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
What obligations had I to the then Imperial House? Did it not heap
persecution and humiliation on me to the utmost of its power and
resources? I would have been an exile even to this day had it not
been for the Revolution. Further, I was no child and I was fully
aware of the disappointment which the then Government caused in
the minds of the people. Yet I risked the opposition of the whole
country and attempted to prolong the life of the dying dynasty. I
had no other view in mind except that there would be some
possibility of our hope being realized if the whole nation would
unite in efforts to improve the administration under the then
existing form of government. I believed that because the people
were not educated for a change. But if the status of the country
should be changed before the people are educated and accustomed to
the new order of things, the danger and hardship during the
transitional period of several years would be incalculable. In
certain circumstances this might lead to the destruction of the
nation. Even if we are spared the tragedy of national extinction,
the losses sustained by the retarding of the progress of the
administration would be unredeemable. It is painful to recall past
experiences; but if my readers will read once more my articles in
the Hsin Mim Tung Pao during the years 1905 and 1906 they will see
that all the sufferings which the Republic has experienced bear
out the predictions made then. The different stages of the
sinister development have been unfolding themselves one by one
just as I said they would. It was unfortunate that my words were
not heeded although I wept and pleaded. Such has been the
consequence of the change of the state of the country--a change of
Kuo-ti.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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