The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, April 06, 1906, Page 2, Image 2
The Commoner. Volume 6, number i -Jfv f Ik IB fc coupled with present intornal disturbances in the czar's domain, contains its lesson. As oarly as -1901 a commission was appointed to oxamino and report on all proposed measures affecting the organization and administration of the government, and in 1904 a general assembly of tho ministers of the principal boards was pro "vlded for. While theso newly croatod bodies have no legislative power, they indicato tho trend toward a moro popular government. The con Htitutipn, when adopted, lis it ultimately will bo, will inaugurate a parliamentary system. There is, therefore, a distinct advanco along govern mental Unes, and this in itself means muoh for China and for the outsldo world. , ; A revision of the criminal codo is also being perfected. Tho Hon. Wu Ting Fang, former min ister to tho "United States and now vice-president of tho board of foreign affairs, has boon made a momber of tho board of punishments. He and Shon Ohla Pen, tho vice-president of the board of punishments, have by Imperial decree been in trustod with tho revision and codifying of tho laws of China. They have established a bureau with a start of secretaries and translators and have spont two years In tho examination of tho civil and criminal codes of tho different countries in order to select laws which are applicable to the conditions existing in China. Ex-Minister Wu has taken a deep interest in this subject and kindly furnished mo with tho following list of reforms to which tho imperial sanction has been secured. 1. Ling Chi, slow death by slicing to pieces, has been abolished. It wag- the punishment formerly prescribed for one found guilty of para cldo. high treason, wilful murder of husband ( the '. murder of husband by wife was according to ...Chinese law a muoh graver offense than the mur der of wife by husband.) 2. The heads of criminals were formerly ex posed to the public after execution. This has also beon abolished. 3. Tho beheading of a corpse of a criminal who died boforo execution, is no longer permitted. 4. According to tho old law, parents, rela tives and friends of one convicted of serious . crimes wore subject to punishment; now the pun ishment is confined to the guilty party. (While tho practice of including innocent relatives in tho sontenco seonis barbarous in the extreme, It was, after all, not so different in principle from the practice of tho western nations which in thries of war Inflict punishment Indiscriminately upon innocent and guilty alike.) 5. The branding of criminals has been aban doned. G. Corporal punishment of criminals is also abolished. . 17, The torturing of accused persons during "trXalr except where tho accused is charged with murder, and whore the evidence of guilt is clear, 1 has also been abolished. According to the Chl neso law a person convicted of murder cannot bo put to death until he confesses, and torture has been retained in a case of this kind as a moanB ,of compelling confession whon tho guilt has been otherwise established, but Mr. Wu ex presses the hope that torture in such cases will be abolished in the near future. Tho revision commission has also succeeded in obtaining an imporial decree ordering the con struction of more modern prisons, requiring the inspection of prisoners and compelling humane treatment. Formerly relief from cruel treat ment could only bo secured by paying the official in charge. The commission is now working upon a code of procedure and intends among other things the recommendation of -a system of trial by jury, tho admission of lawyers to practice in the courts and tho relieving of prisoners and witnesses from tho humiliating practice of kneeling In court. In order to secure competent judges and lawyers for tho carrying out of the new code, the commission have obtained the sanction of the government for the establishment of a law school at Pekin (the site has already been purchased) and tho high schools and colleges of the various provinces have been instructed to add law to tho curriculum of their studies. -Minister Wu called attention to other re forms that have been introduced Into China within the last few years, among which may be men tioned tho construction of railways, the estab lishment of a government board of commerce, the formation of a police force, municipal and provincial, tho promulgation of incorporation laws and the establishment of mints. At first the railroads were built by conces sions issued to foreign companfes, but because : of -the constant difficulties which grew out of such, concessions, there fs a growing sentiment in favor of government railrdads. It was in the pur suance of this policy that tho government ac quired tho rights of the American company which was projecting a road from Hankow to Canton. Somo of tho Americans residing in China have expressed regret that this road should -have passed out of American hands, but I am satisfied that it is better for tho United States that China should dwn the road than that it should be In tho hands of foreigners or even in the hands of Americans. It would be impossible to operate the raod without moro or less fric tion which would involve tho countries in diplo matic controversies. If China operates the road herself, we will have equal rights with foreigners without the riBks involved in private ownership. And, speaking of roads, tho city of Pekin is pass- , ing through an era of street improvement. Somo eleven miles of pavement has been laid within three years, and concrete sidewalks are making their appearance. ' The finances of China have been in a misera ble condition. Cash is the money in common use, and these brass coins, running about one thousand to the dollar, are too heavy for any excepting the smallest transactions. Think of doing business with money so heavy that you must carry a hundred pounds of money to make a ten dollar purchase. Some complained of silver in the United States because of its weight, but the silver certificates completely answered this argument, for a silver certificate is as convenient as a gold certificate and more convenient than gold coin; but in China they had no paper sub stitute. The monetary unit is called a tael and, if coined, would weigh about one and one-third times tho Mexican dollar, but -no coins of this denomination are in circulation. The Mexican dollar is in common use, and in some of the pro vinces there are fractional silver coins. But the Mexican dollar is so often counterfeited that it is customary to test each coin as it passes from hand to hand. I secured one of the "threL-piece dollars" as they are called. These are made by sawing a thin disc from each side of the dollar; the silver is then removed from the center and the cavity filled with lead and the two faces soldered on. The work is done so skillfully that the counterfeit can only, be detected by the ring". Several of the banks issue paper notes payable in Mexican dollars, but they are discounted in the various cities so that a traveler's currency