whatismoreimportantisthelengthofthepresidentialtermofofficeandmodeofelection.the“procedureofpresidentialelection”passedbytheconstitutionalconventionlastdecembercontainstheseuniqueprovisions：
1.thepresidentshallholdofficeforatermoftenyears，andiseligibleforreelection.
2.fiftymembersofthecouncilofstate，andfiftymembersoftheli-fa-yuen，tobeelectedamongthemselves，shallconstitutetheelectoralcollege.
3.precedingeverypresidentalelection，thepresentpresident，representingthewillofthepeople，shallnominatethreementobecandidatestosucceedhimself.
4.onthedayofelectionthepresidentshallannouncetotheelectoralcollegethenamesofthethreenominees.
5.besidesthesethreecandidatestheelectoralcollegemayalsovoteforthepresentpresident.
6.ifduringtheyearofpresidentialelectionthemembersofthecouncilofstatedeemitapoliticalnecessitytohavethepresentpresidentremaininoffice，theymaymakeproposalstothateffectbyatwo-thirdsvoteofthatbody.theproposalthusmadeshallbeproclaimedtothewholenationbythepresident.
thus，underthisuniquelaw，thechinesepresidentmayremaininofficeforlife，healoneisentitledtonominatehisownsuccessorsandthatdoesnotpreventtheelectorsfromreelectinghim，norishelegallyprecluedfromnominatinghisownsonorgrandson.whatmorecanthenominalchangefrom“president”to“emperor”bringtohim?
第65章 民国四年(1915)八月九日至十一月三日(2)
notonlywillthischangebringnorealincreaseofpowerordignitytotheoccupantofthepresidentialchair，butanysuchmorewillinevitablyresultinhisultimateruin.thoseofuswhohavehadsomeexperiencewiththeworkingoftheaveragemindrealizethatthereisagreatdealinaname.howeverdictatorialpresidentyuanhasbecome，hehashadcommonsenseenoughtoavoidall“words”thatmaybeobjectionabletothevastyoungergenerationwhohavelongdreamedrepublicandreamswithoutknowingexactlywhatrepublicanismmeans，hehasevenpubliclydeclaredhisresolutionnevertoaspiretotheimperialthrone，andhasbanishedseveralmenwhohaveattemptedtoadvocatemonarchism.ifmr.yuanisreallysuchashrewdpoliticianashiswesterncriticsportrayhimtobe，heoughttobeabletoseethathisassumptionoftheimperialtitlewillimmediatelyexposehimtotheutterdistrustofthewholeworldandeventothemostprobabledangerofassassination.
thequestionofatitularchange，however，isofverylittleimportanceinthemindsofthetruerepublicansofchina.thechinesedemocracy，theyrealize，nowexistsonlyinname，foralmosttwoyearsthecountryhashadnoparliament，noprovinciallegislatures，nodistrictcouncils.therearenopoliticalparties，nofreedomofpress，nofreedomofspeech.manyayouthhasbeenexiledorexecutedorassassinatedfornoothercrimethanthatofholdingaradicalpoliticalphilosophy.tobesure，thereisaconstitution，butaconstitutionthatexaltsthechiefexecutivebeyondthereachofthelaw，theparliament，andthepeople;aconstitutionwhichmakesthepresidencyindefinitelylong，practicallyself-elective，andalmosthereditary!*undersuchcircumstance，whatdifferencewillitmakewhetherthe“supreme”rulerbecalled“president”or“emperor”?
whetherornotmr.yuanwillbecomeemperordoesnotaffectthecourseofyoungchina(bywhichidonotmeananyparticularpoliticalfaction)，whichisstrugglinghardfortheestablishmentofagenuinedemocracyinchina.youngchinabelievesindemocracy;itbelievesthattheonlywaytohavedemocracyistohavedemocracy.governmentisanart，andassuchitneedspractice.iwouldneverhavebeenabletospeakenglishhadineverspokenit.theanglo-saxonpeoplewouldneverhavehaddemocracyhadtheyneverpracticeddemocracy.thisisakindofpoliticalphilosophywhichisincomprehensibletomenlikeprofessorcroodnow.professorgoodnowandmanyotherwell-meaningconstitutionalauthoritiesthinkthattheorientalpeoplearenotfitforthedemocraticformofgovernmentbecausetheyhavenewerhaditbefore.onthecontrary，youngchinabelievesthatitispreciselybecausechinahasnothaddemocracythatshemustnowhavedemocracy.itbelievesthatifthefirstchineserepublichadhadalongerlifedemocracywouldhavebythistimeestablishedafairlystrongholdinchina，andthepoliticalexperienceoffouryears’democraticgovernment，howeverimperfectthatexperiencemighthavebeen，wouldhavebythistimeenabledavastnumberofthechinesepeopletounderstandwhatrepublicanismreallymeans.
but，alas!theconservativesandthereactionarieshavefoundheartysupportersinourforeigncriticswhohaveneitherfaithnorpatience.theyhavefoundtheirspokesmeninsuchgreatconstitutionalauthoritiesasprofessorsariga，ofjapan，andgoodnow，oftheamericanrepublic.itisconceivablethatprofessorarigashouldopposeyoungchina.butwhenagreatscholarfromtheamericanrepubliccameoutwiththedeclarationthattheorientalpeoplewerebyhistoryandtraditiondisqualifiedtohaverepresentativeformofgovernment，theblowwasdecisiveandfatal.thesegreatscholarshavewroughttheir“authoritative”opinionsintothenewconstitutionofthechineserepublic，andarenowontheeveofbeingdecoratedbythechineseemperorwhomtheyhavehelpedtomake.
*theprocedureofpresidentialelectionisapartoftheconstitution.
〔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。
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