Way CniNa Sees "Rep—by Putnam "Weale, Dodd Mean & Ca, New 'York,' 1928, As a rapidly written survey of the international history of China and the events of the past two or three years, Mr. Putnam Weale has produced, a book which is little short of remarkable, both in the mount of matter included and the clearness of presentation. It is not necessary to point to the various! questions upon which Mr. Weal> the reviewer might disagree, fas that, after all, is a matter of no importance. Nor is derogatory to the volume to that Mr. Weale presents one si ithe story and that the foreign side, for frankly biased statement of any case is far more valuable to the student and the casual "reader than those namby-pamby works which claim to be all-inclusive and to present all sides and really amount to nothing. Mr. Weale writes as a Briton defending the British posi tion in China, and stating that posi tion for the benefit of those who might perhaps have been led into error. That his statements, documented and clear, are convin icing to the open-minded will of} jeourse mean little to those whose minds are fixed on subjects Chin-jose, but even such readers will have to recognize the accuracy of of the international situation as a conflict between two civilizations, the ancient Chinese and the modern European might' perhaps have been termed.trite, were it not that seldom is this conflict described in terms of modern political and industrial developments, Mr. Weale's description of the treaty port, its development and' its snd industrial significance, volume worth while, even if all his facts are not quite accurate as te the May 30 Affair. His book was written in September 1925 and therefore the evidence before the Judicial Inquiry and the report of the Diplomatic Commission were not available when he wrote. Iis inaccuracies are duc to the absence of the information which appeared in those documents, and which he will have, should another edition of the book be pub-shed, The inaccuracies are minor Jand in no way detract from the Jue of the volume.
loss of prestige to the! Diplomatic Corps, their failure to take the initiative in vital situa. tions, their demoralization from the standpoint of effective service for their countries in China, is stated perhaps as nowhere else, When Comrade Karakhan became nominal doyen of the Diplomatic Corps, Dr. Schurman said that body: ceased to exist, but no one dreamed that it would become the inane, effectual group of men who now pompously call themselves by high-sounding titles, but who are apparently incapable. or are not allowed to assume a leadership in altairs which require the -keenest minds and the most brilliant leadership. - That such a body. could not follow out the fullness of the programme suggested for saving the foreign and particularly. the British position in China is- evid-ion.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.