In the July number of the Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review there appeared an article by Mr. Taw Sein-ko, M.R.AS., with the above title, and the article is continued in the October number. Mr, Taw begins his continuation by saying that " it ident that, under the political circumstances prevailing, at present, in Europe, where Russia has displaced Germany in the role of Dens ex machind, the project of partitioning China may well be relegated to the dim future. 'I'he fate of Poland has also been hanging, like the sword of Damocles, over 'I'urkey and Persia, and the inclusion of Chiva withly the doomed circle forms a triad of three Asiatic States, which are believed to be in a condition of decrepitude, and whose decay and final disintegration cannot be stayed by human power. As regards China, since ber recent humiliation by Japan, the tone of the foreign Press, both in China and elsewhere, has been considerably tinged with pessimism." Mr. T'aw thinks that this pessimism is unwarranted, for he holds that the spirit of reform has really been awakened in China. He quotes the introdnetion of German officers to drill the Chinese troops at Woosung, and the intention to employ British officers to organise the new navy. He says that the simplification and codification of the laws has been undertaken. He has high hopes of the benefits that will accrue from the establishment of Mr. Gilbert Reid's International Institute at Peking. He dwells on the strides that are being made in the constraction and extension of railways and telegraphs, and -expresses his admiration for H-E. Chang Chih-tung's well-meant but blundering attempts to adopt Western inventions at Hankow. He notes that the Belgians are beginning to build the railway from Hankow to Peking, and adds that "these good signs and healthy symptoms are not unaccompanied by prospects of a commercial or industrial nature. The West River has been opened to navigation by foreign vessels, and the Shimonosaki Treaty has given a marvellous stimulus to the erection of mills at Shanghai, which bids fair to rival Japan, Bombay, and Lancashire in the manufacture of textile fabrics." with an optimist which we cannot but admire though we cannot agree with it, "thatthe regeneration of China will scow be an accomplished fact, and this belief is strengthened by the active assistance rendered by Russia, and by the goodwill and sympathy of the other Power We wish we could believe that 1 the other Great Powers were actuated by this unselfish desire to see China regenerated. Mr, Taw mentions what are the characteristic of each of the Great Powers, and says that what is best in ench of them wight be ut 1 in maniding the future of China and in bringing her into line with Western countries, A counsel of perfection, indeed. But he explains that the Chinese will not submit themselves t" be controlled by Civil, Judicial, Military, Naval, Public Works, and Agricultural Departments mauned by foreigners on the model of the Imperial Muritime Customs, because this would be equivalent to foreign occupation, That is to say, China is anxious to reform, but will not adopt the only satisfactory means rds that end. But, he tells us:
ere is one Department of the State, viz, the Iuperinl Trensury, where foreign advice and assistance would be welcomed and appreciated." If this statement is well-founded, and China is really prepared to put her finance the hands of a commission of foreigners, everything else is easy. But we do not believe for a moment that the vast army of officials ull over the Empire who have bought their places under the old system, and look to the maintenance of the old system to recoup themselves for their outlay, would allow the Emperor or whoever really governs China to inaugurate such a drastic reform even if he or they realised the necessity for it, Until this reform is inaugurated, all the other signs of progress are only palliatives that" will but skin and film the ulcer o'er." the rottenness and. corruption of the body politic of China have got to be cut out with a knife wielded. by a hand that, means to cut to the bottom and remove every atom of diseased flesh, and this is an operation to which we are unable to believe that any high official in Peking or the provinces can be persuaded to consent. 'I'hey will rather see Manchuria taken by one Power, Shantung by another, Yunnan by another, and so on. -Blind leaders of the blind, they do not want to see''the right way, however persistently it is pointed out to them, "As far as England is concerned," says Mr. Taw, "it is time that she took prompt and definite action. Of all the European Powers, she. has' the largest stake in the Far Enst, and she is, like Russia, an Asiatic rather than a European Power. - It is becoming tu: be recognised that China is the real pivotal point of the world. He who com-mauds her resources and her teeming millions must have a preponderating
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.