'Though. the practical' dimicuities facing the, suggestion by the: second annual convention of the China Polt-tical Selene Association, which has just adjourned in Nanking, that the umber of provinces in this country should be increased while their area {is reduced, may appear insuperable at present, the suggestion nevertheless deserves a better fate than mere docketing away for future reference. The argument advanced by the association, among others, is that China's" provinces are at present unwieldy, and there will be few who will disagree with it. Provincial governors and bureaux in those large areas of the country where com= munications are stil primitive cannot hope to control and supervise magt trates in outlying districts, and asa result provincial government in many parts is inadequate for its purpose—the promotion of the best. interes of the people. China is, of cours still in the chrysalis stage of evolu tion from old" to. more efficient methods, and there is therefore no blame attached to those who are ardently working to bring out the change as quickly as possible. But how can a. provincial " government sitting, say, "in Chengtu properly control the' administration of a prox Vince like Szechuen, which is Inrger area than either France or Gernion? Both these countries are advanced and industrialized and their governments have international rather than provincial problems to attend to. But when the enormous complexity of their governments is compared with Infant administration " in' Sze~ chuen, it becomes startlingly obvious what 'a tong way China has to go. Comparisons of the areas of some Chinese provinces with some European countries is illuminating. Szechuen "has an area of 218,839 square miles, Yunnan an area 146714 square miles, Kansu an area of 125,483 square miles, Hopei 115,880 Square miles, -Kwangtung 100,000 square miles. Put these beside the leading European countries: France 212,803 square miles; Germany 162,200 square miles; Moly 110,743 square miles: and England, Scotland, " and Wales $8,748 square miles, It can be seen that the suggestion that China's ravinees are too large to be wieldy sound one, and that there is much fo be said for a.redivision of the country into smaller administrative sections.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.