. The Russian road to China . roblems of the districts. The senate, ofthirty-two members, selected by the Prince Regentfrom an elected body, has not yet had time toshow results, but the calibre of the men in it isencouraging. China is making a real effort to get abreast of thetimes. But never was a nation brought more di-rectly before the judgment-bar on the plain test ofcharacter. Upon the capacity of the race for privatesacrifice and public honesty rests primarily hersalvation. Whether China can or cannot rise tothe task depends upon her own manhood, and noone can be prophet of the issue; fo
. The Russian road to China . roblems of the districts. The senate, ofthirty-two members, selected by the Prince Regentfrom an elected body, has not yet had time toshow results, but the calibre of the men in it isencouraging. China is making a real effort to get abreast of thetimes. But never was a nation brought more di-rectly before the judgment-bar on the plain test ofcharacter. Upon the capacity of the race for privatesacrifice and public honesty rests primarily hersalvation. Whether China can or cannot rise tothe task depends upon her own manhood, and noone can be prophet of the issue; for all estimateof Chinese character is perplexed by that curiousEastern subtlety of contradictions which baffleunderstanding. The inability of the Chinese to keep fingers out ofthe public till is proverbial; yet the very high stand-ard of business integrity is universally conceded. The quality of Chinese honesty is attributed bysome to the local idea of good form, and the obviousmercantile maxim that future credit depends upon. o Piwa, «5 w H taO a< CHINA 389 present performance. Bourse operators may bescrupulously exact as to obligations which the merelifting of a finger imposes, while engaged in cam-paigns diverting to their private speculations thefunds of a chain of banks, or looting the values fromthe minority owners of a street-railway. Chinese business integrity is said to be due tothe fact that her merchants are of the upper class;cowardice in war, to the fact that her soldiers areof the lowest caste. In Japan the condition is ex-actly reversed: hence the prowess of her Samurai,and the peccability of her clerks — such that Japan-ese bankers employ Chinamen to handle theirmoney. Since the Japanese have built up an effectivepublic administration, it is fair to give the Chinesethe benefit of faith, and to assume that in time theytoo will rally to the task, and make a modern state. With this should come the Trans-Mongolia Rail-way : opening to the plainsmen of Central
Size: 1277px × 1956px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjecttranssi, bookyear1910
