BOOKS.
THE FAR EAST.*
WE are not greatly impressed by Mr. H. Norman as a politician, as he believes a little too much in British power to crush all rivalry, if it is only strenuously exerted, and does not see clearly enough the tendency which everything that exists has to continue ; but he is an excellent special corre- spondent, with clear eyes, an open mind, and a habit of collecting precisely the information which will interest his readers. We hardly recollect a big book of late years in which there was so little surplusage, or in which solid infor- mation, strengthened by accurate and plentiful statistics, was so completely free from tediousness. The author travelled over the Far East for four years, visiting China, Japan, French Indo-China, the Philippines, and Malaya, and about each he has something to say of interest, while about each he leaves a definite, and we do not doubt an accurate, impression. The chapter on the Philippines is perhaps the least well informed, for he tells us too little of the people of that grand group, which is as large as Japan and probably richer, and too much about tobacco ; but even as regards this great dependency, he manages to convey his main impression that Spain has no real grip of the islands, and no means of making herself a Power in the Far East, with singular clearness and decision. About the Chinese he is probably unjust, their cruelty, filthiness, and want of morale creating in him a sort of horror ; but recent events have certainly justified his main thesis, which is that the European opinion of Chinese strength is a delusion, that the Empire is rotten through and through, and that it is quite possible it may, now that the Japanese have pricked the nubble, fall entirely to pieces. His remedy is that of all Anglo - Chinese,—viz., more European influence. which means with him British influence, which he would base, • Tho Peop:es and Peitics of tie Far Bast. By H. Norman. London: T.
as we should, upon the possession of a Gibraltar a thou- sand miles north of Hong-kong. He thinks that splendid port with its 280,000 inhabitants, immense wealth, and great dockyards, too open to attack from the land side, though it is probably impregnable from the sea, and he would increase its fortifications and found a new arsenal in the Island of Chnsan. His most original suggestion is that the bureaucracy of China, through the system of competitive examinations, might be changed into a great reforming and governing force ; but perhaps the chapter which will be read with most interest is the sketch of Li Hung Chang, now Plenipotentiary to Japan. His impression of the great Viceroy is that he is a strong and unscrupulous person, who keeps an army of 15,000 men at Tientsin for his own purposes, and who might, if China were defeated, attempt to mount the throne—a view, we may remark, inconsistent with the perfect confidence reposed in him by the Empress- Mother—and that his dislike of Europeans is equal to that of any other Chinaman. He displayed this even in a long interview which he granted to Mr. Norman, and in which he specially desired to seem gracious. He talked incessantly through the whole time without saying anything ; but Mr. Norman at last startled him out of his careful reserve. He asked, as a joke, for a passport to Thibet, and was at once —and bluntly—refused, the Chinese being absolutely resolved that no European shall go there.
Of Japan Mr. Norman writes as its friends write. He believes that she has become a first-class Power, by far the strongest in Asia. as regards her regular Army, which now consists of 279,000 men, so officered, organised, and disciplined, that it can move like the best of European armies, and is animated by a rare spirit of devotion. As soon as the war with China had been decided on,—
" As rapidly as Germany when Von Moltke telegraphed Krieg mobil,' the army was ready. Force after force was despatched with a secrecy, a simplicity, a celerity, and a completeness that few European nations could equal ; the reserves came to the colours with a mechanical precision; and this time literally not a gaiter-button, in Marshal Lebo3uf's famous phrase, was lacking from their equipment. Every European expert has been enthu- siastic in his praise of the perfection of Japanese methods, the discipline of Japanese men, and the scientific tactics of Japanese officers ; while the succession of brilliant victories tells its own tale of the primal virtue of courage. Of this the vernacular papers have been full of stories, one of which I will quote as typical of the Japanese people. At the battle of Song- hwan a bugler named Genjiro stood beside Captain Matsuzaki, when a bullet struck him in the chest. Though knowing he was seriously wounded, he continued to blow until breath failed him and he fell dead where he had tstood. The so-called Christian Patriotic Relief Corps' of his native village of Funaomura collected a few presents to send to his family—who were people in the humblest circumstances—with a letter of consolation; the headman collected the people of the village, the gifts were pre- sented by the local member of Parliament, and in reply Genjiro's father spoke as follows:—' It is the lot of all men to die. My son had to die some time. Instead of falling asleep in a corner of this miserable hovel, unmourne:3 save by a few relatives, he has fallen on the field of honour and received the praise of a multi- tude of his superiors. Hence his mother and I cannot look upon this as a mournful occasion. We rejoice that our son has been loyal to Japan, even to the point of shedding his blood in defence of her honour."
The grand danger of Japan is excess of military ambition. Her victories have inflated her, and the following speech from Count Oknma, ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a leading spirit in the Diet, will show to what extent :—
" The European Powers are already showinc, symptoms of decay, and the next century will see their constitutions shattered and their empires in ruins. Even if this should not quite happen, their resources will have become exhausted in unsuccessful attempts at colonisation. Therefore who is fit to be their proper successors if not ourselves ? What nation except Germany, France, Russia, Austria, and Italy can put 200,000 men into the field inside of a month ? As to their finance, there is no country where the disposal of surplus revenue gives rise to so much political discussion. As to intellectual power, the Japanese mind is in every way equal to the European mind. More than this, have not the Japanese opened a way to the perfection of a discovery in which foreigners have not succeeded even after years of labour ? Our people astonish even the French, who are the most skilful among artisans, by the cleverness of their work. It is true the Japanese are small of statnn3, but the superiority of the body depends more on its constitution than on its size. If treaty revision were completed, and Japan completely victorious over China, we should become one of the chief Powers of the world, and no Power could engage in any movement without first consulting us. Japan could then enter into competition with Europe as the representative of the Oriental races."
