Aug. 39.
Foreigners known in China have been attracting the notice of the cable-mongers who have faithfully recorded obiter dicta and other flowers of wisdom, as laid at the feet of certain debate ing societies across the sea. Having come from China the travellers have naturally brought this country into their philandering with the exquisites of oratorical dilletantism, No doubt the result has been highly satisfactory to both parties im: mediately concerned, Whether the tertium quid is equally pleased may be doubted, But then the circumstances should be taken into account. Snippety extracts from speeches are unstable bases for comment at the best of times but, even so, there may be some astonishment here at the blithe assurance of the expositions to which the amiable audiences over there have been treated, This astonishment is quite unjustified for it can only generated out of complete ignorance of the "inherent qualities of discussions of.this Kind, The travellers, being well~ acquainted with those qualities, were faced with two courses of action. They could have paid tribute to the shrine 9f veracity by keeping silent: racy could burn incense before their own gift for oratory. They chose the latter with the result that curious items of information are waited to Shangha The truth is that these debate ing societies—for such they are whatever may be the particular title which they assume—have tidy minds and nerves which are none too' strong. They delight in roaming from subject to subject. They are thrilled to get hold of a lion or two aad, provided the skin is there, they are not particularly eriti¢sl of the suggestion of incongruity bstween the outer covering and the inner creature, They have programmes which are often exceedingly varied; they draw up schedules of their lectures almost on railway time-table styles they like to run to tice; they like to have their meals, That means that, when the debate is over, they insist that tie subject discussed has been miralty settled to their satisfaction, They must be able to' proceed to their meos—and afterwards to the next problem under review—with the comforting conviction that they have finally disposed of the matter which they set out to debate.
Consider the plight of an earnest debating society con-rented by China, witt, say, five or very little more haz to spare for the salvation of tat troublesome country, The tactless {stranger who talked of chaos, communism, depreciated taels. [warring militarists, would be merely upsetting the wide, programme, The meeting could not come to any conclusion and that Supper or dinner aHerwavds
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.