454 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



yet experience. The Government, com- 

 scious of its guilt, rushed through the 

 loan despite the protests of Parliament, 

 thus accentuating the intense indigna- 

 tion of the people, who are now worked 

 up to a white heat of fury, which 

 makes a terrible convulsion almost in- 

 evitable. Says Dr. Sun Yat-sen : " In- 

 deed, so acute has the crisis become 

 that widespread smouldering embers 

 may burst forth in devastating confla- 

 gration at any moment. From the date 

 of the birth of the Republic I have 

 striven for unity, peace, concord and 

 prosperity. I recommended Yuan-Shih- 

 Kai for the Presidency because there 

 appeared reasons for believing that by 

 doing so the unification of the nation 

 and the dawn of the era of peace and 

 prosperity would thereby be hastened. 

 Ever since then I have done all I could 

 to evolve peace, order and government 

 out of the chaos created by the revolu- 

 tion. I earnestly desire to preserve 

 peace throughout the Republic, but my 

 effort's will be rendered ineffective if 

 financiers will supply the Pekin Govern- 

 ment with money that would, and prob- 

 ably will, be used in waging war 

 against the people. If the country is 

 plunged into war at this juncture it 

 will inevitably inflict terrible misery 

 and suffering upon the people, who 

 are just beginning to recover from dis- 

 location of and losses of various kinds 

 caused by the revolution. For the 

 establishment of the Republic they 

 have sacrificed much, and are now de- 

 termined to preserve it, at all costs. 

 If the people are now forced into a life 

 and death struggle for the preserva- 

 tion of the Republic, not only will it en- 

 tail terrible suffering to the masses, 

 but inevitably also adversely affect all 

 the foreign interests in China. If the 

 Pekin Government is kept without 

 funds there is a prospect of a compro- 

 mise on behalf of the people being 



effected, while the immediate effect of 

 a liberal supply of money will probably 

 be the precipitation of a terrible and 

 disastrous conflict." 



President or Dictator? 



This was written over a month ago. 

 Since then, the loan has been floated, 

 although at a terrible sacrifice — (issued 

 at 84, and carrying 5 per cent.) — and 

 presumably the President now has 

 funds enough to enable him to crush 

 all opposition, not only by military 

 force, for his army will be loyal as long 

 as he pays it well, but by the political 

 influence he will be able to exercise. 

 Those who know China prophesy that 

 despite the advantage the possession 

 of the loan money gives the Govern- 

 ment, a fitful struggle will be carried 

 on for years, China will find no rest, 

 the. prosperity of the country will be 

 ruined, and all foreign interests in 

 China must suffer immense loss. 

 Meanwhile it looks as if Yuan, astute, 

 strong and resourceful, is determined 

 to make himself practically dictator 

 instead of merely provisional Presi- 

 dent. Thus, at the very time the 

 United State is formally recognising 

 the Chinese Republic, that Republic, 

 like France in 1799, is coming under 

 the domination of a Dictator. It is 

 quite possible that, like the First Con- 

 sul, Yuan may for a while make China 

 far more formidable to her neighbours 

 than a republican Government could at 

 present, but it will be at the expense 

 of the prosperity of the teeming mil- 

 lions of China. The greatest danger, 

 though, is that the new Republic, rent 

 by internal dissension, may fail to pay 

 the interest on its colossal loan. This 

 will give the Powers who guarantee it 

 an opportunity to step in, and " spheres 

 of influence " would no doubt be 

 allotted amongst them. Thus would a 

 dangerous partition of China begin. 