This speech conveys the undercurrent of Japanese thought,
which is that Japan will protect all Asiatics as the United States protects all Americans, and will, in the end, enforce the doctrine "Asia is for Asiatics," and not for Europeans. "I am able to say," says Mr. Norman, "from positive knowledge that the Government of Japan has conceived a parallel to the Monroe Doctrine for the Far East, with herself at its centre."
Mr. Norman writes a spirited account of his adventures in Malaya—the best bit of writing in his book—but our readers will be more interested in his account of Siam ana French Indo-China. Siam he believes to be an almost hopelessly rotten Power. There are many able men among its Princes ; but the jealousy of foreigners is invincible, and though all kinds of improvements are designed, nothing is ever done. Even a Palace for the Crown Prince cannot get built, its foundations being allowed to fill with water; while its costly marbles, glasses, and furniture, imported at ruinous expense from Italy, are rotting by the river side. As to the Army and Navy, they are both shams :— " I turn to the United Services. The Siamese Army List as it figures in the Official Directory must make the Minister of War feel proud indeed at the excellence of his arrangements and the completeness of his organisation. Not a title is wanting, not a rank left out, not a branch of equipment missing,—on paper. To describe what actually exists, however, would be useless, since no one in Europe would believe the plain simple truth. Three batches of Australian horses have been landed during ten years, for the Cavalry, averaging some hundreds each time, of which about fifty altogether have managed to survive the neglect and filth in which they are kept, and still drag on a mangy existence in large and lofty but utterly neglected stables, whence they issue on state occasions in ragged files, with unkempt riders in tattered uniforms clinging nervously to reins an& pommels. The Artillery is no better, with its recently-imported field guns, of which the brass sights were stolen and pawned within a fortnight of their arrival and have never been, recovered; while the powder is in one place and the shells in another, and nobody knows where or how to bring them. together. As for the Infantry, they come to drill when it suits them, desert by dozens weekly, and carry complaints and stern agitations against any officer who attempts discipline. Many of them have never fired the rifles they carry ; in fact the spirit of soldiery is as totally lacking in them as in a street mob. The officers—but here words fail. Imagine a Cadets' School, of imposing proportions and appointments, with four or five hampered European instructors, where young Siam i comfortably housed and fed and paid some thirty shillings a month to wear a uniform and play at studies which are never carried out; where the very simplest control and training are resented ; and where military tactics from English text-books, fortifications on the black-board, and military engineering in the field, figure on the curriculum of youths who can read their own language but poorly, cannot spell c-a-t in English, and only know enough arithmetic to check a good money bargain over a ring or a necktie in a Chinese pawnshop. . . . . . . A bigger sham than the Siamese navy has never existed in the history of mankind. A number of vessels of greatly varying sizes are moored in the river opposite the Palace. Of these the larger ones are for the most part hulks, upon which the • marines ' live ; in some cases even the engines and propellers have been removed. The smaller ones serve as royal despatch-boats for river work, carrying the servants and supplies between the Palace and the two summer resorts. One or two are kept in decent condition for passenger work, but they possess no means of offence or defence."
The Kingdom, in fact, is powerless, and but for the mutual jealousies of the French and the English might be overrun and conquered in six months. This, however, must be done, if at all, by France or England acting directly, for French Indo-China has no strength. The French have built one or two French-looking towns, particularly their capital Hanoi, but their government is fatal to prosperity. The country is occupied only by civilians and soldiers, who quarrel laces. sandy, the Governors-General are changed every few months, every appointment is made from Paris, in order to secure patronage, and the main objects of the successive Governments are to keep out foreigners and to distribute concessions, half of which will never be used. Mr. Norman evidently believes that these concessions are distributed corruptly, though he only proves unfair exemptions from Customs-duties in favour of individual firms, and this, he says, is one reason at least of the dislike to Tonquin in the Chamber. The main reason, however, is its expense. France has spent altogether £20,000,000 on Tonquin, and the deficit is still a million and a quarter a year. "The conclusion, therefore, at which I have finally arrived is that from 1883, when the history of Tongking began, down to the latest accessible official statistics, the cost of Tongking to France has reached the colossal figure of 534.531,170 francs, or 021,381,247, a yearly average of 44 544,264 francs, or 21,781,770. Or, to put the fact in a
popular form, the satisfaction of including le Tonkin' among the possessions of his country has cost the French tax- payer 122,039 francs—£4,881—a clay, Sundays included, for every day that he has had it. It may safely be foretold that when at length he comes to realise this fact he will be surprised, and his surprise will manifest itself in a striking manner." For all of this outlay France does not even obtain a monopoly of trade, the trade of Tonquin with France from 1883 to 1892 inclusive, having amounted as an aggregate to £2,440,000, and with foreign countries to £7,750,000. This is the total result of the "Colonial system" of which France is proud, and which does no doubt occasionally make fortunes for individuals. The colony, in fact, may be said to be a direct and heavy burden upon the French tax- payer. A little more expansion and compression here and there, or in other words a little more trouble, would have made Mr. Norman's book an invaluable one; but even as it is, it is most instructive, especially as a general sketch, starting from which the inquirer may gradually accumulate further information. Much exception might be taken to particular opinions, especially about China, but the general drift of what he says is always enlightening.
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