（八月十八日）
报载袁世凯将复帝制，美儒古德诺（Frank J. Goodnow）赞翊其说，不知确否？昨下午纽约《外观报》（The Outlook）以电相告，谓其社中记者将据报载消息立言，并询余意见。余为作短文论之。
CHINA AND DEMOCRACY
It is quite unnecessary either to affirm or to deny the truth of the news from Peking that the project of proclaiming himself Emperor is being deliberately considered by President Yuan Shikai, and that Professor Frank Johnson Goodnow, President of Johns Hopkins University and Constitutional Adviser to the Chinese Government, has approved the project. Unnecessary it is, because neither its truth nor its falsehood affects the real question—namely, the question of the present status and future prospect of democracy in China.
Let us first consider what the effects would be if the report were true. Will the assumption of an imperial title enhance Mr. Yuan's dictatorial powers, or will his refusal to call himself Emperor leave China more democratic? My answer is, No. For it is safe to say that under the present constitution the president of the Chinese Republic has more power than any other ruler in the world, not excluding the Kaiser or the Czar. I make this statement advisedly. For under the present constitution, in the making of which, we are told, Professor Goodnow has had no little influence, the president represents the nation, summons and dissolves the Li-fa-yuen, proposes legislation and presents budgets in the Li-fa-yuen, executes the law, issues ordinances equivalent to national laws, declares war, negotiates peace, appoints and dismisses civil and military officers, has power to pardon or commute penalties, is the Commander-in-chief of the army and navy, receives Ambassadors and Ministers, and makes treaties with foreign nations. What more can a monarchical title add to this long list of governmental powers?
What is more important is the length of the Presidential term of office and mode of election. The "Procedure of Presidential Election" passed by the Constitutional Convention last December contains these unique provisions:
1．The president shall hold office for a term of ten years, and is eligible for reelection.
2．Fifty members of the Council of state, and fifty members of the Lifa-yuen, to be elected among themselves, shall constitute the Electoral College.
3．Preceding every presidental election, the present President, representing the will of the people, shall nominate three men to be candidates to succeed himself.
4．On the day of electionthe president shall announce to the Electoral College the names of the three nominees.
5．Besides these three Candidatesthe Electoral College may also vote for the present President.
6．If during the year of presidential election the members of the Council of state deem it a political necessity to have the present president remain in office, they may make proposals to that effect by a two-thirds vote of that body. The proposal thus made shall be proclaimed to the whole nation by the president.
Thus, under this unique law, the Chinese president may remain in office for life, he alone is entitled to nominate his own successors and that does not prevent the electors from reelecting him, nor is he legally preclued from nominating his own son or grandson. What more can the nominal change from "President" to "Emperor" bring to him?
Not only will this change bring no real increase of power or dignity to the occupant of the Presidential Chair, but any such more will inevitably result in his ultimate ruin. Those of us who have had some experience with the working of the average mind realize that there is a great deal in a name. However dictatorial President Yuan has become, he has had common sense enough to avoid all "words" that may be objectionable to the vast younger generation who have long dreamed republican dreams without knowing exactly what republicanism means, he has even publicly declared his resolution never to aspire to the imperial throne, and has banished several men who have attempted to advocate monarchism. If Mr. Yuan is really such a shrewd politician as his Western Critics portray him to be, he ought to be able to see that 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 thatthe only way to have democracy is to have democracy. 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 governmentbecause they have newer had it before. 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 established a fairly strong hold in China, and the political experience of four years' democratic government, however imperfect that experience might have been, would have by this time enabled a vast number of the Chinese people to understand what republicanism really means.
But, alas! The conservatives and the reactionaries have found hearty supporters in our foreign critics who have neither faith nor patience. They have found their spokesmen in such great constitutional authorities as Professors Ariga, of Japan, and Goodnow, of the American Republic. It is conceivable that Professor Ariga should oppose Young China. But when a great scholar from the American Republic came out with the declaration that the Oriental people were by history and tradition disqualified to have representative form of government, the blow was decisive and fatal. These great scholars have wrought their "Authoritative" opinions into the new constitution of the Chinese Republic, and are now on the eve of being decorated by the Chinese Emperor whom they have helped to make.
