mintang agitators have seized on with notable success in order to unite the masses in a common protest. ex The so-called 'unequal treaties' which seventy-odd years ago gave to foreigners the privileged status referred to above are a much exploited factor in the Nationalist campaign. There are Chinese who will unblushingly attribute all of China's ills to these international agreements. There are foreigners who will assert with marked emphasis and some warmth that the treaties have nothing to do with the case. It hardly need be suggested that the truth lies somewhere between these two tremes. There is plenty that is wrong with China for which no foreign treaty can be held responsible. But it is also true that times have changed since the mid-nineteenth century, and that permeating the whole Chinese psychology, giving point to every accusation against the foreigner, there is now a deep rooted resentment that the struggling nation should not be master in its own domain. It is a fact that the treaties play an important part in determining Chinese opinion, and neither the fact nor the opinion is likely to change merely because we choose to ignore it. The situation among the masses is this. Almost every Chinese has been told that these treaties were forcibly imposed on China for the benefit of foreign Powers. And for the vast majority, too ignorant to understand the complications involved, who know only that they and their country have 'eaten bitterness' for the past fifteen years or more, it is sufficient to be told that this miserable national condition is a direct result of the unequal treaties. Absurd as it may seem, there is just enough truth in this position to justify it in the eyes of an unscrupulous minority whose chief interest lies in rousing China's dumb millions to political consciousness. VOL. 139 - NO. 6 E Such is the basis of the popular support given to the anti-imperialist movement. Every nation having unequal treaty relations with China - this still includes America is regarded as imperialistic. 'Down with Imperialism' and 'Down with the Foreigners' are slogans peculiarly fitted to express the negatives of patriotism to unlearned masses who find this the easiest way to express their pent-up feelings. These phrases just suit their emotional state, while Chinese radicals and Russian advisers, eager to produce a classconscious union of farmers and laborers, have in them a rallying cry both simple and appealing. Turning from the ignorant masses to the sober opinion of educated Nationalist officialdom, we find an equally unequivocal position. Eugene Chen refers to the treaties as a 'system of invisible conquest in the form of international control.' 'Chinese nationalism,' he says, 'demands back the independence of China. Our terms are cancellation of the unequal treaties on which the régime of foreign imperialism in China is based.' Chiang Kai-shek states the case with soldierly directness: 'We shall have equality, and any treaties which do not give us that equality with other nations of the world shall cease to exist as far as we are concerned.' Through the clash of rival interests in China to-day it is indeed difficult to discern any fundamental truth. But beneath the catchwords of 'communism' on the one hand and 'imperialism' on the other the immediate tendencies of the conflicting forces are fairly apparent. British, Americans, and Japanese, with property interests at stake, think in terms of what they possess and want to hold. Russia, whose abandonment of her treaty rights in China has constituted one of her chief claims to Nationalist good will, thinks in terms of what she has not and wants to obtain. The former labor under the psychological disadvantage of appearing to defend a relic of the old régime, while the latter, with everything to gain and nothing to lose, has the psychological advantage of appearing to support the new. This distinction is a most important one. Both foreign groups are working for their own interests. But whereas Russia is doing it through the medium of the Nationalist movement, England, America, and Japan appear to have been doing it through the medium of that very treaty system which the Nationalist Government is so determined to alter. Viewed in this light, it is not difficult to understand either the success of the Russians or the measurable failure of the Powers. For, despite conciliatory gestures of recent months on the part of the latter, the root of the trouble remains. And, until a mutually satisfactory agreement is reached on the whole treaty question, foreign enterprise in China will remain at best a stalemate. There are those who wish to see foreign business and foreign missions reinstated by force of arms. Even granting such a policy to be possible, it would be possible only in centres within range of foreign guns-namely, the coastal cities and those along the Yangtze Valley. And this would mark only the first step. Reinstatement proper depends not only on the foreigner but also on