We trust that the British Government will take the lead,
or at the very least not lag behind America, in demonstrating to the Chinese that there is much in their present agitation which we think natural and praise- worthy and which we should unquestionably be doing ourselves if we were in their place. We mean that a conscious sense of nationality ought not to be ignored or rejected as though it were a kind of impudent preten- sion. Many Englishmen talk as though we mint settle the Chinese problem quickly for no other reason than that we are suffering great losses in trade. These losses are, of course, not to be thought of lightly and the Chinese are likely to suffer from them almost as much as we do. But it is, to say the least of it, not very tactful to base our policy on confessed self-interest. We have helped to educate the Chinese in Westernism, and we ought frankly and generously to accept the consequences of what we have done. We ought to prove that we are really, what we are sure all Englishmen wish to be, China's disinterested friend who wants to encourage all the best sides of national- ism, while of course insisting on safety for foreign persons and property. * * • *
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