should clearly understand this, in order that with sincerity of purpose they may endeavor to strengthen the friendship of our international bonds. I hereby declare, therefore, that all treaties, conventions and other engagements entered into by the former Manchu and the Provisional Republican Governments with foreign governments shall be strictly observed, and that all contracts duly concluded by the former governments with foreign companies and individuals shall also be strictly observed; and further that all rights, privileges and immunities enjoyed by foreigners in China by virtue of international engagements, national enactments and established usages are hereby confirmed. This declaration I make with the view to maintain international amity and peace. All of you, citizens, should know that this is in accordance with a principle of international relations which must be carried out. If we can show an honest proof of our friendly intentions our relations with foreign countries will be properly managed.

The foregoing is but a summary of the thoughts which I desire to lay before you, citizens, and the moral which I want again to teach and enlarge upon consists of two characters: Tao Te the practice of virtue]. These two characters are most comprehensive, and it has been impossible even for the great sages, by the use of thousands and thousands of words, to reveal their full significance. I will state what I understand by these two characters, and I will group my remarks under four heads: Chung [loyalty], Hsin [honesty], Tu [sincerity], and Ching [respect].

Loyalty. The original idea of loyalty is that a person should be loyal to his country and not to any particular man. If everyone held as his guiding principle loyalty to the nation instead of loyalty to a man or to a family, he would sacrifice his own interests for the interests of the majority. It is most important that everyone should pay less attention to the attainment of power and influence and more to the fulfillment of duty. The interests of the country should not be sacrificed for the acquisition of personal power and influence.

Honesty. Confucius said that without honesty no one can stand upright. In enlightened countries the deceitful are bywords among their fellow men and are held in general contempt. Washington when young received instruction from his father and thereafter never told a lie. From ancient times our country has laid stress on honesty, but of late the spirit of the people has not been as in earlier days. The people have acquired a habit of deceitfulness. Since it is difficult for a person to stand upright, how much more a nation. Tseng Kuo-fan of the late Ch'ing Dynasty said that in order to attain to upright stature it was essential never to tell a lie. Therefore, whether dealing with internal or with external problems, honesty is necessary.

Sincerity. In all enlightened countries no efforts have been spared to preserve the traditions of the nation, even so far as regards individual names or things. This is no impediment to progress. In the past the Renowned Religion has been the great bulwark of our country, and after four thousand vears of alterations and changes there is the germ of something indestructible in it still. However, there are some who have been misguided by theory and are bent on destruction. They do not follow what is practical but are full of

high-sounding words. Before they have acquired any advantage from foreign learning they have thrown away all the traditions of their own country. This shallowness of mind has spread quickly. If there are no branches, where shall the leaves be attached? The remedy for the complaint here described is in sincerity.

Respect. One must have a constant mind before one can have a constant occupation. When a person destitute of constancy has business to attend to he will attend to it confusedly; when he has none to attend to he will be idle. All his affairs will be character: ized by idleness. Everything will come to grief through carelessness. No one will take any responsibility; all will stand by mockingly. No one will attend even to his own private affairs. From this we can understand the virtue of the saying of the ancients: "Respect your business." To do away with pride and laziness there must be respect.

The four words Loyalty, Honesty, Sincerity and Respect should be used to encourage us. Let us keep them in mind every day and not allow them to leave our mouths. The principles upon which the nation is established are right and wrong, good and bad, and although the likes and dislikes of individuals are not always exactly the same, yet there is the same standard for right and wrong, good and bad. Speaking generally, those who discharge their duties and abide by the law are right and good, and those who have overstepped the bounds of propriety and violated the laws of righteousness are wrong and evil. I desire that the citizens of the country may have the power to discriminate between these two classes.

There are some persons who say that as civilization advances economy will give place to extravagance. A weak and povertystricken country trying to imitate the extravagances rather than the civilization of other nations is like a bed-ridden invalid trying to fight against an athlete. During recent years the standard of living of the people has steadily risen, but wealth has decreased in even greater proportion. There is an ancient saying that when a nation. becomes extravagant economy should be preached. I therefore hope that in the practice of morality by the citizens more attention will be paid to economy.

