108 REVIEWS OF RECENT BOOKS 



The Fight for the Republic in China. By B. L. Putnam Weale. 

 Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, 1917. 



A preface to a book usually contains some modest statement of the 

 author in regard to the imperfections of his work : not so in this 

 volume. Mr. Putnam Weale evidently has a good opinion of himself 

 as a writer on political subjects, and opens his preface with the 

 startling sentence "This volume tells everything that the student or 

 the casual reader needs to know about the Chinese Question." 



After a careful persual of the book, we put it down with a feeling 

 of disappointment. We do not find that the author has kept his 

 promise, and there is much more that we would like to know. We 

 are informed as to what Mr. Putnam Weale thinks about the 

 situation, and we get a clear idea of his opinion, but we do not feel 

 entirely certain that his judgments are correct and reliable. 



The book has its merits and we will speak first of those. It gives 

 an interesting account of happenings in China from the revolution of 

 1911 up to the year 1917. 



In so doing many important documents are quoted, such as the 

 pamphlet of Yang Tu, Dr. Goodnow's memorandum, Liang Chi Chao's 

 appeal and the Twenty-one Demands of Japan. 



One can obtain a readable story of the various movements which 

 have taken place, and of the struggle between the militaristic and 

 parliamentary parties. 



His portrayal of the character of Yuan Shih K'ai is suggestive. 



So much for the merits of the book, and now we must turn to 

 the other side. The great trouble is that it is not written, in a 

 judicial spirit, but from the point of view of one who is an ardent 

 advocate of the Republic. Apparently Mr. Weale believes that the 

 Chinese people are ready for a democratic form of government, and 

 that their failure thus far to establish the Republic on firm foundations 

 is not so much their own fault, as it is the fault of foreign powers. 



He criticizes foreign governments severely for not giving whole- 

 hearted recognition to the Republic. He brings the charge that some 

 nations, especially Japan, have been all along secretly opposed to the 

 Republic and that they favoured the restoration of the monarchy. 



He holds that if all nations had united in the support of the 

 Republic, there would never have been any attempt at a coup d'etat 

 by Yuan Shih K'ai. And that the restriction of the Manchus would 

 never have been heard of. 



It may be that he is correct in attributing lukewarmness for the 

 Republic to European nations and to Japan. We do not think that 

 it is anything to be wondered at, for many who know China best feel 

 extremely doubtful as to the possibility of the success of the Republic. 



