Under Yuan Shih-kai, as under the Manchus, they
were an exercise in the arm of government, something which was
never to be allowed to harden into a settled practice. They were
first cousins to railways, to electrical power, to metalled
roadways and all those other modern instances beginning to modify
an ancient civilization entirely based on agriculture; and because
they were so distantly related to the real China of the farm-yard
it was thought that they would always stand outside the national
life.
That was what the fools believed. Yet in a copy of the rules of
procedure of the old Imperial Senate (Tzuchengyuan) the writer
finds this note written in 1910: "The Debates of this body have
been remarkable during the very first session. They make it seem
clear that the first National Parliament of 1913 will seize
control of China and nullify the power of the Throne. Result,
revolution--" Though the dating is a little confused, the prophecy
is worthy of record.
The watchfulness of the special police surrounding the Parliament
of 1916-1917 and the great number of these men also tells a story
as eloquent as the location of the building. It is not so much
that any contemplated violence sets these guardians here as the
necessity to advertise that there has been unconstitutional
violence in the past which, if possible, will be rigidly defeated
in the future. Probably no National Assembly in the world has been
held up to greater contempt than the Parliament of Peking and
probably no body deserves it less.
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