Potat t 24th May. 'As everybody knows, the Graphic has been. well served: in' the matter of Russian news during the recent diplomatic. skirmishes. If for this reason only, its latest map would be interesting to the world at large, but to us here it-is more so. It represents what was the outline of the spheres of influence as they were understood in London six weeks ago. There: is reason to believe that a good: deal of adjustment will have to be gone: thiough before what apparently the. British idea will be -the: accepted settlement of the whole civilised world. Still,'as we have good reason to remember, our cartographers are- not given to colour red. any Rave not been effectually occupied, portions of the. earth's surface that
or at any rate protectively staked out.. Hence the interest of the latest map.
glance at it will be sufficient to impress its general features upon most minds: The whole of Manchuria down to the Great Wall goes to 'Russia. The British snlere includes', the Yangtze Valley, and more." It: contains the provinces of Kiangsu; Kiangsi, Anhui, Hupeh, Hunan, Szechuan, Yunnan, and Kuangtung—eight out of the eighteen, provinces. Shantung is German Chekiang, Italian; Fukien, Japanese and Kuangsi, French.
As we know, there remains a good deal of negotiation before this outline will be officially recognised as correct. Italy as yet has no foothold of any sort; Japan has but a promise, and French ambition may not satisfied with an eighteenth, notwithstanding an agreement. with England about Yunnan. There is thus scope for much discussion; ere the cartographer's dream becomes a reality.
But perhaps the most. interesting part of the map is that left in immaculate white. The Powers, as aforesaid, have ¢ast their various shadows over their respective spheres, but there remain portions unclouded, as though their native: purity were ever to remain unsullied by the grasp of the ravishing outlander. It is amusing to see the Colossus of the North stop short at the border line of Corea. 'The Hermit land is to' be left alone—for the present; so with-the northern provinces within the Wall. We see now what Lord Salisbury. was driving at when he told his hearers, the other day, that the: new policy was the i dependence of: China: within " restricted area. The Graphic shows us what this restricted area is. It includes the provinces of Kansu, Shensi, Shansi, Honan, and Pechili, a, homogeneous tract of country completely dividing the Russian from the British spheres, another buffer state; which doubtless'as time passes will with a difference, become a second Siam, or another Afghanistan. For the time being, however, it might serve its purpose.
The other unattached portions of the Empire are Tibet; and- the province of Kueichou. That the former.might be difficult of assimilation for various reasons is easy to' understand, but why Kueichou should remain unappropriated is explainable only by the fact that the conflicting claims thereto require still further adjustment. We know that a company is being formed in London for the exploitation of the quicksilver mines in the province, arid events point to an amicable agreement. between the two powers interested—England and France—as to its future. The mining concession has been in French hands for considerable time, but. nothing practical has come of it as yet. Whether the joint effort, now being started in London, will be successful remains to be seen. Kueichou is an entirely continental province. Its nearest point to the sea is some 500 miles as the crow flies. There are no roads, and, what is worse, no waterways to speak of Until a railway is made to open it up, it is difficult to see how much development is to be accomplished.
One thing, however, is practically certain, and that is the near approach of the opening up of the whole of China to trade. Had the native authorities been wise in their day and i taken to heart given them by the Foreign Press, which from the beginning has been friendly in the best sense, th development might have been entively under their own auspices. As it is, the golden opportunity was allowed to slip by, and now is gone never to return. Not that China, or the Chinese, will -be sufferers by the new turn in events; far otherwise. The dawn of the new era is one of the greatest promise for them and their descendants. For the first time in its marvellous history, the Celestial Empire will have an opportunity of putting forth its strength and of showing to the world its possibilities. Hitherto it has suffered from the narcotic effects of its legendary customs, and the retro-Spective character of its Confucian teaching. It will now have the chance of looking, and going ahead; and however impossible it may be for the Asiatic to progress alone, there is no doubt, after our experience of India, that he can readily assimilate much of the learning of the West, and given time, this must result in a general awakening.
Before another century has passed, it is probable that the map of Asia will not contain a single nook or cranny that has not come under the influence of the West. In the best sense of all, Japa "has already done so. Siberia is entirely Russian, India is English. Whether Siam can turn herself into a southern Japan or not remains an open question. Corea cannot remain isolated, Persia must gravitate partly to one, partly to the other, of the two greatest Asiatic powers.
The world is looking back to the lands of its babyhood, and its looking is becoming a longing. It will not long remain literally true that East is East and West is West. Already, says a Japanese writer, "there is nothing left of Japan but its scenery." The old Japan is gone—a brand new land has taken its place. Daniel Webster was not far wrong when he said " Whoever would see the Eastern world before it turns into a Western world must make his visit soon."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.