THE VANISHED EMPIRE. By Putnam Weale. (Mad- millan. 15s.)—Mr. Putnam
Weale sometimes appears to have an axe to grind, but it is generally a different one in each book. In The Fight for the Republic in China (1918) he exposes the corruption of the Manchu regime and blames the democratic governments of the West for making common cause with President-Usurper Yuan Shi-kai. In The Truth about China and Japan (1921) he ascribes all China's mis-. fortunes to the machinations of Japan and to the " Unequal Treaties " which bind China hand and foot. The Vanished Empire gives the author's idea of the historical reasons for the collapse of Chinese civilization. The chaos in China, he says, is due to the fading tradition of the throne. That China has not quite gone to pieces yet he ascribes to the benevolent influence of the " Unequal Treaties " and to the. policy of the European Powers, who, he considers, should act more firmly and decisively.
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