As a nurse appointed by Corso, I left this country at the end of 19-17 to help the Chinese in their work at the Bethunc International Peace Hospital. I was as unconcerned as most New Zealanders are in respect of social and political matters when I left, but 1 found that I could not remain long indifferent to the efforts of these people to improve the conditions of life for the whole of the people.

My first two years were spent in central China, first in central Honan and then in Shansi, one of the first areas to be governed by the People's Government and which had suffered the ravages of war for some years. Signs of Japanese occupation remain in many places, even our hospital was an old Japanese barracks.

Let us consider some of the results of the present changes in China. I would like to illustrate this with an account of one of my first impressions. Wherever one looks people are visible. This can only be expected in a country with a population in excess of 500,000,000. Soon after my arrival I was travelling from village to village giving smallpox vaccinations. Imagine my surprise when I came upon a village of about 80 houses all entirely deserted. After some time an elderly farmer from a nearby village appeared and told us that all the villagers in this place were now refugees in nearby cities because the Kuomintang had demanded such excessive taxes. Tax is usually paid in grain and fear had driven them away before the arrival of the tax gatherers with their exorbitant demands. Can a race of people tolerate this indefinitely?

Unity and Equality

Some of my Chinese co-workers at the Peace hospital had had overseas medical training, some had tuition in Chinese universities and some simply came from nearby villages, but all from the chief doctor to the lowliest water carrier lived together eating the same food in the same quarters united in a desire to help their fellow countrymen. My last year was spent in Shanghai among its five million people. I was the only European in Madame Sun Yat Sen's Welfare Institute which provided free medical care and education in the densely populated factory district.

Well over three quarters of China's population lives on the land and therefore any genuine government, as this present People's Government is proving to be must include in its earliest reforms the betterment of these peoples' living standards. The following are some of the ways in which the problem has been approached.

(1) A fixed maximum tax has been established which does not exceed the people's ability to pay. This is entirely new because in the past taxes were levied capriciously. Now only one authority levies the tax, not the government and landlords independently os in the past. No matter if the harvest is poor or good the greatest proportion of the return is kept by the farmer himself. Now every farmer is the proud owner of a piece of land. The only qualifications are that he live on the land and till it himself. If other business keeps him in the city then the natural presumption is that it must support him financially. Measures like these because of their magnitude cannot be put into operation overnight. Effects of the changes are continually being discussed by the people themselves and remits are sent to the government local and national should the matter warrant it. No longer is the farmer ignorant of the condition of society around him. Frequent meetings report, discuss, suggest and decide so that changes take place and remain in effect only with the people's consent.

(2) Production is stimulated by the pooling of labour when necessary, e.g., in times of floods or famine, Government assistance is given in connection with the water supply and also long term plans are drawn up which make the old calamities a thing of the past. Livestock both for food and as beasts of burden are being increased.

(3) Every village I visited has tackled the problem of illiteracy with a marked enthusiasm, not only for children but for adults as well.

China now has an honest government. To know that the government in Peking and its local authorities will support fair and just laws is something very new to the Chinese people. Would we tolerate a government which made laws and then immediately disowned them? Laws were twisted to support the person who could bribe the Kuomintang officials the most. Under the People's Government this corruption is not tolerated. The solution that has been arrived at is not to give the officials higher pay. They are just and honest because they are united with the people in the struggle for a better life.

Inflation is Cured

Inflation has been in existence for several decades but now this too is a thing of the past. People may hold or bank money without fear of it losing its value overnight. We in New Zealand cannot realise what it is to draw our salary and find it almost valueless before it can be converted into non-perishable goods in such times of scarcity in China the greater would be the profit of the speculator. The People's Government has rectified this state of affairs in less than a year. No longer can the retailer and middle man make a fortune while others starve. Government price control and the establishment of food reserves throughout the country has eradicated the fear of famine. The thing that strikes one most in China today is the enthusiastic approach to labour and study in particular there is a very marked change in the university. Study and practical application now go hand in hand. Education is no longer the preserve of the rich. He who has talent, now has the opportunity.

What has been the result of foreign influence in China over the past hundred years? Foreigners first gained access to China in the infamous opium wars of the last century. The Chinese citizen is well aware of the facts of this intervention China was regarded as a field of exploitation both with respect to labour and raw materials. Missionaries made their penetration in the period after these wars. They penetrated much further inland than did the trader and did much in the founding of schools, universities and medical colleges. Those missionaries who continued in the western way of life perhaps introduced some confusion in the Chinese about the true meaning of Christianity.

The Chinese people oppose the draining away of their land and wealth into foreign hands. Equal pay for equal work is now the motto and this applies to both Chinese and aliens. China is far from ill treating any foreign nationals. At every turn we are met with courtesy and co-operation. Some suspicion lingers a little and some restriction is placed on travel but in the record of the past the Chinese have ample justification. Once a permit is obtained no further difficulties are obtained. Many Americans and British left on the advice of their consulate not through personal difficulties at all. Some were compelled to leave because of the inconvenience caused by the Kuomintang to shipping moveing up and down the coast.

Religious Freedom

Missionaries too, we are told are leaving but this is not due to government antipathy. There is religious freedom today in China. There are various reasons for the exit of the missionaries. Some have furlough due, in some cases Home mission boards request the return of all personnel. It is also true that Chinese Christians desire to see the leaders of the church native bom. This has already occurred in some places.

Britain and America have failed to help the Chinese people in their effort to rid themselves of corrupt feudalism, rather the contrarty, we have done everything possible to help the very people who were responsible for China's downfall is it not understandable then that relations are not what they might be with this new nation? Would we tolerate domination by other countries? Can we expect Chian to? Only by permitting China to take her rightful place as a nation and by extending the honest hand of friendship can we ever hope to bring about the peace we ail so earnestly desire. China wants peace just as we do but it must be an honourable peace.

—Miss Isobel Eason.