In a word, if law and morality go hand in hand, the state will be firm and immovable. As for the problem of national defense, the country needs rest and recuperation, and this therefore is no time for struggle with armed force. But I am most anxious that every man in the army and navy regard it as his duty to obey orders and protect the people. Who among the officers does not know this? But these two duties have not been entirely observed in the shock of the late storm, and I must acknowledge that I have not been equal to my responsibilities. Hereafter I will pay great attention to moral education so that I may not be ashamed to face the people. Actuated now by the most sincere and friendly sentiments, I declare before you, citizens, that for each day that I remain in office. that day will I take full responsibility. The Chinese Republic is a republic of its four hundred million people. If brothers are friendly the family will be prosperous, if the people are of one heart and one mind the nation will be prosperous. This is my prayer for the Chinese Republic.

POLITICAL AFFAIRS. ORGANIZATION OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. RECOGNITION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA BY THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER POWERS. INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT YUAN SHIH K’AI. UPRISING IN SOUTHERN PROV, INCES SUPPRESSED. EXPULSION BY PRESIDENTIAL DECREE OF NATIONALIST MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. FORMATION BY THE PRESIDENT OF A POLITICAL COUNCIL.1

File No. 893.00/1505.

No. 671.]

The American Minister to the Secretary of State.

[Extract.]

AMERICAN LEGATION, Peking, November 12, 1912.

SIR: I have the honor to report that as far as outward appearances go, the political situation here is one of gradual improvement. It is still far from ideal, and no great promise for the future is present, but, upon the whole, the political outlook is better than it was a few months ago.

This improvement is largely evidenced by the single fact that Yuan Shih-kai is slowly but steadily increasing his hold upon the country. By common consent all hopes for the future are largely centered in this one man. Unfortunately he is aging fast, and the fear is often expressed that he may break down, and the wonder is, what will happen if such a misfortune occurs; there is no man in sight to take his place.

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It may be said that the improvement I have noticed is largely superficial. That no constructive work of any great importance has been done and none is under way. That the fundamental question as to the relation of the central government to the provinces remains undetermined. *This important question will probably not

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be settled until the permanent constitution is adopted. I think the over-shadowing fact remains that the country has settled down to the new order of things. The people, so far as they know anything about it, have accepted the Republic as an established fact. For a time I was afraid that there would be a great struggle for control, between the north and south, at the coming election, and that all kinds of trouble would ensue. But now that the opposition to Yuan has so largely disappeared, he may be regarded as the accepted leader, for the time at least. The crops this year have been uniformly good, except perhaps in a few districts subjected to unusual floods. This fact helps the situation very much; it brings not only comfort but confidence to the people; confidence, because the good crops show that Heaven was not so much displeased, after all, by the removal of the Emperor, and therefore, they may accept the new order with the assurance that it is all right from a religious as well as a political standpoint.

The difficult, the delicate and the dangerous problem with which the President is confronted, is how to get rid of the independent tutus or provincial governors, and also the military chiefs who defy all civil authority. Only one or the other of two ways is possible for the solution of this problem. The President must fight these men with armed

1 Continued from For. Rel. 1912, pp. 46-86.

force and thereby in all probability bring on a civil war, or he must buy them off with money. He doubtless thinks the latter course is the easiest and the cheapest.

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It is not meant that it shall be implied that there is no legitimate or other need for money aside from the specific purpose above named. The disbandment of the troops is the most prominent need, but the arrearages of the indemnity and other liabilities, and the supply of the actual expenses of the Government in many legitimate ways, require the borrowing of money to bridge the country over until the disrupted revenues resume their normal returns. Without considerable money the new Government cannot get on its feet, so to speak. The query in every one's mind is how long the present condition of affairs will last; it cannot, in the very nature of things, last indefinitely. If Yuan is not supported, he will fail, anarchy will result, and armed foreign intervention, with all its complications and unforseen consequences will surely follow.

I have [etc.]

W. J. CALHOUN.

File No. 893.00/1529a.

