of the President that he will never consent to become an Emperor, this suggestion on my part is a gross insult to his character, but I crave to excuse myself as this is only mere speculation and supposition.) What shall we do with the President if we find another man?  The President, having so long borne the burdens of the State, will certainly be only too willing to vacate his post to live in retirement as far as his own person is concerned, but can we imagine that the country will allow the President to retire?  If not, then are we going to ask the President to form a responsible cabinet under a figurehead monarch?  Even if we take it for granted that the President, out of love for the country, would be willing to sacrifice his own principles and yield to the wish of the country, it will be dangerous indeed if he—­a person on whom the whole nation depends—­is placed in the path of parliament.  Therefore the contention that a constitutional monarchy will be attained if a person other than the President be made a monarch is false and baseless.

Shall we then make the present President a monarch?  Of course the President will not consent to this.  But leaving this aside let us suppose that the President, in consideration of the permanent welfare of the country, is willing to sacrifice everything to satisfy the wish of the people, do we expect that he will become a mere figurehead?  A figurehead monarch is, to adapt the saying of the west a fat porker, a guinea-pig, that is, good as an expensive ornament.  Will it be wise to place so valuable a personage in so idle a position at a time when the situation is so extremely critical?

Even if we are willing to suffer the President to become a figurehead it will remain a question whether a responsible cabinet can ever be formed.  I do not say that the President will not allow a responsible cabinet to exist under him.  My contention is that there is no one within my knowledge, who commands respect enough and is capable of taking over the responsibilities of President Yuan.  For who can replace the Great President in coping with our numerous difficulties?  If we select an ordinary man and make him bear the great burdens, we will find that in addition to his lack of ability rendering him unequal to the occasion, his lack of dominating influence will disqualify him from exercising authority.  It was for the purpose of meeting the requirements of the existing conditions that the Cabinet system was changed into a Presidential system—­an excellent substitution for a weakened administration.  Conditions in the next two or three years will not be very much different from what they are now.  Therefore, the contention that the administration will be changed overnight for the better after a change in the form of the State is, if not a wicked untruth to deceive the common people, the ridiculous absurdity of a bookworm.  Thus the theory that a constitutional monarchy will immediately follow, if the President consents to become a monarch, is also fallacious.