〔中译〕
中国与民主
据北京传闻，袁世凯总统经慎重考虑，将复帝制；约翰霍布铿大学校长兼中国政府制宪顾问弗兰克·约翰逊·古德诺教授已经赞同此项计划。对于此则传闻之确实与否，实在没有必要调査。之所以无此必要，原因在于，不论此传闻是真是假，均无关乎这一根本问题——即，中国民主之现状和未来。
倘若此报道确实，让我们先来看看其影响如何。采用皇帝之头衔将强化袁先生之独裁统治乎？或者，袁先生拒绝称帝将给中国带来更多的民主乎？余之回答是：否。因为按照现行宪法，可以保险地说，除恺撒和沙皇之外，中华共和国总统所拥有之权力，要比世界上其它任何一个统治者大得多。余并非虚言，而是确有把握。据说，古德诺教授对现行宪法之制定不无影响。依照此宪法，总统代表国家，有权召集和解散立法院，有权在立法院提议立法和提呈预算，有权签署法律，有权颁布相当于国家法律之法令，有权宣战缔和，有权任免文武官员，有权赦免或减刑，总统还兼任陆军和海军之总司令，总统还有权接见各国大使和大臣，有权与外国签订条约。在这张长长的政府权力单上，一个君主头衔还能在其上再添加些什么呢？
然而，更为重要的乃在于总统之任期与选举之方式。去年十二月，立宪大会通过《总统选举程序法》。该法包含如下独特之条款：
1．总统每届任期十年，可以连选连任。
2．由国务院、立法院各选五十名代表，共同组成选举院。
3．在每一届总统选举之前，现任总统因其代表人民之意志，可提名三位总统候选人，以承其位。
4．总统将于选举之日向选举院宣布他所提名之三位总统候选人。
5．除此三名候选人之外，选举院还可提名现任总统为候选人。
6．在总统选举年，倘若国务院有成员认为，因当前政治形势所需，有必要请现任总统留任，他们便可向选举院提出此建议。该建议只需获得选举院三分之二的票数即可通过。最终结果可由总统向全国宣告。
因此，按照这部独一无二之法律，中国总统可以终生连任，唯独只有他才有资格提名总统之继任人。然而，这并不妨碍选举委员再次选举他连任，也并不排除此种可能性：他可以合法地提名他儿子或孙子为总统候选人。那么，在名义上，将“总统”改为“皇帝”，这能给他多带来些什么呢？
不仅上述名号之变更，不会给总统所拥有之权力或尊严带来任何实质性之增长，而且，任何多此一举之做法，将不可避免地造成他最终之垮台。吾等皆具正常之智质水平，亦有些许生活经验，皆明白：一个名称包含有丰富之内涵。不管袁总统之独裁达到何等程度，他还有一般的常识，知道应当避免使用某些“字词”，因为那会遭致青年一代之反对。尽管这些青年完全不知道共和主义到底是什么，但他们梦想共和却是由来已久。袁总统曾公开声称，他决无称帝之野心，甚至还将几个企图鼓吹帝制之人削职。倘使袁先生真如西方评论家所形容的那样，他是一位精明之政治家，那么，他就该明白，只要他采取帝制，立刻就会在全世界人面前信誉扫地，言行不一，甚至极有可能遭致暗杀之危险。
然而，在中国真正的共和主义信徒之眼中，名号之变更是无关紧要的。他们认识到，目前中国之民主已是名存实亡。在差不多两年时间里，国家没有召开过议会，没有地方立法机关，没有地方议会；也没有政党，没有出版之自由，没有言论之自由。不少青年被流放、被处死或被暗杀，没有别的罪名，正是因为他们抱有一种激进之政治哲学。诚然，宪法是有的，可是该宪法将最高行政长官置于法律、议会和人民之上；该宪法还将总统任期无限延长，实际上是自己选自己当总统，几近于世袭制！在此种情形下，“最高”统治者被称为“总统”，或是“皇帝”，又有何区别呢？
不管袁先生当不当皇帝，这并不影响少年中国之进程（余在此并不是指任何特定之政治派别）。少年中国正在为中国建立真正之民主而努力奋斗。它相信民主；而且相信：通向民主之唯一道路即是拥有民主。统治是一门艺术，照此，统治需要经过实践之锻炼。倘若余不开口说英语，那余决学不会讲英语。倘若盎格鲁—撒克逊人从不实行民主，那他们决不会拥有民主。这是一种政治哲学，古德诺教授之流是不会理解的。古德诺教授和许多其它善意之制宪权威认为，东方人不适于民主政体，因为他们以前从不曾有过。与此相反，少年中国认为，恰恰因为中国不曾有过民主，所以她现在必须拥有民主。少年中国认为，倘若第一个中华共和国之寿命更长一些，那么，此时中国之民主将会有一个相当扎实的根基了。至此，四年民主政体之经验，已能让许许多多中国人明白共和主义到底是什么，不管此经验是多么的不完善。
悲哉，呜呼！保守派与反动派皆已在外国评论家那里，找到了热心之支持者，而这些支持者，既无一丝诚意，亦无一点耐心。他们已经在一批伟大的制宪权威之中找到了自己之代言者，诸如日本之有贺教授、美国之古德诺教授。有贺教授反对少年中国尚可理解。可是，当一位来自美利坚合众国之大学者站出来宣称，东方人就其历史和传统来说，不配享有代议制民主政体时，这个打击无疑是很沉重的，是致命性的。这些大学者们用他们的“权威性”意见，炮制了这部中华共和国之新宪法。此刻由于他们的功劳，中国皇帝将要为他们授勋颁奖。