the Chinese. Strikes and boycotts have proved effective in the past - as Japan and Britain have learned to their cost and labor unions could and probably would so obstruct the process of trade as to make persistence under such conditions more costly than withdrawal. There are those who want intervention in order to save China from the Bolsheviki. To persons who mean by this the saving of China for British or American business it might be suggested that a possible method for competing with Bolshevist enterprise would be to adopt the policy of enlightened self-interest which the Bolsheviki themselves have found so successful. To those who mean the saving of China for the Chinese it might be pointed out that the millions who swarm within China's house at present are in no mood to be set in order by the West. Any attempt at the exercise of an international police power, however benevolent, might well produce or strengthen Bolshevism in China, as it did nearly a decade ago in Russia, more surely than any other means. If the Chinese are to kill the Bolshevist ogre, they will probably have to do most of the killing themselves. The end of the Peking régime looms nearer, and with it the end of the old treaty system. Transition there certainly will be-a transition attended by extensive loss to foreigners and infinitely more to those Chinese of all classes who have long depended on the stability of foreign institutions. Many foreign concerns will have to pull themselves up by the roots and start afresh. But although the new order carried up from the South may hold in store much temporary misery and loss for Chinese and foreigner alike, the facts are that it has already arrived, that nothing now can permanently check its development, and that in its sensitiveness to the spirit of foreign diplomacy, as in its inward and fundamental vitality, it is something quite different from any Chinese régime we have ever known before. To realize these facts, in all their implications, is the beginning of wisdom in dealing with China to-day. Placed in your hand so that you can't miss it ~the outstanding book each month! HE average person fails to read most of the outstanding books published. He misses them because he is either too busy or too neglectful to go out and buy them. How often has this happened to you? "I certainly want to read that book!" you say to yourself, when you see a review or hear a book praised highly, by someone whose taste you respect. But, in most cases, you never "get around to it.' Henry Seidel It is to meet this situation, chiefly, that the Bookof-the-Month Club was organized. It takes cognizance of the procrastination that forever causes you to miss the best books; each month, without effort on your part, you will receive an outstand ing new book published that monthjust as you receive a magazine-by mail! How is this "outstanding" book each month chosen? In order to obtain a completely unbiassed selec- Dorothy Canfield tion, the Book-of-the-Month Club has asked a group of well-known critics, whose judgment as to books and whose catholicity of taste have long been known to the public, to act as a Selecting Committee. They are: Henry Seidel Canby, Chairman; Heywood Broun, Dorothy Canfield, Christopher Morley and William Allen White. These individuals have no business connection with the Book-of-theMonth Club. They were simply requested to function as judges, for the benefit of our subscribers, and they agreed to do so. Each month, the Heywood Broun new books, of all publishers, are pre sented to them. From these, by a system of voting, they choose what they consider to be the most outstanding and readable book each month, and that book is forthwith sent to every subscriber of the Book-of-theMonth Club. Tastes differ, however. You may Christopher concede that a book selected by such Morley a committee is likely to be one that you would not care to miss reading. But you may disagree with their choice in any one month. If so, you may exchange the book you receive for any one of a number of other books which the Committee simultaneously recommends. Thus, instead of your choice among current books being limited, you can actually exercise a wider and more discriminating choice than you now do. The cost of this service is nothing. The cost of the books is, in every case, the publishers' retail price. If you are interested in this idea, and wish to know more about it, send for our prospectus. Your request will involve you in no obligation to subscribe. For Character-Building THE ATLANTIC READERS Edited by DR. RANDALL J. CONDON Superintendent of Schools, Cincinnati, Ohio Book I. THE UNDERSTANDING PRINCE. Book II. HIGH AND FAR. Book III. THE WONDERFUL TUNE. Book IV. THE GREAT CONQUEST. Book V. OUTWARD BOUND. Grade IV Grade V Grade VI Grade VII Grade VIII These readers are the outgrowth of Dr. Condon's profound personal conviction that soul culture is the most important and most necessary phase of education, and that the development of personal