bankers who were considering the advisability and risk of underwriting her loan-and to urge its acceptance. I had seen the Japanese army in action and believed in its final triumph, and that her people would ultimately pay her obligations. But were any such monstrous conditions demanded from her by the underwriters as are now sought by the sextuple syndicate in dealing with China? On the contrary, Japan secured the money necessary to carry on her campaign on easy terms, although her success in the titanic struggle in which she was then engaged was, at that time, by no means a certainty. In the case of China, peace reigns, and yet, before the great financiers consent to the issuance of a loan, it is asserted that they demand the right of a close supervision of its expenditure, that it be ear-marked for purposes acceptable to them, that it shall not be available for military or naval defence, so essential for the future protection of the country; that no other loans or obligations shall be made by China without the consent of the syndicate, and that certain revenues be allotted for its security. These terms the statesmen of China refused and they have had the temerity to negotiate an independent loan for $50,000,000 in opposition to the will of the six-power syndicate. On the question of China's finances, the London Times said, after the floating of the first instalment of the $50,000,000 loan, which was half of the sum, that it "rejoices that the British people have manifested a different spirit from that of their government." It condemns the government for backing up the monopoly; it declares that the six-power group had "sought to set up a monopoly in China under the aegis of international diplomacy." It also declares that the liabilities of the country to June next, including indemnity arrears, will amount to 10,000,000 sterling and that "much is dependent upon the generosity of the foreign governments and the banking interests.' According to Dr. Morrison, the political adviser of the Chinese government, China has entered upon a new era of prosperity, and by the skill and judgment of her financiers has shaken herself free from international complications. The London Morning Post (Conservative) remarks gloomily: "The prospectus of the new Chinese loan has been duly issued. The British government has been roundly accused of lending itself to a plot for placing China at the mercy of a syndicate of greedy financiers, and for establishing a degrading system of foreign control over her internal affairs. The breaking off of the negotiations between the Chinese government and the six-power banking group and the conclusion of the loan agreement with the London financiers have been hailed as a destruction of the selfish monopoly which was strangling the freedom of the young Republic." The London Daily News continues, "It is a battle of giants, for behind the six powers there is a greedy banking monopoly which has hitherto been unchallenged, and behind this monopoly there is a complicated network of international intrigue, partly German, partly American, partly Russian and partly Japanese," and I think we may add, largely English. La'! On October 30, 1912, one of the interested powers, Russia, proposed that a joint and pre-emptory demand be made upon China for the immediate payment of arrears in the Boxer indemnity, the sum amounting to $50,000,000. It was privately intimated, and not officially denied, that this movement, made on October 30, was intended as an emphatic rebuke to the Chinese for their temerity in contracting loans with independent bankers; disregarding the warning of the powers, and their rejection of the proposed loan by the sixpower syndicate. It is stated on high authority that the powers of Europe look favorably upon this proposal. In taking the initiative in the movement to compel China to accept the proposal of the six-power syndicate, and the refusal on China's part to accept the terms, Russia, as stated in reports received on November 7, has been led to negotiate with one of China's provinces, Mongolia, a treaty, signed on November 3, by which she agrees to aid Mongolia to maintain the autonomous government which she has established, and to support her right to maintain a national army, and to exclude both the presence of Chinese troops and the colonization of her territory by the Chinese. In this act Russia is following the lead of her ally, Great Britain, who not long ago proclaimed what amounts to a protectorate over the territory of Thibet, just as, on a recent occasion, Great Britain joined Russia in their monstrous and disgraceful treatment of Persia. It is the consummation of the policy of "squeeze" that has been carried on ever since China opened her doors, at the mouth of the cannon, to the crime of the century, the opium trade of England, and later, to so-called modern civilization. Thus it seems that the vivisection of the sick man of the Far East may proceed merrily, without consideration for the interests or sentiments of the patient under the scalpel. This at the moment seems to be the lamentable result of the action of the six-power syndicate. It seems apparent that the famous combination has signally failed in its financial policy, despite governmental assistance, and that nothing has been gained by the delay in the recognition of the Republic. But what has been lost? By formally recognizing the new government as soon as it had demonstrated its right to such recognition, America would have followed the splendid traditions of our forebears, who enunciated and practiced the laws of justice and liberty which made our country great, and from whose teachings we have departed too far. We would have had the proud distinction of being the first to welcome the Republic in its hour of trial. We would have secured the eternal friendship and respect of a nation, which, no matter what adversity it may yet have to face, is destined to be one of the greatest and grandest on earth. We would have immeasurably increased our prestige in the Orient, and possibly, by proclaiming the policy of "hands off" and the "open door" in China, averted the tragedy that now seems almost inevitable. Is there anyone present who believes that if John Hay had been in the Department of State during the past year, the republic of China would not have been recognized long ago? Had his policy been followed directly after the abdication of the Manchu dynasty, China, in the opinion of well-informed authorities, would have escaped many of the dangers now menacing her. Time was, in the history of American diplo macy, when our Executive acted upon the recognition of downtrodden nations which had emancipated themselves from tyranny and established republican forms of government, without consultation or dictation from Lombard or Wall Street. The majority of our people are, and from the first have been, in sincere sympathy with China in her struggle for liberty. Is their will to be carried out or is liberty, and opportunity, to be throttled and made subservient to a group of capitalists who seek to monopolize the privilege of dictatorship? Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, THE GENESIS OF THE REPUBLICAN REVOLUTION IN CHINA FROM A SOUTH CHINA STANDPOINT By John Stuart Thomson, sometime Agent at Hong Kong, China, of the Pacific Mail and Toyo Kisen Kaisha Trans-Pacific Steamship Companies Many have thought of, many have spoken on the Chinese revolution, but each onlooker probably sees it in slightly varying lights, as the matter has very many sides. With your permission I will add a few statements, trying to outline the genesis of the astonishing movement as it appeared to me, and selecting some salient points while the revolution was in progress. I lived longest in south China, which section has thought longest on revolution, and I will therefore speak largely as a neighbor of the southern Chinese, but I will always remember that every "National" has his inalienable right to free opinion and his opinion and personality I have hearty respect for. "A man's a man for a' that!" A republic in place of the oldest monarchy! Preposterous. It would involve making a yellow man think as a white man, and that had never occurred. It would involve free intercourse with the whole wide world, and China had opposed such an innovation stubbornly for 400 years. It meant that the proudest and most self-contained nation should treat others as equals and interchange with them. It involved throwing 4000 years of continuous history and agglomerated pride and precedent to the winds, and humbly beginning anew as a tyro for a while. It meant the dealing with 400,000,000 kings, instead of one, and asking, "My lord! what is your will." An educational system 2000 years old to be at once forgotten! a religion 5000 years old at least, whereby every man had his own god (his father) to be made as cheap as the paltry sacrifices of wine, rice 66 |