Wall, abounds in immense plains and tablelands. Jts inhabitants are mostly nomadic, possessing numerous flocks and ' herds. Much of Turkestan is little better . than sandy desert, but in this, desert land are said to be fertile patches where the soil is cultivated and productive, while certain of its towns, such as Kaahgar (the capi- > tal) and Khotan, are trade centres, the, < latter being famed for its silk carpets. ' Jade, not linlike the New Zealand green- ; stone, is found in the neighbourhood of , this city, and the town has a history dat- ; ing back to a period before the Christian i era. -\ .. : .;;.;i Thibet, that land of mystery and snowy; 1 fastnesses, has recently been brought under Chinese influence, and is now included in the empire. Various travellers have ventured, at the risk of their lives, within its forbidden confines, and a British expedition from India, some seven years ago, forced its way to the capital Lhasa, yet i by convention of its people, as alike ■by 1 rigour of its climate, it. seems bound, frozen, held aloof from intercourse with all 1 without itself. Its interest for years is likely to be more strategic than commercial, and for this very reason its position as part of the great Chinese Empire is not > devoid of importance. It provides a way, ] albeit a very inaccessible one, from the heart of China to India and other rich provincial lands of Southern Asia. China proper may be simply yet truly .' described as a richly productive land. Its i main products are silk, rice, and tea. Of ' these immense yields and crops are pro- ' duced 'and rained annually. But in a coun- '.' try of such dimension, variety, and condi- ; tion of climate and soil as it presents, there are many other, products, all making for ' its , commercial significance. Since the I opening of its five treaty ports, of which the most famous are Shanghai, Anioy, and ' Fuchon, the trade of China; has become of world-wide importance. Add to this that ■ it is a land of mighty navigable rivers, of which its inhabitants are very proud, that ; the people themselves are' generally good ■ farmers, patient, cheerful, hard-working, 3 and we have some idea of the industrial ; and commercial, possibilities of China. There are, however, < other aspects of . China and the Chinese to be considered. ;< The people, e.g., although generally paci- ; fically inclined and industrious, are apt, if ; roused to anger lor excited, to prove them- , selves exceeding cruel and riotous, as was .' very manifest in the, so-called "Boxer" movement of a few years ago. They have 1 the name also of being not a little vindic* : live in resenting what they may esteem ' as injury, through, cherishing its memory ■ in love of revenge. '''-'Although "generally a ' nation of farmers, greatly addicted to the ' soil through the love of cultivating it, and ; holding the name of farmer in great Bon- '.\ our and respect, yet are they an emigrating ' race, finding their way in ever-increasing : numbers, in face of poll-tax and other dis- i abilities, into other • countries, intruding ; i slowly but surely and deliberately into ' many a cherished reserve of their white ' brethren. \ There, are yet other matters of interest 3 to be mentioned and considered; as to this , wonderful and vast land, with its innumer- j able people. The electric wire is being , fast pushed into the most inaccessible parts i of the empire. Railways are "being laid on ], every hand. Preparation is being made for i the establishment of manufactories and the ] dovolpment of .industries throughout the land. Apropos of this, it may be men- 1 tioned that already China manufactures her. i own locomotivos and ; railway carriages, i There is word also of outside concessions, ] rights, and privileges conceded on stipu- • lated conditions to foreign companies of '"i countries being bought back. The great ] mineral wealth which, in the opinion of i experts, China must possess, especially in i the southern district of the country pro- ' per and in Manchuria, and which has i hitherto been left undeveloped through vague j fear and superstition," is to be tapped by i mining operations. ; " .' ; The testimony of missionaries, merchants, j travellers, and other authorities on China i is that, the great land is awakening. More U slowly than its little neighbour Japan, yet * none the less surely it is becoming Western- ; ised. About 10 years ago the old.ed.ttca- i tional system of : . China was revolutionised, i For it, in one act, were substituted the ;.-: educative methods of the West; This tak- : ing place immediately after the quelling of 1 the Boxer riots, has not been without its ' enlightening effect upon the people gene- ] rally. "A straw Bhows how the wind 1 blows," and the recent- edict of the Em- i peror, giving permission to ; Chinamen j throughout In© ; empire and the world to * dismiss with the/queue, or pigtail, was one i of those incidents which, in themselves i seemingly insignificant to outsiders, are of great significance to those whom they more < immediately concern. -» * -'-•' ■"'■.•;■ '■ With the pigtail passed, the old, the i incorrigibly conservative/the dead,? and < unprogresmve'; China., and ■'■ awoke the new/ < the enlightened, the' self-realising, the « China of life and progress! ; It requires 1 . little intuition, little knowledge of men ! ;j and nations, and comparatively little know- > ledge of China herself, to be able to state ] that her awakening-is to mightily affect ! the world. For what are the facts of the the case? v \ : '. r '-.-'* : .- A vast nation and practically one race of • men, .face to: face with a civilisation su- ' perior to their own, which for a , time they J resist but at last adopt fling aside their ! .oldvideals/ and begin to organise them- ', I selves on the lines of the new: order Of j I tilings/ The organising, too, is methodical, * efficient, and strong. Profiting from the * example of her neighbour Japan, China ' begins to arm and train her, army on; the : new lines. That army so disciplined to-, day, in comparison with her size, is insignificant, but the possibilities of its develop- ! ment on the same lines ; are exceeding ! great. Already China manufactures her i own ordnance and rifles! -.-. Further, and within a decade after the .', Boxer, riots, which more especially drew ? the eyes of Europe upon China, and whose ' quelling bv a federated force of the na- ! tions, marked the beginning of the end of the old refine for China/ and let us hope ~ the beginning of a new regime for Europe, ], within 10 years, we have remarked, after i- ( the famous riots, China has been organised ; politically. Public assemblies, renresehta- *, tive of each of the 20 provinces of the em- ] pire, have met in their several provinces < to discuss public affairs, and; the latest , f-nym China -is the report of a National •-, Assembly, representative of each of the 20 \ provinces, and sitting at the capital Pekih. , The day has passed . for; the. dismember- \ ment.of China, for its integrity has been -| guaranteed by the Western Powers. Awake \ and developing her enormous resources,- the « suggestion of what her future may be, is i hi ; itself a call to . Europe to consider her ] own dismembered condition. So may the '■{ coming slorv of the East make the civilisa- , tion of the West still more glorious, through i the consummation of the United' States rf j JJuroneJ -