AGE-OLD GOVERNMENT !N CHINA
PERMITS COUNTRY TO PROSPER
By Miller Holland
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Dec. 8.—
Why is it that, in spite of hundreds of
years of never-ending turmoil, blood
shed and civil strife, China, the land
of forgotten fable and legendary
myths, goes on forever and ever?
For centuries the world has won
dered how it has been possible for
the great oriental nation to keep
up even a semblance of order and
of confusion and military uproar
unity in view of the chronic state
that has prevailed from before the
days of Greece and Rome.
According to some observers of
China and the Chinese, one explan
ation might be about as follows:
In a so-called civilized country, if
a president is kicked out, or any oth
er political fireworks go off, work
would practically sease.
But not so in China.
When a dynasty is overthrown,
when an emperor is restored, when
a president runs away, or is chased
away; when Peking is without a
central government, when a war!
lord tries to seize the capital and i
even succeeds in capturing it, there |
is no cessation of work anywhere j
in China, not even temporarily.
The tradesmen, the artisans, the j
laborers go about their business j
without interruption, and the only !
excitement, if any, is among the j
handful of politicians congregated j
in the teashops.
For in China, so far, politics is j
not the business of the working J
people.
It is this happy state of indiffer
ence, combined with a feudal system i
of local government, that saves China
from general chaos. The prevailing I
system of local government, which
has existed through the ages in the
cities, towns and villages, renders a
central government unnecessary ex
cept for the handling of foregin af
fairs.
Suffer From Bandits
In times of civil war and bandit out
breaks the great common people in j
the cellestial* commonwealth “get it i
in the neck,” of course, as usual, but J
they go back to their fields and the !
shops as soon as the trouble is over !
congratulating themselves that it has
not been worse.
A “civilized country under such cir-1
cumstances would start a revolution J
and be seething with disorder in less 1
than no time.
In China the “man with the hoe”
accepts the suffering as part of the
daily round. He probably decides
he has not done enough worshipping '
at the village shrine and to make up
for this neglect he merely bows and
prays to his gods a little harder. That
and nothing else.
The average Chinese in town and i
country asks for nothing in the way !
of local improvements in return for j
the taxes he pays. All he wants is ;
to be let alone; to have no official
reach out and try to inflict higher
taxes.
Then He Revolts
However, should the Chinese peas- j
ant's pocket be too seriously tarn- '
pered with, he claims the right to re-!
volt, and he gathers his fellow hoe
men, and they will all try to show ;
the grasping officials just what’s what i
and then some.
But he will not, as a rule, allow a
little local scrap to be used as a peg
upon which to hang a national revo
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lution or a reform movement.
The great bulk of China’s half bil
lion inhabitants are not interested in
j higher politics or national politics of
any kind. Their aim for today is to
trade, or till, or sow, or reap—to fill
their stomachs, and that is all.
The average political rumpus is
caused by a handful of agrarian agi
tators in the treaty ports and a few
scattered about in the interior. The
articulate group in China is very
small in comparison with the total
population, but it makes a powerful
noise.
This situation exists because in
China the administration has always
been carried on by an official class—
made up of the so-called literati. The
people regard it is the task of this
class to run the country. It is not
the people’s business to butt in.
The Man With the Hoe
China’s standby is the “man with
the hoe.” These people will for a
long time be unaffected by political
strife. They will only be driven to
desperation and revolt when their
pockets are endangered.
So far only their intelligence has
been insulted by the politicians. When
the people are really hurt is where
they eat, and then they will rise—
but not until then and then only after
long suffering.
For this reason trade and com
merce go on in China despite the civ
il wars, the brigandage, the corrup
tion, and the absence of any govern
ment worthy of the name. For this
reason there will not be bolshevism
in China.
Only when the militarist, the official
and the politician stop the crops from
Classified Advertising
FOR RENT—Three room cottages,
furnished; J. Eamon, Seward. tf
OLD PAPERS for sale at the Gate
way, two large bundles for 25c; or
one for 15c; fine for building the
fires these cold mornings. tf
FOR SALE—Oak Dining Room Set;
consisting of buffet, chairs, and ta
ble; call at Seward Grill. 12-1-tf
Three room cabin for rent; See Mrs.
Cooper. tf.
FOR SALE—Fifty thousand letter
heads to satisfied customers.
MAKE THEM SHOUT When pepole
talk about you or your Business.
Your getting the publicity—the
Advertising which counts—What
are you doing to make the people
of Seward and vicinity talk about
your Business. Gateway Pub. Co.
S. S. ADMIRAL WATSON
Sails From
SEATTLE
Dec. 10
Jan. 7
Arrives
SEWARD
Dec. 18
Jan. 15
South From
SEWARD
Dec. 21
Jan. 18
Calling at all regular S oulheastern and South
western Alaska ports in eluding Seldovia and
Kodiak.
WAYNE BLUE, Agent
Telephone Main 81 Res.. Madison 40
Paci/ic Coastwise Oervice
H.F.ALEXANDER. PRESIDENT
STEAMSHIP STARR
Starr Sails Dec. 7th, connecting with Northwestern
San Juan Fishing and Packing Co.