The Secretary of State to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on

Foreign Relations.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 4, 1913. MY DEAR SENATOR CULLOM: Referring to your conversation this morning with Mr. Huntington Wilson, I have the honor to enclose herewith for your personal information a memorandum which I trust will give the information you desire on the status of the question of the recognition of China.

Very sincerely yours,

P. C. KNOX.

[Inclosure.]

Memorandum on the recognition of the “Republican Government of China,”

The joint resolution providing for the immediate recognition of the Republican Government of China, introduced by Senator Bacon on January 2 (S. J. R. 146)', raises important questions of fact, law, and policy.

The resolution provides that

Whereas the people of China have asserted the right of self-government, and in pursuance thereof have thrown off the rule of monarchy and sought to establish for themselves a representative republican Government and

Whereas in the time which has elapsed since the establishment of their present republican Government satisfactory evidence has been given that a permanent and stable Government has been established and will be maintained: Therefore be it

Resolved, etc., That the present republican Government of China is hereby recognized by the United States of America, with all the powers and privileges of their intercourse and relations with this Government properly appertaining to and in general extended to Independent and sovereign governments and nations.

The resolution is based upon the assumption that the present Government of China is, in point of fact, representative", "permanent", and "stable", whereas the information received by the Department, both from its own repre

1 Cong' Rec., Jan. 2, 1913, p. 914.

sentatives and by a comparison of views with other governments having large interests in China, goes to show that while it may be republican in principle the Government as at present constituted can not be considered truly representative; that it does not claim to be permanent; and that its stability is open to serious question.

I. FACTS.

The present Government of China is admittedly a provisional one formed to conduct the affairs of state until the meeting of the representative Constitutional Assembly which is to be soon convened for the purpose of adopting a permanent constitution and governmental organization which may be accepted as truly expressive of the will of the people.

The development and character of the existing Provisional Government in China may be briefly described as follows:

Early in the disturbances the revolutionary military leaders in the various Yangtze Provinces and in southern China established a cabinet form of government with Nanking as headquarters, and convoked in that city an assembly composed of their special representatives. On December 291 this assembly unanimously elected Sun Yat Sen Provisional President of the Republic of China' and he was inaugurated as such on New Year's Day at that city. On February 12' the Throne abdicated in favor of a republican form of government, at the same time conferring on Yuan Shih-kai full power to organize such a government. Three days later Yuan was unanimously elected Provisional President by the Nanking Assembly and the resignation of Sun and his Cabinet was accepted by the Assembly to take effect on the inauguration of Yuan, which took place at Peking on March 10.

On February 13 the American minister at Peking was officially informed that the Chinese minister accredited to the Government of the United States would continue in the discharge of his functions under the designationTM" provisional diplomatic agent."

On March 10, the date of Yuan's inauguration, a provisional constitution, previously approved by the Peking authorities, was adopted by the Nanking Assembly providing that within 10 months after its promulgation the Provisional President should convene a representative national assembly to adopt a permanent constitution and elect a president, thereby providing for the normal establishment of constitutional government. In the meantime the authority of the State was to be exercised by an Advisory Council, the Provisional President, and his Cabinet.

The character and composition of the Nanking Assembly, which exercised such liberal powers on behalf of the 400,000,000 Chinese people, was indicated in a memorandum received through official channels, based upon information furnished by a member of the Nanking Government. From this memorandum dated March 19, 1912, it appears that the total membership of the Assembly was 34, and the Provinces and outer dependencies were represented as follows:

Hupeh and Kiangsu formerly sent three delegates each, but all had resigned. Shensi originally appointed three. One failed to attend and one had resigned. Shansi originally appointed three, but only two reported at Nanking. CheFang originally had three delegates, but one resigned. None of the members was regularly elected by the people of the respective Provinces. Some seem to have been self-appointed. Some were selected by the provincial assemblies and some appointed by the "Tu-tu", or military governor. The memorandum adds:

The Assembly seems to have taken itself very seriously, but it is difficult to see how it tan be considered really representative.

Early in May, after the formation of a coalition government under Yuan, the Department telegraphed the Legation at Peking to report promptly as to