character is the thing of greatest concern. Designed primarily as basal texts, these books are filled with material of ethical importance, most of it being new to school readers. They are also full of the natural interests of developing childhood. Even the notes make delightful reading. Narrative, biography, description, nature studies, essays, letters, quotations, inscriptions, and truly distinctive poetry have been selected by Dr. Condon, always under the certainty, with Emerson, that "character is higher than intellect." Excerpts from Early Reviews Every selection deals with some phase of life or service; deepens reverence, inspires faith, hope, and courage, teaches kindness, and helpfulness, magnifies duty, obedience, and love of home and country, or fosters some other virtue. And, just as important, the teaching does not end with inculcating respect and love for our own nation, for, while this is placed first, world fellowship, sympathetic understanding, goodwill, and co-operation are duly emphasized. Dr. Condon has selected material that will teach the great lessons in life: character, courage, service. This book and its mates will, we believe, live gloriously for the children who read them. — School. This series marks a forward step in children's readers. · Pennsylvania School Journal. THE ATLANTIC READERS ARE ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS PUBLICATIONS Mailing price of each volume, 85 cents LITTLE, BROWN & COMPANY 34 Beacon Street, Boston 221 East Twentieth Street, Chicago recipients of my magazines must have thought me only a lesser Henry Ford. Some came with stories that were truly pathetic. One poor Vienna workingman, Gustav by name, wanted me to help him support his too large household, consisting of himself, his wife, his mother, his mother-in-law, an extremely aged grandmother, a brother disabled in the war, five children of another brother killed in the war, and seven children of his own. He also wanted some medicine, a tonic for the grandmother, he allowed me to use my judgment about the kind, and a hot-water bottle. One woman, an artist, sent me some of her portraits of famous Americans, done in pen and ink, to sell among my friends. In this group she included Henry Ford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Jackie Coogan, as well as J. P. Morgan, William Allen White, and most of our presidents. Of the poorer classes many asked for help to come to America as immigrants, either through the loan of money or by exerting my influence to get them past the immigration authorities. Having less influence even than money, I had to refuse them outright. One letter came from an inventor, who wanted me to finance the manufacturing of an 'electrical lamp' he had invented, which was destined to revolutionize the electric lighting industry. The tone of his letter implied that he was really offering a rare privilege rather than making a request, and he was sure that in this 'land of wealth and kindness' I could easily find enough investors to give his lamp the necessary financial backing. Almost all the letters were written in good English, although the stilted style seemed foreign to our tongue. The phraseology was too polite to sound sincere. one supposedly Austrian composer surpassed all the others. He began by sending me a letter in fine English asking for a piano — or, rather, enough money to buy a piano. He would repay me by composing a waltz and naming it for me. This honor was not to be scorned. He was no amateur, he said, but a composer of note, who had already won high honors. He enclosed newspaper clippings, - I am sure they were faked, to prove his high place among European composers. He also sent me his picture; he had the face and bearing of an artist. To substantiate his promise he already sent me the first part of the waltz that was to bear my name. Although it gave promise of much beauty and I was delighted by the prospect of having a famous Austrian composer name a composition for me, I still felt I should have to forgo the honor. I had no money to give him a piano, and should have had to send him mine. I was not quite sure the exchange would be equitable. Anyway, how could I appreciate the waltz if I had no piano on which to play it? I accordingly wrote to him that I was unable to comply with his request, expressing the deepest regret. But he was not to be dismissed that easily, and came back with the whole waltz, a beautiful thing, although I cannot vouch for its originality. The notes were written with a remarkable accuracy and the whole piece was decorated in a way that made me think of the embellishing of manuscripts in the Middle Ages. He must have put hours and hours of time simply into preparing this sheet of music, not considering the time it had taken to compose it, if he had composed it. And, best of all, he had kept his promise in naming it for me. There was my name in the title, charmingly hand Both in politeness and in ingenuity lettered in gold. In the accompanying |