Who will gainsay that the Chinese is a long-suffering being even in his own land? I quote the following from the Hongkong Telegraph of September 1, 1911: “At 6.00 P. M., on August 25, a German in the employ of a British company, and an Italian priest went into a shop at Shek Ki (near Canton). The German, who disliked the demeanor of the shop employé, dealt the man a nasty cut on the head. The foreigners afterward left the shop and went to a money changer’s. As the changer was slow, the German snatched a lamp from a table, and smashed it on the ground. The German assaulted two chair coolies. A riot developed. The two foreigners rushed into the dwelling of a missionary lady doctor.” Such abuse as this leads to international troubles, and the consuls at the ports, to whom the patient Chinese turn over foreign offenders, should be more severe than they are. These foreign offenders should really be brought back to the village where they create a disturbance, and in the presence of the consul, and Chinese taotais and mandarins, should pay to the headman of the village sufficient damages. Then the Chinese would know that the foreigner is sincere in his legal measures. Thoughtless or drunken action, like that of the German, often leads to missionary and other riots before the resentment of the indignant natives cools. One brutal fool of this kind, violens in vino, can place at jeopardy the lives of thousands of foreigners and the peace of the nations. We must scrupulously show China that we are sincere. She has some cause to feel that when we established our extraterritorial courts we meant to cheat her of justice. We shall later hear from Wu Ting Fang on this subject, as he is making a specialty of codifying the laws.
The British government introduced to the foreign office (Tsung Li Yamen and Wai Wu Pu) for many years, Sir Walter Hillier, as adviser, but since his appointment was to a degree forced he had less influence than in the case of the voluntary appointments of the Americans, Dennison and Stevens, as advisers in the foreign offices of Japan and Korea, respectively. The four-nations bankers will have foreign advisers on the Chinese Finance and Foreign Boards, and great tact and patience with China’s difficulties will at all times be required.
Long before the revolution, as well as after it, the masses of the Chinese had commenced to think of national and international politics. Whenever missionaries opened new “tan” (preaching or “talk” halls, as the Chinese call churches) the auditors listened respectfully for a while to the “doctrine” or “tao” (way). When the missionary came down from the platform, and joined the audience on the benches for a familiar “tan” (chat), religious subjects were not the first spoken of, the following questioning being common:
“Our first question is, what is your name, age and number of children?”
“Did you come from your country by railway or steamship?”
“How far is it and what was the cost?”
“What is your real business outside of your kindly avocation of achieving merit by temporarily talking about Jesus?”
“How long have you been in this province of China?”
“Were your clothes made in a China port, or in America, and at what cost?”
“You do not shave your head and face or change your outer clothes often, so we suppose you do not bathe often.”