The provision in the constitution,
as well as the golden casket in which the names of the three
candidates are kept which you have mentioned, are nothing but
nominal measures. Moreover there is no man in China who answers
the description of a suitable successor which I have just given.
Here arises a difficult problem; and what has been specified in
the Constitutional Compact is a vain attempt to solve it. It is
pertinent to ask why the law-makers should not have made the law
in such a way that the people could exercise their free choice in
the matter of the presidential successor? The answer is that there
is reason to fear that a bad man may be elected president by
manipulations carried out with a masterly hand, thereby
jeopardizing the national welfare. This fear has influenced the
constitution-makers to settle upon three candidates from among
whom the president must be elected. Then it may be asked why not
fix upon one man instead of upon three since you have already
deprived the people of part of their freedom? The answer is that:
there is not a single man whose qualifications are high enough to
be the successor. As it is, three candidates of equal
qualifications are put forward for the people to their selection.
No matter how one may argue this important question from the legal
point of view, there is the fact that the law makers fixed upon
three candidates for the presidency, believing that we do not
possess a suitable presidential successor.
Pages:
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217