Peking Gazette, edited by a young progressive Chinese, commented thus upon the meeting: 66 Yesterday's meeting of the Conference on Constitution was historic for the reason that the question whether the Republic of China shall create a precedent, in the history of Republicanism by making one of the many religions, if Confucianism can be called a religion, the State religion of the country, was settled after a long and serious struggle. The Confucianists resorted to every possible means to win but the odds against them were too strong. The question of freedom of religious belief is by no means settled but the attempt to give the Republic a State religion has been definitely defeated." A few quotations from the native press of the country will reveal the spirit of the people at that time. It should be remembered that a year before practically no expression of public opinion was allowed. On January 12th the Min-Kwo-hsin-pao spoke as follows: 66 Coming as we do in sight of the sacred instrument of Government which is to protect us from tyranny and misrule and assure to us the blessings of liberty and democracy, it is fitting that we recall the bloodshed and tribulations through which we have triumphed over monarchy and autocracy. . . . The mere possession of a Constitution is one thing, and its enjoyment is another. We care for no hollow Constitution, but we are willing to die for a Constitution that is a reality. We know the spirit of our people, so 'Ten Thousand Years' to our Constitution." On January 17th the Kung-min-pao expressed itself thus: "We have a Republic but not a democracy. The Republic was established by the revolution of 1911. But Democracy is still in the making. By wresting from the Monarchy our form of government, half of the battle was won; and now we have to bend our energy to training our people in democracy." On January 27th the Peking Jih-pao emphasized the need of moral strength back of all political changes -its message was a thoughtful and valuable one at that time: 66 Signs of progress in the country are not lacking. Intellectually the people have taken a leap forward. The idea of democracy and general knowledge of modern learning are gradually being spread among the people. This is a hopeful sign. But knowledge without moral backbone is worse than ignorance. The morality of our people, we are sorry to say, has not kept pace with their advance in knowledge. We are in the same predicament as France was immediately after her great revolution. The people have cut adrift from old traditions, but have not assimilated new ideas and principles rapidly enough to supply the resulting moral vacuum. We can say without fearing challenge that the morality of the people is everything in the life of a nation. While we may be busy instituting reforms and improving the minds of the people, we must not for a minute lose sight of this signal fact the soul of the nation." In conclusion, the opinions of two foreigners, one an Englishman, the other an American, concerning the situation as it then appeared, are worthy of quotation. The first is Mr. Putnam Weale, for many years a correspondent in Peking, and author of several standard books on the Far East. On January 16th, he wrote in the Peking Gazette as follows: "The conviction which the writer has consistently cherished, that the situation in this country is as good as could possibly be expected — and gives reasonable promise of peaceful development in the future—seems based on sound premises. The Chinese as a people are temperamentally suited to representative government; they are reasonable, tactful, conciliatory and humorous; four saving graces which will carry them very far along the road to political success. Like a solid piece of iron which binds the nation together |