since from time
immemorial she has had a monarchial form of government.
The answer is that the conditions and circumstances in China are peculiar,
and are different from those
prevailing in Japan and other countries.
In Japan it is claimed that the Empire was founded by the first Emperor,
Jummu Tenno, 660 B.C. and that the
dynasty founded by him
has continued ever since. It is well known that the Chinese Imperial family
is of Manchu
origin. The Ching
dynasty was founded in 1644 by conquest,
not by
succession. Upon the recent
overthrow of the Manchu
dynastyit was found very difficult to find a Chinese, however popular and able,
who possessed the legal right of succeeding to the throne.
Jealousy and
provincial feelings placed this
suggestionabsolutelybeyond
discussion. Disagreements, frictions, and
constant civil war
would have ensued if any attempt had been made to establish a Chinese
dynasty.
Another fact is that a large majority of the
intelligent people of China
were disgusted with the
system of monarchial government.
Thus it will be seen that for the sake of the peace and
welfare of the nation
there was no other course for the people but to take a long jump
and to establish the present Republic. The law of evolution
has been very
actively at work in China, and no doubt it will be
for her
ultimate good, and
therefore for the benefit of all mankind.
China is now an
infantrepublic, but she will grow into
a
healthy and strong youth. Her people have the kindest feeling
for the people of the elder
republic across the Pacific.
There are excellent reasons why the two
republics should be
in closer friendship. It is well known that there are great potentialities
for the
expansion of trade in China, and as the Philippine Islands
are close to our shores, and the
completion of the Panama Canal
will open a new avenue for the enlargement of trade from America,
it will be to the interest of both nations to stretch out their hands
across the Pacific in the clasp of good
fellowship and brotherhood.
When this is done, not only will
internationalcommerce greatly increase,
but peace, at least in the Eastern Hemisphere, will be better secured
than by a fleet of Dreadnaughts.
Chapter 4. America and China
America has performed great service for the Orient and especially for China.
If, however, the people of the latter country were asked to express their
candid opinion on the matter, the
verdict would not be
altogether pleasant,
but would be given with mixed feelings of
gratitude and regret.
Since the
formalopening of China to foreign trade and
commerce,
people of all nationalities have come here, some to trade, some for pleasure,
some to
preach Christianity, and others for other purposes.
Considering that the Chinese have a
civilization of their own,
and that their modes of thoughts, ideas, and habits are, in many respects,
different from those of the
western people, it is not surprising
that frictions and disputes have
occasionally occurred
and that even foreign wars have been waged between China and the Occident,
but it is gratifying to observe that no force has ever been resorted to
against China by the United States of America. Now and then
troublesome questions have
arisen, but they have always been settled amicably.
Indeed the just and friendly attitude taken by the American officials in China
had so won the
esteem and confidence of the Chinese Government that in 1867,
on the
termination of Mr. Anson Burlingame's term as American
Minister to Peking, he was appointed by the Manchu Government
as Chief of a special
mission to America and Europe. In that capacity
he performed
valuable services for China, although his work was unfortunately
cut short by his
untimely death. The
liberal and
generous treatment
accorded to the Chinese students in America is another source of satisfaction.
They have been admitted
freely to all
educational institutions,
and welcomed into American families. In
whatever school or college they enter
they are taught in the same way as the American boys and girls, and enjoy
equal opportunities of
learning all that the American students learn.*
That America has no desire for
territorialacquisition in China is well known.
During the Boxer
movement the American Government took the lead
in initiating the
policy of maintaining the open door,
and preserving the
integrity of China, a
policy to which
the other great powers
readily consented. It was well known at the time,
and it is no
breach of confidence to mention the fact here,
that Mr. John Hay, American Secretary of State, with the per
missionof President McKinley, was quite
willing that America's
indemnitydemanded from China as her share of the
compensation for losses sustained
during the Boxer upheaval, should be reduced by one-half,
provided the other powers would consent to similar reductions. Unfortunately,
Mr. Hay's proposal could not be carried out for want of unanimity.
