Finally, there is the difficulty of international ce-operation; the mutual jealousies and distrust of the Treaty Powers, each thinking of its own selfish interests and dete: mined that no other Power shall secure such control of China's railways or commercial water routes, or what not, or such influence in the administration of her government as would give an advantage to its own nationals. There are many who contend that these international suspicions would prevent any effi lent ce-operation in the task of regenerating China, either in her own interest or in that of the intervening Powers, and that the Powers would still more strongly negative consent to consign the task to any single Power. The difficulties which are now encountered in securing accord upon any matter in which the various Powers are interested are numerous enough.
Tt may be that these objections are well taken; that the treaty Powers, either jointly or separately, fail to constitute an instrumentality' of sufficiently high class for the performance of such an advanced duty as the extension to politically incompetent peoples of the benefits of the device of trusteeship. Although this device is the best that statesmanship has worked out for the protection and the tutelage the immature, within the state, is quite possible that the world is not yet good enough for the Tecognition of the existence of national minor. But in that case were best that we should recognize the true reason for pursuing the "hands-off China" policy. It is not that it would be ethically wrong or practically impossible to do other-_ wise but that we cannot trust ourselves or our neighbour with the delicate duty of laying a kindly hand on the shoulder of a backward nation and guiding it with firmness along the trail which we know because we have been over it.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.