If Tibet, the Land of the Lamas, the Roof of the World, the Forbidden Land is the El Dorado some would seek to picture it, can we in anyway account for its being so? Does the dominance of religion, the absence of crime and the system of polyandry, make Lamaland the land of peace, rest and quiet we have tried to describe it? Or does its physical, geographical and spiritual position bring to it a tranquility denied to other States Amy country which enjoys isolation is more (or less free from border worries and anxieties and any nation or State which is absolutely independent of other nations can enjoy itself while this condition lasts. Is Tibet then quite independent for what it shall eat, what it shall drink and what it shall wear and can it peacefully and quietly rest in the knowledge that sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof? Has the Land of the Lamas any secret, the knowledge of which would make other nations and States peaceful and happy, and if so can that secret be made public?
The lamas have very little use for Birmingham spoons—they eat their food with their hands; they have very little use for Sheffield knives and Staffordshire pottery on the back of a wild, obstreperous, frisky yak would drive insurance companies to distraction. When the first dynamo was on its way to Lhasa the lamas got hold of it and-angrily pitched it over a precipice. Are the lama and and the nomad and the merchant satisfied with their present position and condition and does this condition and position ensure them the peace, quiet and rest which they now appreciate and enjoy Has economics—and by economics we mean the production and distribution of wealth as it affects the welfare of the community—anything to do with the peace and happiness of the Land of the Lamas? If we take the population of Tibet as that of Scotland, about 5,000,000 people, has it, or can it develop an economic condition likely to destroy its internal quiet and disturb and distress its next door neighbour? A coal strike on the Roof of the World seems quite impossible, firstly, iffcause there is practically no coal in the Forbidden Land, and secondly, because the Tibetans burn cow manure. It may have a nasty smell and cause considerable inconvenience to the nose but no one can deny its heating propensity and its ability o keep a nomadic tent warm and cozy: and it is perfectly free, as free as the mountain air that the Tibetan breathes, and it may be gathered without price. Therein lies its convenience. Litang is 14,000 feet above sea level and the principal fuel burned by the 3,000 lamas and about 10,000 people is yak manure.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.