However, to show the good faith, and the
humane and just
policy of America,
she has since voluntarily refunded to China a
considerable portion
of her
indemnity, being the
surplus due to her after payment
of the
actual expenses incurred. This is the second occasion on which
she has done this, although in the
previous case the refund was smaller.
These are some of the instances for which the people of China
have good reasons to be
grateful to America and her people.
--
* I need hardly say that our students are also well treated
in England, France, Germany, Japan, and other countries in Europe,
but I am
dealing in this chapter with America.
--
There is, however, another side to the picture; the Chinese students
in America, who may be
roughly calculated by the thousands,
and whose number is
annually increasing, have been taught
democratic principles of government. These could not but be detrimental
to the
welfare of the late Manchu Government. They have read the history
of how the American people gained their independence,
and naturally they have been imbued with the idea of inaugurating
a similar
policy in China. Chinese merchants, traders, and others
who have been residing in America,
seeing the free and independent manner
in which the American people carry on their government,
learned, of course,
a similar lesson. These people have been an important factor
in the recent
overthrow of the Manchu
dynasty. Added to this,
the fact that America has afforded a safe
refuge for political offenders
was another cause of
dissatisfaction to the Manchus.
Thus it will be seen that the Manchu Government, from their point of view,
have had many reasons for entertaining unfavorable sentiments toward America.
This view I need hardly say is not shared by the large majority of Chinese.
Persons who have committed political offenses in their own country
find
protection not only in America but in all countries in Europe,
Japan, and other
civilized lands. It is an irony of fate
that since the
establishment of the Chinese Republic,
Manchu and other officials under the old
regime, now find secure asylums
in Hongkong, Japan, and Tsingtao, while hundreds of ex-Manchu officials
have fled to the foreign settlements of Shanghai, Tientsin,
and other treaty ports, so
reluctantly granted by the late Manchu Government.
Thus the edge of their
complaint against America's
policyin harboring political
refugees has been turned against themselves,
and the
liberality against which they protested has become their
protection.
The more
substantial cause for
dissatisfaction with the United States is,
I
grieve to say, her Chinese
exclusionpolicy. As long as
her discriminating laws against the Chinese remain in force
a blot must remain on her
otherwise good name, and her relations with China,
though
cordial, cannot be perfect. It is beyond the scope of this chapter
to deal with this subject exhaustively, but in order to
enable my readers
to understand the exact situation it is necessary to supply
a short
historicalsummary. In 1868, on
account of the pressing need
of good laborers for the
construction of railways and other public works
in America, the Governments of China and the United States,
concluded a treaty which provided that "Chinese subjects
visiting or residing in the United States shall enjoy the same privileges,
immunities, and exemptions in respect to travel or
residenceas may be enjoyed by the citizens or subjects of the most favored nation."
It was a treaty negotiated by that great American
statesman, Secretary Seward,
and announced by the President of the United States to Congress
as a "
liberal and auspicious treaty". It was welcomed by the United States
as a great advance in their
international relations.
It had also the double
significance of having been negotiated
by a Chinese special
embassy, of which a
distinguished American diplomat,
Mr. Anson Burlingame, who was familiar with the wishes and interests
of the American people, was the head.
But within a few years the labor unions on the Pacific coast
began to object to the
competition of Chinese laborers.
Soon afterward the Chinese Government, to its
intense surprise,
was informed that the President of the United States
had delegated a com
mission to come to Peking to solicit
an abrogation of the treaty
clause to which
reference has been made.
The Chinese Government was naturally un
willing to abrogate a treaty
which had been urged on her by the United States with so much zeal,
and which had so
lately been entered upon on both sides with such high hopes.
Long and
tedious negotiations ensued, and finally a short treaty
was concluded, the first and second Articles of which are as follows: