504 PACIFIC HISTORICAL REVIEW against the"Second Revolution"launched by republican dissidents in the Yangtze region,Goodnow believed that the constitutional debate would soon become academic.15 Goodnow accurately predicted the outcome of the political strug- gle.After crushing the rebellion,Yuan,in quick succession,had himself elected to a regular five year term as president,expelled the Kuomintang from Parliament,and,on January 10,1914,dissolved what remained of the National Assembly.To invest himself with greater dignity,he resumed the Worship of Heaven,as practiced by the former emperors.Practically dictator of China,Yuan appointed a Political Council to give the appearance of representative rule and then created a Constitutional Compact Conference.Guided by Yuan,the conference produced a provisional constitution which was promulgated on May 1,1914.10 The document contained the essence of Goodnow's draft of 1913, and thus has been called the Goodnow Constitution.It established a presidential system and gave the chief executive extensive power over foreign affairs,war and peace,appointment and removal of officials,and budget and financial matters.It also provided for an elected legislature and an appointed Council of State,both of which were really advisory and lacking in power to check the pres- ident.Goodnow,however,was not officially consulted during the final drafting stage.His sole contributions,he claimed,were to tender informal advice to several members of the Conference and help with the translation into English.17 Although he regretted the manner in which the constitution was finally adopted and felt that the president was given greater inde- 15 Goodnow to Butler,June 26,Aug.16,Nov.2,1913,Jan.2,1914,Goodnow Papers; Goodnow to Moore,July 4,Nov.24,1913,Moore Papers;D.A.Menocal to Willard Straight,Aug.16,1913,Paul S.Reinsch Papers,Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison,Wisconsin;Goodnow,"Comments on the Chinese Constitution,"Hsien-fa hsin-wen,XXIV,Dec.1,1913,pp.1-11.The minutes of the parliamentary drafting committee indicate that Goodnow was ignored.See Hsien-fa ch'i-ts'ao wei-yuan-hui hui-i-lu [Minutes of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution](2 vols.,Peking, 1913). 16 Ch'en,Yuan Shih-k'ai,177-179;Beckmann,Modernization of China and Japan, 223-224;Bose,American Attitude and Policy to the Nationalist Movement in China, 67-80. 17 Goodnow to Butler,April 24,May 18,1913,Goodnow Papers;Goodnow to Reinsch,Feb.24,1921,Reinsch Papers;Bose,American Attitude and Policy to the Nationalist Movement in China,80-81.A translation of the document may be found inFR,1914,Pp.5261. This content downloaded from 137.222.248.222 on Wed,24 Jun 2015 07:41:42 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
504 PACIFIC HISTORICAL REVIEW against the "Second Revolution" launched by republican dissidents in the Yangtze region, Goodnow believed that the constitutional debate would soon become academic.15 Goodnow accurately predicted the outcome of the political struggle. After crushing the rebellion, Yuan, in quick succession, had himself elected to a regular five year term as president, expelled the Kuomintang from Parliament, and, on January 10, 1914, dissolved what remained of the National Assembly. To invest himself with greater dignity, he resumed the Worship of Heaven, as practiced by the former emperors. Practically dictator of China, Yuan appointed a Political Council to give 'the appearance of representative rule and then created a Constitutional Compact Conference. Guided by Yuan, the conference produced a provisional constitution which was promulgated on May 1, 1914.16 The document contained the essence of Goodnow's draft of 1913, and thus has been called the Goodnow Constitution. It established a presidential system and gave the chief executive extensive power over foreign affairs, war and peace, appointment and removal of officials, and budget and financial matters. It also provided for an elected legislature and an appointed Council of State, both of which were really advisory and lacking in power 'to check the president. Goodnow, however, was not officially consulted during the final drafting stage. His sole contributions, he claimed, were to tender informal advice to several members of the Conference and help with the translation into English.17 Altthough he regretted the manner in which the constitution was finally adopted and felt that the president was given greater inde- 15 Goodnow to Butler, June 26, Aug. 16, Nov. 2, 1913, Jan. 2, 1914, Goodnow Papers; Goodnow to Moore, July 4, Nov. 24, 1913, Moore Papers; D. A. Menocal to Willard Straight, Aug. 16, 1913, Paul S. Reinsch Papers, Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin; Goodnow, "Comments on the Chinese Constitution," Hsien-fa hsin-wen, XXIV, Dec. 1, 1913, pp. 1-11. The minutes of the parliamentary drafting committee indicate that Goodnow was ignored. See Hsien-fa ch'i-ts'ao wei-yuan-hui huz-i-lu [Minutes of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution] (2 vols., Peking, 1913). 16 Ch'en, Yuan Shih-k'ai, 177-179; Beckmann, Modernization of China and Japan, 223-224; Bose, American Attitude and Policy to the Nationalist Movement in China, 67-80. 17 Goodnow to Butler, April 24, May 18, 1913, Goodnow Papers; Goodnow to Reinsch, Feb. 24, 1921, Reinsch Papers; Bose, American Attitude and Policy to the Nationalist Movement in China, 80-81. A translation of the document may be found in FR, 1914, pp. 52-61. This content downloaded from 137.222.248.222 on Wed, 24 Jun 2015 07:41:42 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Embarrassed Monarchist 505 pendence of parliament than he had proposed,Goodnow was gen- erally pleased with the result.Later,in 1921,he gave Reinsch the impression that he had reluctantly accepted it because it was an accomplished fact and was "on the whole suited to Chinese condi- tions."18 He expressed himself even more candidly to the trustees of the Carnegie Endowment."I must confess...that on the whole I approve of what has been done,"he wrote on May 18,1914.19 Moreover,two weeks after promulgation of the constitution,he defended it publicly in an article written for the Peking Daily News, which was given wide circulation.In reply to the criticism in the foreign press,he praised the constitution as a realistic reflection of the dictatorial power Yuan already possessed and as a document clearly in the Chinese tradition of personal government.20 He lent further support in an article entitled"The Parliament of the Re- public of China,"which appeared in the Journal of the American Asiatic Association and which he read at the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association in December 1914.21 Goodnow plainly believed that China was not yet ready for a legislature with wide powers or a parliamentary system borrowed from a developed European nation.22 Since Chinese society was highly individualistic and loyalty was limited to one's family or clan,China lacked the spirit of cooperation necessary for the oper- ation of representative government.In addition,the concept of political authority (law and edict)was hardly developed in China because the Chinese had long been governed by Confucian morality and custom.While the Chinese had obviously made numerous tech- 18 Goodnow to Reinsch,Feb.24,1921,Reinsch Papers. 19 Goodnow to Butler,May 18,1914,Goodnow Papers. 20 Ibid.;Goodnow to Reinsch,Feb.24,1912,Reinsch Papers;New York Times,June 22,1914;San Francisco Chronicle,Aug.7,1914;Goodnow,"The Amended Provisional Constitution,"Peking Daily News,reprinted in the JAAA,XIV (Aug.1914),206-210. 21 Goodnow,"The Parliament of the Republic of China,"JAAA,XIV (Aug.1914), 210-217;Goodnow,"Reform in China,"American Political Science Review,IX (May 1915),209-224. 22 This analysis is based on the following sources:Goodnow to Moore,Sept.23, 1913,Moore Papers;Goodnow to Butler,July 7,Aug.16,1913,Jan.2,Feb.26,1914, Goodnow Papers;Goodnow,"Reform in China,"209-224;"The Draft Constitution of China:Professor Goodnow's Criticisms,"JAAA,XIV (Sept.1914),243-246;Good. now,"Comments on the Chinese Constitution,"Hsien-fa,hsin-wen,XXIV (Dec.1, 1913),1-11. This content downloaded from 137.222.248.222 on Wed,24 Jun 2015 07:41:42 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Embarrassed Monarchist 505 pendence of parliament than he had proposed, Goodnow was generally pleased with the result. Later, in 1921, he gave Reinsch the impression that he had reluctantly accepted it because it was an accomplished fact and was "on the whole suited to Chinese conditions."'s He expressed himself even more candidly to the trustees of the Carnegie Endowment. "I must confess ... that on the whole I approve of what has been done," he wrote on May 18, 1914.19 Moreover, two weeks after promulgation of the constitution, he defended it publicly in an article written for the Peking Daily News, which was given wide circulation. In reply to the criticism in the foreign press, he praised the constitution as a realistic reflection of the dictatorial power Yuan already possessed and as a document clearly in the Chinese tradition of personal government.20 He lent further support in an article entitled "The Parliament of the Republic of China," which appeared in the Journal of the American Asiatic Association and which he read at the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association in December 1914.21 Goodnow plainly believed that China was not yet ready for a legislature with wide powers or a parliamentary system borrowed from a developed European nation.22 Since Chinese society was highly individualistic and loyalty was limited to one's family or clan, China lacked the spirit of cooperation necessary for the operation of representative government. In addition, the concept of political authority (law and edict) was hardly developed in China because the Chinese had long been governed by Confucian morality and custom. While the Chinese had obviously made numerous tech- 18 Goodnow to Reinsch, Feb. 24, 1921, Reinsch Papers. 19 Goodnow to Butler, May 18, 1914, Goodnow Papers. 20 Ibid.; Goodnow to Reinsch, Feb. 24, 1912, Reinsch Papers; New York Times, June 22, 1914; San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 7, 1914; Goodnow, "The Amended Provisional Constitution," Peking Daily News, reprinted in the JAAA, XIV (Aug. 1914), 206-210. 21 Goodnow, "The Parliament of the Republic of China," JAAA, XIV (Aug. 1914), 210-217; Goodnow, "Reform in China," American Political Science Review, IX (May 1915), 209-224. 22 This analysis is based on the following sources: Goodnow to Moore, Sept. 23, 1913, Moore Papers; Goodnow to Butler, July 7, Aug. 16, 1913, Jan. 2, Feb. 26, 1914, Goodnow Papers; Goodnow, "Reform in China," 209-224; "The Draft Constitution of China: Professor Goodnow's Criticisms," JAAA, XIV (Sept. 1914), 243-246; Goodnow, "Comments on the Chinese Constitution," Hsien-fa, hsin-wen, XXIV (Dec. 1, 1913), 1-11. This content downloaded from 137.222.248.222 on Wed, 24 Jun 2015 07:41:42 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions