176 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



April 1, 1913. 



of the other territories, Manchuria possesses 

 valuable coalfields, and also iron, gold, sil- 

 ver, copper, lead, etc. ; Tibet is very rich in 

 gold, and also silver, copper, lead, 

 iron, and mercury; and Mongolia is pro- 

 ductive in granite, coaJ, and gold. Is there 

 any other country in the world so full of 

 different minerals? 



There is more than sufficient evidence 

 to show that when China makes up her 

 mind to develop this mineral wealth 

 she will rapidly assume a foremost 

 position in the industrial world. 



CHINA'S COHESION. 



Under this title Ho Heng-Wha writes 

 in the Republican Advocate of China, 

 tracing the inception of China's 

 national sentiment. The inert mass was 

 practically ignorant of Japan's victory 

 until the tax-collector came to the 

 door : — 



When the provinces had to bear part of 

 the cost of the war and the people had to 

 pay a heavier tax for the Government's mis- 

 management then the disgrace and humilia- 

 tion of being beaten by a smaller foe were 

 realised. Then the spark of national senti- 

 ment began to glow. When Japan, goaded 

 by Russia, turned, like the proverbial worm, 

 against the malevolent oppressor and laid 

 him low she not only did herself a great 

 benefit, but rendered to China an immense 

 service. Japan was the clevor surgeon who 

 performed the operation of removing the 

 cataract from China's eyes. 



The work of reconstruction has gone 

 on from that moment, and Russia's in- 

 terference in Mongolia is resented with 

 all the indignation of a nation united 

 for the first time by the common bonds 

 of patriotism. 



The writer bears tribute to the sin- 

 cerity of this new-born force: — 



Our love for our countiy has now been 

 proclaimed as a real and powerful sentiment 

 which knits every one of us, whether he be a 

 Cantonese, a Pekingese, a Hunanese or a 

 Yunnanese. The sacred flames of our 

 cohesion are now blazing fiercely and serve 

 as light for us to form a well-welded country. 



Patriotism is based on self-sacrifice and 

 self-effacement, and in China such sentiment 

 exists not only among the leaders but among 

 the followers. It is not true now that the 

 mass is inert and lifeless, for whence come 

 the soldiers but from the mass? Who are 

 readier to lay down their lives against a 



• common enemy than these noble and brave 

 defenders? In the olden days what did the 

 people care in keepdng up an alien dynasty? 

 It is different to-day. It is not a dynasty 

 one has to fight for, but one's own country, 



• one's own land and one's own home. 



A GLOOMY VIEW OF JAPAN. 



Under the head of " The Price Paid 

 for Chauvinism in Japan," an anony- 

 mous writer in the Economic Review 

 seems to be trying to prove that Japan 

 is in a bad way commercially owmg to 

 her refusal to employ foreign money 

 and enterprise. He admits that the 

 Japanese are very capable administra- 

 tively and commercially, but that in 

 Japan things are in a bad state, that is 

 to say, wages are low, housing is dear 

 and uncomfortable, drainage is non- 

 existent, and a large part of the com- 

 munity is in a state of destitution, and 

 this in spite of the fact that the country 

 is full of natural resources. The Gov- 

 ernment does little for the people be- 

 yond providing free education. 



He accounts for this state of affairs 

 by the fact that the men who have 

 directed the policy of Japan since the 

 revolution are men whose ideals do not 

 rise above that of the parish pump. He 

 says : — - 



Third and fourth grade petty local officials 

 fi'om the counties of Satsuma and Chosshiu 

 proceeded to manage all the affairs of forty 

 millions of people. No more home-keeping 

 men or homelier minds ever faced such a 

 task. From the isolation of a narrow valley 

 in a little county administered as a petty 

 self-contained State, they passed into inter- 

 national politics. Mistaking " tiie rustic 

 cackle" oi' their intervillage feuds for the 

 " murmur of the world," they supposed that 

 world politics was just such another business; 

 and so far as conceptions go, they think so 

 still. 



As a result of this — 



Three aims are constantly held before the 

 people. They are to check imports increase 

 exports, and eliminate the foreigner from 

 every stage of every transaction. 



This policy accounts for the impov- 

 erished condition of Japan. The moral 

 which the writer points, but does not 

 state, seems to be that unless Japan 

 makes use of foreign capital and enter- 

 prise she will never develop into a pros- 

 perous country. 



AND A HOPEFUL ONE. 



Count Okuma takes a more hopeful 

 view. 



The fear (he says) of some is that 

 our militarists may get the upper hand 

 in the Government and over-ride the 

 constitution. This apprehension of a 



