Mr. King Chu's impressively dramatic defence of the principle of freedom of religion and freedom of thought is a Spring omen of the happiest tidings. In the presence of powerful members of the Kuomintang, members of the Central Executive Committee, he dared to oppose resolution for the absorption of the Y.M.C.A., which, in effect, meant its dissolution in China. This resolution seemed to be within probability of passage at the Educational Conference in Nanking, when this young educator, himself not a Christ jan, I believe, rose to fight for principle, for the principle in fact that guided his leader, who was throughout his life a Christian, Mr. Chu's victory will not, it is to be hoped, inspire the anti-Christians with the desire to retaliate merely to show how strong they can be, but will rather give them pause to study the subject of religious freedom more thoroughly, particularly in the light of the traditions of the Chinese people, so that the odium which befell Soviet Russia when it persecuted religion will not also shame this country. To an observer in China, it is a thing to marvel that this young educator, not a very high official as rank now goes in China, had the strength of character, the personal daring and bravery, the perspective, to speak against vindictive misinterpretations of the trend of the times, while professing Christians remain silent.
To-day China's most urgent! requirement is friendship, not that cynically hypocritical friendship which is so evident among time-servers who tell their Chinese friends that all that they do is the acme of perfection, but rather a friendship which is engendered by a con-lotion that the Chinese are a righteous people labouring under great trials who must be given every opportunity to work out their own salvation according to their own lights. Dr. L. Rajehman in his report to the Council of the League of Nations employs a phrase which marks the latitudes of. the possibilities of friendship when he says: "civil wars and disturbances incident to the political stabilization of a large country after a successful revolution." Much that happens China, which would not be tolerated i these events occurred in a European country, is readily explained away by friends of China as arising from the difficulties of stabilization, the size of the country and the aftermath of revolution. But the Persecution of religion has absolutely nothing to do with either: the problems of stabilization nor the'size of the country. The Persecution of religion is a vestige of the Communist re-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.