his assumption of the imperial title will immediately expose him to the utter distrust of the whole world and even to the most probable danger of assassination.
The question of a titular change, however, is of very little importance in the minds of the true republicans of China. The Chinese democracy, they realize, now exists only in name, for almost two years the country has had no parliament, no provincial legislatures, no district councils. There are no political parties, no freedom of press, no freedom of speech. Many a youth has been exiled or executed or assassinated for no other crime than that of holding a radical political philosophy. To be sure, there is a constitution, but a constitution that exalts the chief executive beyond the reach of the law, the parliament, and the people；a constitution which makes the presidency indefinitely long, practically self-elective, and almost hereditary!Under such circumstance, what difference will it make whether the "supreme" ruler be called "president" or "emperor"?
Whether or not Mr. Yuan will become Emperor does not affect the course of Young China（by which I do not mean any particular political faction）, which is struggling hard for the establishment of a genuine democracy in China. Young China believes in democracy；it believes that . Government is an art, and as such it needs practice. I would never have been able to speak English had I never spoken it. The Anglo-Saxon people would never have had democracy had they never practiced democracy. This is a kind of political philosophy which is incomprehensible to men like Professor Croodnow. Professor Goodnow and many other well-meaning constitutional authorities think that the Oriental people are not fit for the democratic form of government . On the contrary, Young China believes that it is precisely because China has not had democracy that she must now have democracy. It believes that if the first Chinese Republic had had a longer life democracy would have by this time
【打 印】 【来源：读书之家-dushuzhijia.com】
