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Show The Republic of China Social lam tn China. SOCIALISTIC , PRINCIPLES FOR CHINA 1 Dr. Sun Would Have Re-public Re-public the Creature, Not Master of the People. OPPORTUNITIES GOOD FOR MODERN IDEAS Theory Failed There Once, but Success Seems More Probable Now. BY rUDEKIO i. HASXIN. One of the famous Dr. Hub Vst Sea's grrst plsns for hia country is the practical application of socislistic principles in the future development of the Chinese republic ss the creature sad not the matter of the people. The ess recent revolution wss a startling ur prite to tho world. Kvcn those who thought they knew Chins beat were carried car-ried off their foot. The establishment establish-ment of a republic, though naturslly a wesk one st present, in view of unsettled un-settled conditions, caused even greater astonishment. But the mere mention uf China and socialism in the same breath might well cauae a wave of in credulity to go billowing all over the world. Ons wonders what potiMc -bancs there ran be for this new. cna torn destroying, politicsl fstih in thii.! most ancient of countries, hvpnoti.cd bv reverence of tho past and chained for centuries to ingronn precedent. As a matter of fact, China todav oft'ore a splendid opportunitv tr the working out of socialistic principles. Before examining. Dr. ftnn't plan it is interesting to recall that a form ot socialism was tried in China hundreds of years before the western world ever heard of it. Like many other things in hina. the good scheme failed at first, and was consigned to oblivion. This liarlicular project for the relief of the poor was thought out bv one Wsng Ngan-ehe. a philosopher of the twelfth century. "He wss a friend of Emperor Chen-tsung. who gave his indorsement tn the experiment. Aid to tho poor, gouging of the rick, elimination ot waMe and atnndardir.ing of crops were its cardinal features. How Old Plan Worked. The government was to manage all the resources of tho country and to do the hiring of everybody. Official board were to be in everv seetion. nntlioriecd to make daily adjustment of nages, price of provisions and valus of merchandise, as the local situation rvquired. All necessary taxes were to be (slid for several years by the rich, the poor and those below a certain irrsde of affluence to be exempt. A surplus over aud uIhjvo the cost ot himotaining tho government was to he distributed among the uucmploycd, the destitute and the aged. All land v. as to be owned by the government, with a hoard of agriculture agricul-ture in every prescribed district. These lioarda were to allot the land. This waa to bo doue every year, aa required bv the weather, arsbleneaa of the several sev-eral patches, etc. Kvcn the seed wss to he given to the farmers. Rut in order that the farmera might appreciate what waa being done for them and bv decds jiiatify tho confidence of the government, it was stipulsti"1 that after af-ter the harvesting tho same amount of need advanced, or produce of eipial value, be turned over to the overn-ment. overn-ment. The boards of agriculture were to see that onlv rrnpt suitable to the soil and the climate were to be at tempted. Crop failure in any one section sec-tion was to be equalized by the shipment ship-ment thereto- of grsin and vegetables and fruits from such other parts of the empire as had been blessed with bumper bum-per crops. Wsng Ngan-che. tho theorist, and the emperor both felt that this svstem would bring uniform prosperity and deep contentment to all of China sweating millions. Thev thought the poor would become richer and the rick poorer until all stood upon an equal plane. It railed Before. Unfortunately, the plan failed. H . was tried over large areas, hut did not aW live long enough to be applied in all partt of the empire. Instead of plant-(Contiuued plant-(Contiuued on page 2.) Co-operative ahariag of pronto witk tha wage aaraera, wko are toe real pro-durdra, pro-durdra, and gov era meet owaerahip of public utilities, are what Dr. Hub ia after. He believea the Kovernment abould owa, and proceed to buy up aa rapidJy aa poaaible, rail wave, tramway, eloctrie lignt power, gaa worka, water works bdoj canala, beaidea Jteeping aoa-trol aoa-trol qf tka foreata. Ia tkia eoaneetloa reforeatinrj of tke conn try would Prove very beneSrial. for woodleea hiaa 1 Badly ia seed of treea. fcven Dr. hun'a tremendous railway plant, contemplatiBS tke building of 60.000 lmilee el track by the aid of foreifw capital, cap-ital, previdee for roveiBineot owner kip forty years after completion, and be hopea to arrange for all of tkia great coaetruotion work withia tea veara. Ia a recent ieeue of tke CMna Urinal ia tk resalt ef 1U productiv aess. " Certainly there will sever be a better bet-ter time than bow br tha itnaediata future to give socialism fair trial in China, for better or for worss. Industrial Indus-trial development being; is its Infancy there, it can be applied as commerce -grows aad mssufsotuHng coacerni spring up. Chlaa s toller are situated differently thao tboir brothers of the western world, where combinations of capital and unearned increment kave builded high and heavy ma industrial troeWra of which the laborers I hem-eel hem-eel