is always undergoing a shave. The government has decided to establish a uniform system of cur rency consisting of gold, silver and copper, the silver tael to remain the unit. Patent laws and trade mark laws are now be ing prepared; in fact, China is being quickened in many ways by the increasing knowledge which she is acquiring tho ways of western civilization. They are considering a change in the alphabet and characters in order that the language may be more .easily learned. I have already referred to the fact that China has until recently been practically with out newspapers. There is no better evidence of the progress which China is maldng than is to be found in the increase in the number of her newspapers. While the circulation of these papers Is small as compared with the circulation of similar papers in the United States and Japan, still tho growth is constant and the colloquial dialect sometimes employed bring the news and editorial pages within the comprehension of those who cannot read books. Many of these newspapers are published in the interest of re forms. Onoof the papers started at Hong Kong opposes the examination system by which civil officials were selected, the foot-binding custom and the habit of wearing the queue. The. editor cut off his own queue as an example and is now encouraged by the fact that the soldiers are gradually adopting a like course. He Is also able to note progress in the matter of foot-binding. An imporial edict has been Issued exhorting the people to abandon the practice, and numerous societies are engaged in spreading literature upon this subject But more important Btjll is the recent aboli tion of the examinations. This is a revolution that has shaken the ancient empire to Its founda tion, for tho examination system not. only af fected the government, but moulded the educa tional system as well. In the larger cities elabor ate provisions were made for these examinations, in some places from ten to 'fifteen thousand stalls, being constructed. These stalls were about three feet wide ,by six deep and high enough to permit the student to stand erect. The Only furniture was a board for a seat and another for n desk. At a given liour the students entered theso stalls, were given their themes and kept in their stalls without communication until their '- -fcr "V tasks were" finished. Now tho stalls stand idlov,. and the officials are chosen from the raduateSygg! of the newly established schools. A.-.V Wo visited the examination stalls at Pokin:".; and found them in ruins. They had been occu; : pied by the Boxers fn 1900 and the rafters were'V :. - torn out and used for fuel. After the roofs -had fallen in, the unprotected walls rapidly crumbled. The conservatives have been, very much In censed by the abandonment of the examinations,- but the reformers regard it as a long step in the right direction. On every hand one seessigna of intellectual, development. As stated in "another article, -the ; ' private school was "for centuries the only source from which instruction in books could be gained Now a complete system of schools is being estab' llshed consisting of primary, middle and high, schools, with colleges in the. larger cities. Vice roy Yuan Shih Kai, who presides over the dis trict in which Pekin is situated, and "whom through the courtesy of Minister Rockhill I had an opportunity to meet, informed me that he had, established three thousand schools within his jurisdiction within the past four years. The viceroy is the successor of Li Hung Chang and is considered the most influential man in the" . empire. He is about forty-six years old and im presses one as a man of great mental vigor and alertness. He seems to take a deep Interest in the reforms now being worked out and is cordial s in his treatment of Americans. Consul General Rodgers of Shanghai hap pened to be in Nanking during our visit there, and we paid our respects to Viceroy Chou Fu. This viceroy is quite old and feeble but he is -grappling with the new problems and is a patron of education. He has established one thousand -schools during the last few years and estimated the number of Chinese, students in Japan at this , time at five thousand. At Shanghai there is a government univer sity, the buildings of which cost two hundred and ten thousand dollars. Wo learned that in- some . places Buddhist temples were being converted into schools; that girls' schools are already being, provided for This is even a greater evidence of progress than the. opening., of schools for boys, because of the inferior position. which vc-mari has occupied in the celestial empire. ' - - Besides the government schools there' T are numerous missionary schools in which Instruction is given to both boys and girls. We visited some of these schools at Pekin, Nanking and Shanghai, and found the instructors, encouraged by the at tendance and the interest taken. A number of Americans, and a still larger number of Japa nese, are teaching in the government schools. " - But enough has been said to indicate the regeneration through which the Flowery Kingdom is passing. What will be tho effect of the change -upon the world? Who is wise enough to peer into the future and outline the record of the next century? Japan furnishes the nearest parallel. Compare the Japan of fifty years ago with the , Japan of today and some conception can be formed of China fifty years hence. As Japan's commerce increased, so is China's commerce in creasing; as Japan sent statesmen abroad to in- '. vestigate the methods of other governments, so China is now sending inquirers abroad; as Japan turned her attentlono to schools and colleges, so China is learning the advantage of universal education; as Japanese students journeyed into;, distant lands in search of knowledge, so Chinese." students are in increasing numbers studying in foreign colleges. Even in the enlargement and training of her army she Is patterning after japan ana employing Japanese drill masters. It need not be thought strange that there is an anti-foreign sentiment in China. Was there . not an anti-foreign sentiment fn Japan forty years ago? The Shimonoseki affair was not unlike the Boxer trouble, except that it was less fatal" to . life, but it exerted . a large influence in the over throw of the shogun and in the restoration of the emperor. Just as in Japan the old finally gave way the new and progress took the place of stag nation, so in China the old must give way to the new. - , Advance is inevitable and tho world need 'not ' fear the result. If China were strong enough" to give effect to the hostility which some of her people now feel, she might be a menace to the peace of the world, Tnit she cannot grow in strength faster than she grows in knowledge, " and as she grows , in knowledge she will learn as other nations haye learned that nations help rather than injure each other by tho mnfhMoi:'-': intellectual and moral development of ' their "eo- ' m. v Pie. . . , ' ';, .- V- .,,-;,;;. :'J l ; "'- " aPSk (jonvrlirTvrcT h ijry fe- 'JV 1 .w TT ' 1 liftlW '.W. -f -t " W-WWti'l ...i, - '.Hii.i.... ...til