The Fight for the Republic in ChinaPutnam Weale, B. L. (Bertram Lenox)
History
The Fight for the Republic in China
Putnam Weale, B. L. (Bertram Lenox)
China -- History -- Republic, 1912-1949; China -- Politics and government
2. It is certain that the adoption of a republican form of
government in a country where the people are low in intellect and
lack experience and knowledge in political affairs, will not yield
any good result. For as the position of the President is not
hereditary, and consequently the problem of succession cannot be
satisfactorily solved, the result will be a military dictatorship.
It might be possible to have a short-lived peace but such a period
of peace is usually intermingled with periods of disturbances,
during which the unduly ambitious people may rise and struggle with
each other for the control of power, and the disaster which will
follow will be irremediable.
This is not all. The present tendency is that the European and other
western Powers will not tolerate the existence of a military
government in the world; for experience shows that the result of
military government is anarchy. Now this is of vital importance to
the interests of the European Powers. Since their financial
influence has extended so far, their capital as well as their
commercial undertakings of all branches and sorts have reached every
corner of the world, they will not hesitate to express their views
for the sake of peace, as to the system of government a country
should adopt, although they have no right to interfere with the
adoption of a form of government by another nation. For unless this
is done they cannot hope to get the due profit on the capital they
have invested. If this view is carried to the extreme, the political
independence of a nation may be interfered with or even the
Government may be replaced with some other organ. If such steps are
necessary to attain their views the Powers will not scruple to take
them. Therefore no nation will be allowed hereafter to choose its
own form of government if that results in constant revolution, as in
the case of South America in the last century. The Governments of
the future should, therefore, carefully consider the system to be
adopted for the maintenance of peace; otherwise control by
foreigners will be unavoidable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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