res are the corner atone. The west era system ia heaving, aad mav fall, with damage at fret te all. worker aad capitaliata alike. Ckiaa, it seema, weald S refit br tkia spectacle aad build in a liferent way. It mignV be worth while to operate practical socialism at tke very outset of China 'a industrial advance, if for bo other reasoa tbaa the avoidance of tha -terrible strikes which bow read the countries of the Occident. Blood haa bees shed, families disrupter, buslaess held up and there have been displays o( M great violence which have done good tn no one. All this is dus to the ight of the working claates for a bigger share of the profits oa the things tksy can produce. Wit sees the, strikes of tks coal miners, woolsa worker., taxicah drivers, hotel employee, atreet and steam railway em plovers ia the United CUatea, the miners ia Gettnaay, tka coal miner aad dock wallopers in Britain, tk miners la Prsae and Australia. Chine has. had plenty of trouble, bat Very little ef this kind, aad it doe aot wish for asy.'. v By tka operation of hia system. Dr. Hub look for three main sources of revenue for tk support of tb gevera-ment: gevera-ment: Land tax, mining royalties and railway reveauea. Wet tks lead would be valued, the owner himself estimating it value. Th at at would tax aceorrf inglr and would have th privilege of buying th land at any time at the figure fig-ure given by th owner himself. Railway Rail-way returns are expected to be large, la dno time, aad there le considerable mining from which royalties could be draws Immediately. The total revenues would more thaa rapport the govert 0 most. Dr. Sob estimates, aad th sur. ' Sin would go for educalioa aad sen.l- le charity, rack a old age petition. 1 aad homea for cripples, the blind aad the otherwise infirm. Tomorrow: . TUB EE PUBLIC OF CHINA. XII.-Tke T. M. 0. A. to China. Preea, fioanghai. Dr. Sun set forth hit co-operative idea aa follower "I favor the introduction f a system sys-tem whereby the supplier of physical aecesmtiee will be able to derive mutual benefit upon a common ground of jus-tire jus-tire and fraternity. That, after all, ia tke deflnitioa ef socialism. 1 want to see the laborer obtaia tke fall value of bis hire, aad to see the Chinese work apes a co-operative plan so that in the new time coming we will be able to build up a satin politically aad industrially indus-trially democratic, each unit dependent upon the ether, all living ia a (ease of mutual confidence aad good will. The Ideal is difficult to obtaia. bat one shoald strive for the ideal and to secure some Improvement of conditions which ar far from tba wished for stage of perfection. "By this system production would be enhanced, and advanced to tke maximum, maxi-mum, witk a minimum of poverty and labor slavery. All mea would have their proportion of the products of the wealth-now awaiting development at their hands; they would reap tha fnll fruit of their toil; secure favorable conditions con-ditions of labor, and obtaia opportunity In leisure to think ef other things thaa the daily grind la th mill or th mine. They would be able to cultivate the mind, have adequate recreation and procure pro-cure tpe bleaaiBSB which ahould ba la all mea ' live, but which, oa th bowing bow-ing of other aationa, are largely denied tke worker aad the poorer masaea. A chance would be given to all in the race for livelihood aad life, and the fullest measure of libertv would be provided. pro-vided. This it-what I waat to aee. Whoa Tiirge a socialistic syatsm I srge a sveiein which will create for the citi-tens citi-tens a direct Interest in the country that Is their. I waat te see them par- SOCIALISTIC PRINCIPLES FOR CHINA (Continued from page 1.) lug the free grals doled out to hem so generously by a patereal government the farmere ate a good deal of it off hand. What they dida 't eat was bartered for other, kiads of food or weenng apparel. As tks humble sad poculir Chines sever has anv too much either to eat or wear, the temptatioB to exchange ex-change the seed grain for something which n BoedecT lastanter was too Seat to resist. Thea again, those rmers who did plant the need and raise crops wearied of well doing whea thev knew that tha Improvident ones would be eared for tr the etata anyhow. any-how. In addition to all this there was the tremeadoa coat of maintaining the boards af agriculture aad buying large lota of seed. The bitter diapute ovet wko should bear thia bnrdea. the government gov-ernment or the rnrnl population, broke tro tk Wang Ngaa-h ay.tem. Whea Emperor Chea-tauag disd this miatatai wa cashiered. A decade or two later the plan waa started again, but failed mere miserably thaa before, and those back of it were exiled to Mongolia The motive wae all right, but th method wa wrong. After a lapaa of eight centuries Dr. Sub Yet Sea advocates aoother attempt at-tempt to apply socialism ia ifhins. 114 ia confidant of aucoess, for there ia t he no giving of something for nothing. . aa bureaucratic meddling ia th per sonal affair of th peopl. and abeo- lately bo redietribatioo ef wealth, la 1 aaswer to criticism he has re neater lv etated publicly that he eonaiders tie ; last named feature absurd, and that it will aot be attempted. |