Rei itiu of R2V7CWS, i/iiUS. 



YUAN SHIIl-KAl . 



883 



said he would take particular pains to 

 see that it didn't happen again. The 

 Nanking delegates agreed with him that, 

 in view^ of the riot, it was necessary for 

 him to remain in Peking and look after 

 affairs there, so the trip to Nanking was 

 abandoned. Surrounded bv his own 

 troops, Yuan was inaugurated in Pekmg, 

 and the Nanking delegates returned 

 south a chagrined and disappointed 

 band. Needless to say, there have been 

 no more riots in Peking, for, according 

 to popular belief, the one riot was espe- 

 cially staged by Yuan. 



THE DI.AZ OF CHINA. 



Since the abdication of the Manchus, 

 more than a year ago, Yuan has been the 

 Government of China. He has talked a 

 great deal about Republican principles, 

 but he has ruled with a power as abso- 

 lute as that exercised by the dethroned 

 Manchus. No other ruler is more care- 

 fully guarded ; no other ruler, either 

 monarchial or republican, is surrounded 

 with more of the pomp and circumstance 

 of power than Yuan Shih-kai, the master 

 of China. 



A few months ago an American news- 

 paper man. in an interview with him, 

 said : " Some persons say you wish to be- 

 come another Napoleon." 



Yuan laughed and replied: "Yes, 1 

 know they say that, but they are wrong. 

 1 have taken \\'ashington, not Napoleon, 

 as my model. Who is the most ad- 

 mired figure in history? Is it Napoleon 

 or any King or Emperor ? No. It is 

 Washington. What did Napoleon 

 leave ? A torn and exhausted country. 

 What did Washington create? A great 

 and free nation.' 



In spite of this, the Southern provinces 

 believe Yuan is following the example 

 of Napoleon, and hence they began civil 

 war against him. There is, in the fight 

 between the South and the North of 

 China, a striking similarity to the great 

 war between the States which was wag- 

 ing in America fifty years ago. The 

 Southern provinces hold that they have 



inalienable rights of their own, which 

 are threatened by the domination of 

 Yuan Shih-kai. These rights, they 

 claim, include the right to secede from 

 the union of provinces which make up 

 the Republic of China. Their statesmen, 

 their politicians, their logicians, and 

 their sophists argue that it was the seces- 

 sion of the Southern provinces from the 

 Monarchy of China which made the 

 establishment of the Republic possible ; 

 hence, if the Southern provinces are not 

 satisfied with the republic which Yuan 

 Shih-kai has dominated, there is no rea- 

 son w^hy they should not again secede 

 and set up a republic of their own. 

 Against this argument the North (that 

 is, Yuan Shih-kai) is arguing as the 

 North argued in America more than fifty 

 years ago. And, as in that time, it ap- 

 pears that school-book theories will 

 again fail to settle the question, which 

 can only be determined by the results of 

 the battlefield. 



And if Yuan Shih-kai, equipped with 

 the money recently loaned by foreign 

 bankers, should win — what then ? 

 Nearly all the leaders who took part in 

 the Republican revolution are arrayed 

 against him, just as they were when he 

 was supporting the Monarchy. His suc- 

 cess in the present contest would elimi- 

 nate them from the affairs of China, and 

 he would be in a position even stronger 

 than that he now occupies. 



Yuan recently said, in explaining his 

 Republican convictions : " Now that the 

 people have decided upon a Republic 

 we should give it a fair trial. It would 

 be foolish to think of reverting to an- 

 other form of government before doing 

 our utmost to make the Republic a suc- 

 cess." 



He may decide that the present 

 Southern rebellion is proof that a Re- 

 publican form of government is not a 

 success for China. In that event there 

 will be little to prevent him from estab- 

 lishing himself as the head of a new 

 dynasty. 



