CHINA AND THE WAR.
[To TEE EDITOR or TUB ESTMCTATOR") SIR,—Will you kindly allow me to call the attention of your readers to a valuable paper to be found in the last Annual Report of the China Association ? The foreword of this is as follows The Patriotic Organiaation of Great Britain, -whose object is the preparation and diffusion in neutral countries of appropriate
literature in regard to the origin and objects of the war, invited the China Association to undertake the part for China. The General Committee felt that this appeal, though outside the ordinary scope of their activities, could not be disregarded, especially in view of the many calumnious statements that have been propagated in China through German agenoies. . . . The object has been to put the case as from a Chinese point of view. . . . It ie sent forth in the hope that it will further make clear to the ordinary Chinese reader that the responsibility for this great war rests not on Great Britain or her allies, but that it is due solely to the overweening ambition of Germany."
This compilation is mainly the work of the Rev. W. E. Soothill, formerly the head of the Tai Yuan Fu University— an institution raised on the Boxer indemnity due to the China Inland Mission—and afterwards Principal Designate of the Wuchang University, which Lord William Gascoyne Cecil wished to endow. Mr. Soothill's reputation as a Chinese scholar is a sufficient guarantee that the Chinese version will be a close and accurate translation of the original. The intro- ductory section of this paper begins thus:- ` Although Ta Ting (Great Brave), Ta Fa (Great Law), Ta Ti (Great Virtue) am the Chinese names for England, France, and Germany, the original European names have not the meaning of Brave, Law, or Virtue. They are but transliterations of the foreign names of these countries. . . . Nevertheless Germany has hitherto possessed a distinct advantage in China in that its abbreviated name Ta Tg Kuo (Great Virtue Nation) conveys the idea to the ordinary man that Germany is distinguished above all other nations for its Ti (Virtue). Whether its deeds justify ite name, or whether it has the name without possessing the reality, let the reader himself judge."
Mr. Soothill remarks that "it would be more correct to trans- late the name Deutsch by Tiu-to-ch'i Ku° (Throw-away- virtue-and-covenant Country), which is indeed a near Chinese approach to the European word for Germany."
The three next sections treat of the rise of Prussia, and her relations to the rest of Germany; Prussian militarism; and the life and character of the Kaiser. Mr. Soothill does not omit to call attention to some of His Majesty's speeches, especially the one in which he said— "Wherever the German Eagle has thrust his talons into a country that country is German and will remain German. Therefore China might have looked in vain for the rendition of Tsing Tao at the end of the terms of its lease."
After quoting some more of the Kaiser's decrees, Mr. Soothill points out that he stands before the world portrayed by his own pen
"Let the reader observe the portrait ; then let him east his eyes over Europa and see the myriads of bodies of young men lying unburied, and let him smell the odour of the burning flesh of the myriads, where bodies have been piled in heaps, and burnt, because the Kaiser's army was unable to dig grime for them. [perhaps in Chinese eyes the greatest horror of the war]. Can man forgive him P Can Heaven forgive him P"
Section V. narrates the treatment of Belgium by Germany and Belgium's hopes for the future 1.—
"Is Belgium dead ? Never! She will rise again to a better life than ever before, and will be remembered with honour when Prussianism is accursed by every honourable man on God's earth."
The subject of Section VI is Germany and public law. According to Chinese history—mainly legendary, no doubt, but perhaps with a substratum of fact—Chinese civilization began with the advent of Fu Hsi, her first lawgiver. " Law is the basis of a nation's safety and prosperity, and in like manner international law is of prime importance to the safety and prosperity of the civilized world." Mr. Soothill shows how the breaches of international law have been the organized deeds of the German Army, acting under the orders of the highest German authorities. " War is at best an evil thing, but lawless war is brigandage and piracy ; but Germany will not go unpunished for her crimes, for law is divine, and divine law is inexorable."
The remaining sections contain an account of the events which led to the war, the negotiations to avoid it, and the efforts of the Powers of the Triple Entente to secure peace. These are described with the utmost fairness, and are laid before the Chinese reader in a succinct and comprehensible form. Mr. foothill concludes with this peroration
"On whose shoulders lies the blame for this monstrous war ? Had the German Government been willing to consult for a settlement, or had the Kaiser referred the matter to the Hague Conference, as proposed by the Czar, the war, with its incalculable stuttering, would easily have been avoided."
This attempt to maintain the good name of England in a neutral country, where her actions have been so maligned, ought to interest your readers. At present Mr. foothill's brochure is only to be found in the Report of the China Association for 1914-15, but it is the intention of the Com- mittee to publish it as a separate paper and to offer it for sale. I trust that it may have the support of your valuable
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