CHINA'S MAGNA CHARTA.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 11, 23 December 1911, Page 2

CHINA'S MAGNA CHARTA.

THRONE GRANTS PARE LAMENT ON BRITISH MODEL. ABJECT SUBMISSION IN EIGHTEEN CLAUSES. IS IT TOO LATE? When our •oref tliors tangnt King John at Runnymede the essential facts of constitutional liberty and put them in writing for him to sign in the shape of Magna Charta they i'ttlo thought they were setting an example which within a thousmd years China would seek to copy. Yet so it is. A people whose antiquity makes our history the history of a day has decided to have a Constitution and a Parliament based upon the British model. Here are the items in China's Magna . Charta:—• 1. The Ta-ching Dynasty shall reign for ever. 2. The person of the Emperor shall be inviolable. 3. The power of the Emperor shall be limited by a Constitution. 4. The order of the succession shall be prescribed in the Constitution. 5. The Constitution shall be drawn up and adopted by the Tzc-cheng-yuan and promulgated by the Emperor G. The power of amending the Constitution belongs to Parliament. 7. The members of the Upper House shall be elected by the people from among those particularly eligible for the position. 8. Parliament shall elect and the Emperor shall appoint the Premier, who will recommend the other members of the Cabinet, these also being appointed by the Emperor. The fmperial Princes shall be ineligible as Premier, Cabinet Ministers, or administrativa heads of provinces. 9. If the Premier on I eing impeached by Parliament does not dissolve Parliament he must resign, but one Cabinet shall not be allowed to dissolve Parliament more than once. 10. The Emperor shall assume direct control of the Army and Navy, but when the power is used with regard to internal affairs he must observe special conditions to be decided by Parliament; otherwise he is prohibited from exercising such power. 11. Imperial decrees cannot bo made to replace tlie law, except in the event of immediate necessity, in which case decrees in the nature of a law may be issued in accordance with special conditions, but only when they arc in connection with the execution of a law or what has by law been delegated. 12. International treaties shall not bo concluded without the consent of Parliament, but the conclusion of peace or a declaration of war may be made by the Emperor, if Parliament is not sitting, the approval of Parliament to be obtained afterwards. 13. Ordinances in connection with the administration shall be settled by Acts of Parliament. 14. In case the Budget fails to receive the approval of Parliament, the Government cannot act upon the previous year’s. Budget,, nor may items of expenditure not provided for in the Budget be appended to it. Further, the Government shall not be allowed to adopt extraordinary financial measures outside the Budget. 15. Parliament shall, fix the expenses of the Imperial Household and any increase or decrease therein. IG. Regulations in connection with the Imperial Family must not conflict with tlie Constitution. 17. The two Houses shall establish the machinery 6f V s an administrative Court. 18. The Emperor shall promulgate the decisions of Parliament. Let a Parliament be Formed. “The National Assembly (Tze-cheng-yu.au.) memorialised the Throne, submitting the above principles of a Monarchical Constitution and praying the Throne to, swear before the temple of its ancestors to issue them to the people in order to protect the Throne and strengthen the foundations of the Empire. “Wo recognise their importance, and they are granted,” says an Edict. “Wo shall arrange for a day to swear before the temple of our acnstors to issue them; to the whole Empire on yellow paper. When the yuan drafts a Constitution these principles are to form the basis.” The Edict agrees to the request of the National Assembly for a Parliament; “Let the Assembly draft Parliamentary election regulations, and elect members. When the members of Parliament have been elected, let a Parliament lie formed. The Tze-cheng-yuan also prayed that if the revolutionaries should form a political party the throne should recognise such before the law. This is granted. Thus additional talents will be available to the. service of the country.” “Tim Times” correspondent says this edict “is one of the most humiliating ever signed by a Sovereign. In deference to the resolution of the National Assembly it converts the Revolutionary Society Komingtang into a political party, whose leaders are to be employed in the service of the State.” A remarkable edict, issued on November 4th, uses the very notable words quoted on our front page, that China in future is to be governed by Public Opinion. “Then follows a long and quaint description of, the transition from Monarchial to Constitutional government, concluding with the words: ‘All countries must pass through this stage. The revolutionaries of China are different from the wicked rebels of former Dynasties, who sought to destroy the Throne and to injure the people. “The minority of the people contends nonsensically that the Manchus and the Chinese are different races. There should be no distinction. The great ancient Monarchs Hsun and Yu came from the East and West frontiers. Nevertheless they were the holy rulers of China. Surely our peo pie will end the crisis and place the four hundred millions on the same plane as the other peoples of the world.” !s It Too Late? It is expected that the drafting of the Constitution will take some months. At present it is doubtful whether •Yuan-Shih-Kai will accept the Premiership, although ordered to do so; and in any case his appointment would have to bo sanctioned by the Chinese Parliament, He is being-at-tacked in the National Assembly, and the Assembly is being attacked in the provinces as not representing local opinion. The one outstanding question now is. Are these reforms—as usual—too late? China is in a ferment. “The Times” Shanghai correspondent deelar"s that the Chinese- people, will be content with nothing short of the total extermination of tlie Manchus, and the “Morning Post” says that “the menace of a devastating civil war banns over the Empire.” “Will the old China vessel carry | the new wine?” asks the “Westminster’ Gazette.”