236 



The Review of Reviews. 



The 

 Chinese Republic. 



Affairs in China have been cleared 

 up in one direction and compli- 

 cated in another. The Manchus 

 have consented to their deposition, 

 although the Emperor is to retain a titular or honorific 

 position within the Empire which he ceases to rule ; 

 and Yuan Shi-Kai is busy arranging for the organisa- 

 tion of the Republic, of which he is at present the 

 nominal head. So far all seemed to be going well, 

 although ominous warnings reached us from time to 

 time from Japan, from Russia, and from British resi- 

 dents in China. Japan evidently dislikes the establish- 

 ment of a 1-lepublic in Asia. Russia is not very cordial. 

 15iit the chief difficulties are internal. Of this an ugly 



Mr. Roosevelt, in his own pic- 

 Mr. Roosevelt turesque lansuaire, has thrown his 

 and the ,.,.",. 



American Presidency, hat into the ring, and is now "out' 



for acceptance as a candidate for 

 the third time, which he declared so often he 

 would never, no never, accept. Now he says 

 that his definite repudiation of all ambition to 

 serve "a third term" meant ''a third consecutive 

 term." There are many ways of getting out of a 

 pledge when you want to, and Mr. Roosevelt's 

 e.xcuse will serve his turn as well as any other. The 

 important thing is that Mr. Roosevelt is now boldly 

 in the field in opposition to President Taft, who is 

 straining every means at the disposal of the executive 



Pliolografh / ,1 



The Chinese Amazon Corps. 



These Amazons are ladies, mostly sliulents, of good family, who were accepteil after iniicli deliberation as fighting units of the 



Chinese Republic. Thoy all l)ear arms and have been undergoing drill in Nankin and .Shanghai. 



reminder was afforded us in the last days of February 

 by the outbreak of mutiny among the unpaid soldiery 

 of Yuan Shi-Kai in Peking. They appear to have got 

 entirely out of hand and to have looted and burned 

 the wealthy quarters of the city. With the aid of some 

 of the troops who remained loyal the looters appear 

 to have been subdued. But it was a bad business, a 

 sinister reminder of the forces which lurk below the. 

 apparently placid surface of the Rcpulilic. It will 

 take more than the Chinese Amazon Corps to restore 

 order in China if once the fountains of the great deep 

 are broken up. Unpaid .soldiers turn brigands of 

 necessity. And where Yuan is to get the money to 

 pay his troops is as yet an unsolved problem. 



to secure rcnomination at the coming Republican 

 convention. Mr. Roosevelt has come out on a very 

 Radical platform. He approves of the Referendum 

 and the Initititive. but, worst offence of all in the 

 eyes of his critics, he is in fa^■(nlr of the Recall. 

 This would give the mass vote of the electors 

 supreme tiuthority over the Supreme Court, whose 

 decisions have often nullified the legislative enactments 

 of Congress. That means, say his critics, that questions 

 of law must be .settled first by the Federal Court, 

 secondly by the Supreme Court, and thirdly by the 

 mob. The battle rages loud and long, and betw een them 

 Taft and Roosevelt may make it possible for the 

 Republicans to adopt a dark horse as a candidate of 



