The New China in the Making.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13532, 29 February 1908, Page 1 (Supplement)

The New China in the Making.

In 'he " IVicitie Kra." a new American periodical devoted to ilie study of thrnational and international questions oil'cct - inir the future of Ihe count ikis bordering tin- I'acilic Ocean. Mr. Arthur H. Smith urites from personal knowledge on the reform movement in China. Although a believer in the future reformation-of China, h- its convinced that if- will l>e a longer and far hard-r task than many are willing to admit. Chinas greatest- lack is character and' conscience, and above all men. How is it. he asks, that with the largest population in the world real men are so hard to find?

On tIK- surface at least there is much evidence of ihe attempted "transformation" of China.more especially in the great centres of life and activity: "China bristles with new schools qnd colleges.'" The; scholars are clad in semiforeign emstuiiie, and are drilled in athletics, in which many of them take great interest and pride, as well as in military drill, which is accepted, 'contrary to all Chinese traditions and ideals, as a necessary means vo make the country strong, an object which the new patriotism holds forth to scholastic view with a steady persistence. In ports like Shanghai, Canton, Fopchow, or Tieasin, this new student class is a picturesque feature in every landscape. The total number rises into many.tens of thousands and their influence is very strong and persuasive. Then there is* the new education for young women, directly imitated from the schools which altruistic foreigners in tChina have been cultivating for something more than twogenerations. Without entering upon this topic in detail, it is safe to say that it constitutes one of the foremost signs and evidences of real progress in China, and is full of hope. China has always been a democratic country, jand its women have greatly influenced its greatest men. Now that the ideal of education for women lias been formally accepted, it is evident that a new and powerful force has been liberated with unlimited possibilities for good." In educational matters China has begun at the wrong end.. Colleges and "middle schools" have been established, but.the primary schools upon which the whole education scheme depends, have been left to be developed last. The natural rn-itilt is that they have not been developed at all. The growing influence of the press in a phenomenon the importance of which is not easily exaggerated. Another disturbing influence are the foreigntrained students : —"Many of the students who have been abroad—especially those who have -studied in Japan—have com' back practically anarchists. The baleful expression TCo-ming tang,' or 'Opposed to authority Clique.' is everywhere heard, and a note of terror to the officials and to the Court. The dynamite bomb is- one of the sinister adjuncts of Western civilisation in China.- used for the first- time against the Imperial Commission to study Constitutional Government just as they were leaving Pekin in the Autumn of 1905. and now again in the public murder (although a., a fact, a revolver was finally employed) of the ultra conservative Governor of Anhui, En Ming." Mr. Smith is not very hopeful as to ihe sincerity or of the movements for constitutional reform and the abolition of opium smoking. He says:—"'Constitutional Government' is the present hobby, but nobody knows (or cares) what it is, and in <-:o far as it means cutting off illicit income and suppression of bribes and blackmail, no on-» is at present competent to work it even were it wanted. The movement of the suppression of opium smoking is a perfectly real and genuine one and has been, put into operation at great centres like Peking, Tientsin, Shanghai, Fooehow and Canton, with stringency and success. But the .period allotted for the reform (ten years) is three, times too long. The planting of the poppy is for the most, part absolutely uninterdicted. The sale- of opium is not tabooed, but only the smoking and that only in certain place-'. In the. interior cities even these ea:-;y regulations are only heard of distantly "and" without effect. In practice the. 'jointi' go on as before, as they have to pay a licenst; which is a forced levy, and are thus protected from further trouble.