G. C. HENDERSON, Agent
PHONE MAD180N 13*. SEWARD, ALASKA
Decide Naval Officers
Not Liable to Moneys
Paid Disallowed Claims
WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 6.—
Comptroller General McCarl has no
right to withhold any portion of a na
val officer’s pay to offset government
claims for disallowed payments, Jus
tice Hoehling of the District Supreme
court decided today, as Congress fix
es the salary of the officers and
neither the accountant nor the comp
troller may withhold any portion of
it.
The decision came in the test case
brought about by Lieutenant Com
mander John F. Cox, against the
Comptroller General, the Accountant
General and the Secretary of the
Navy.
General Shakeup Eminent
In Foreign Service Dept.
WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 6.—
A general shakeup in high places of
the U. S. foreign service is like to
take place soon after March 4, was
the announcement which peeped thru
political circles here.
VESSEL IN DISTRESS
PENSACOLA, Fla., Dec. 6.—A mes
sage picked up by the naval air sta
tion here reported the British steam
er Helreadale aground on West Horn
Island, in the Gulf of Mexico. The
message asked for aid from a tug at
Mobile. Earlier distress calls said
the ship was in no immediate danger.
A tug later reported to be working
on the vessel.
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growing, or tax the people beyond
their limit of endurance, will their be
a rising; but the officials wisely keep
their hands off the people.
And, finally, despite all the trials
and tribulations of the past and the
present, the trade figures lor each
successive year keep on going upward
and probably they will continue to go
upward.
Dull, listless China has done what
the vibrant genius of Greece and
Rome failed to do.
China still is.
The Alaska Railroad
TRAINS LEAVE SEWARD
8 A. M.
Monday and Thursday
TRAINS ARRIVE
8 P. M.
Wednesday and Saturday
REPORTED MUTINY AMONG
RUSSIAN TROOPS YESTERDAY
PARIS, Dec. 8.—Reports reached
Paris yesterday that a serious mutiny
of Russian troops had broken out in
Kronstadt and that Leon Trotzky had
been made prisoner.
BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO
BUILD MORE CRUISERS
LONDON, Dec. 8.—One of the first
acts of the Admiralty under the new
government will be to lay down a
further number of cruisers, accord
nig to the Daily Mail, recalling that
the Conservative government of Brit
ain decided to build eight cruisers,
and that the labor government had
only laid down five of these. The
paper says the balance with further
fresh replacements may be begun in
the near future.
REPORTS OF NEW GASSES
ARE MISLEADING SAYS GEN.
WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 8.—
Published reports of the development
of a new poison gas with supernat
ural powers of destruction or of the
evolution of death dealing rays of
terrible effectiveness are both ridic
ulously erroneous and seriously mis
leading, Brigadier General Amos A.
Fries, chief of the Chemical Warfare
Service, asserted in his annual report
recounting the progress made during
the last year by the army chemists.
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NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC
Haviing purchased the interest of
John Morrison in the Seward Plumb
ing Company, I will be responsible
for all debts owed by the concern,
and all bills due the company should
be paid to me.
HENRY RICHARDS.
Seward, Alaska, Dec. 3, 1924. 5t
GERMAN OFFICER FOUND VI 4
GUILTY OF SHIPPING
STOLEN GOODS TO HOME
LILLE, Dec. 8.—Found guilty of
confiscating and shipping to Ger
many, valuable properties from the
chateau he was occupying as head
quarters in Northern France during
the World war, General Von Nathus
ius, a German commanding officer,
was sentenced today to a year’s im
prisonment and the payment of the
trial costs.
Gas Launch
KENAI
FISHING AND HUNTING
PARTIES CARRIED DOWN
LAKE KENAI FOR THE
DAY OR TRIP. TELE
PHONE ARRANGEMENTS
TO MILE TWENTY
Louis Bell, owner
Swedish American Line
“Only line between America and
Sweden." Direct over the Atlantic
and the North Sea in Large, Mod-"
ern and Comfortable steamers.
Frequent sailings.
Christmas Excursions to Sweden
and Finland
S. S. STOCKHOLM—From New
York December 2; from Halifax
December 4.
S. S. DROTTNINGHOLM—From
New York December 10.
Also Earlier Sailings
For further information and res
ervations apply to
WAYNE BLUE,
Agent for Seward, Alaska
ALASKA
STEAMSHIP CO.
SOUTHWESTERN ALASKA
ROUTE SCHEDULE
Scheduled
Sail fm Seward
Dec. 6th
Dec. 13th
Dec. 20th
Dec. 27th
Jan. -3rc
NOTE—Ships in above schedule sail from Pier Two, Seattle, at 9:00
a. m. each sailing date and will call at Ketchikan, Wrangell, Juneau
Cordova, Valdez, Latouche and Seward, both north and southbound.
Northwestern and Alameda will also call at Petersburg both ways.
Steamers leave Seward at MID NIGHT on sailing dates shown.
Steamer Redondo is scheduled to saial from Seward December 6
and 13 for Seldovia and Halibut Cove.
J. H. FLICKINGER, Agent
PHONE MAIN 125 SEWARD, ALASKA
Vessel—
■hc<ki
t. Sej
Lv. Seattle
Northwestern.Nov. 29th
Alaska. Dec. 6th
Alameda.Dec. 13th
Northwestern. Dec. 20th
Alaska.Dec. 27th
Scheduled
Arr. Seward
Dec. 6th
Dec. loth
Dec. 2Cth
Dec. 27th
Jan. 3rd
1
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