The times., 1898-06-05

argument is worse than absurd; it is misehievous
and almost unpatriotic. only refer TO it to
show the difficulty of the case, not to blame the
late government and when Sir William Har-
court accuses us Of want of foresight and of moi
having made preparations, at least it is fair TO
say 10 him. What preparations did you make
when for the first time YOU became acquainted
with the weakness OF China, and with her abso-
Lutte incapacity to resist the advance OF Russian
After that it was only question OF time. and
short time when Russia would come to Port
Arthur and extend her influence in the province
Of Manchuria Yet the late government took no
steps 10 to understanding with Russia
On the contrary it refused 10 join Russia, and
France. and Germany, in the Intervention which
those powers made in order to prevent Japan
from having Port Arthur. do not say that they
were wrong 1t is possible, of course, that if
they had Joined they might have made their own
terms. but whether that be 50 not they allowed
the opportunity to go by, and they did nothing
What followed? The inevitable followed it
always does
The expected happened and Russia did go
down to Port Arthur and to Taiienwan. As 20
the way in which Russia secured that occupation
as TO the representations which were made and
repudated as they were made, Is 10 the
promises which given and broken IN i fort
night aftcrWard, had better perhaps say moth
ing except that / have always thought that il was
a wise prsverb Who sups with the devil must
have long spoon lLaughterl The present
government did try TO come TO an understanding
with Russia We took care 10 inform her that he
had no jealousy, objection 10 what We under
stood TO be her commercial objects. or to the de-
yelopment OF her trade, or 10 the expansion Of
her legitimate authority but We sought 20 in
duce her TO give up the idea OF political pre-
dominance and military occupation We failed
that was not consistent with the ambition Of her
government-we failed TO persuade her. and then
We fell back upon the alternative policy. which
had always been in our mind as the only aiterna-
tive policy We obtained the cession of Wef-llai-
Wei, and obtained commercial privileges tor
ourselves and the whole Of the world, the import.
ance OF which / believe will be fully recognized
at no short distance of time iCheers.l Now,
pretend that in this preliminary sklrlnlsh, Ior II
i nntbinV else we have done we'll. Hear
hearp'i | do not think that Russia Is one atom
stronger than she was. let rs say, hve years ago
| think that we are in rather better positicn
hut I don't want to conceal from you my own
conviction that the position, the general posltl'h
is far from satisfactory We have IN the futiIe
to count with Russia IN CHINA, as we nave 70
count with Russia in Afghanstan. and with tins
diference-that in China we have no army lnn 30
defensive frontier But what was the alternative:
What more could we have done under inc cir
cunstauces az the time, being, a. We "eF', CT
iirely isolated for that, again. Is the POINT on
which | want to lay emphasis? Some OF our
critics say: oh. YOU might have come 10 an
understanding with Russia II Is easy % say that,
but an understanding takes two parties 70 the
bargain and Russia wanted what we dl l Xot
want and we had nothing to offer her 10 'I'duce
her to dcsist from her plan. And II we had 'n@ie
an understanding with Russia. who would guar
antee that the understanding would be Lept-
[.'Hear. heart
mo. there was only one alternative to the
policy OF the government-the policy nj War;
and that il the policy TO which that man 81
peace Sir William Harcourt llaughterI, 10 "hich
the whole OF his arguments logically tend and to
which his taunts and gibes are eg-ing on The
people OF this country and the government OF
this country. Let us consider the alternative
We might have declared on Russia. We
might for wear or two have held Port Arthur
against Russia. but we have no military force
there to back us and no frontier in China. /
am one OF those who think that for any country
there are worse things than war; there Is loss
OF honor; there is loss of those interests winch
are so vital TO the security of the existence OF the
nation. But in any case, | hope am sensible
enough to give my voice for war unless
| can see at the commencement OF the war a
fair probability that at the end OF the war the
objects of the war will have been obtained
ICheersl Now what does history show US:
Ii shows us that unless are allied to 81 me
great military power, we were IN the Cr1mean
war. when we had France and Turkey as our
allies, we cannot seriously injurc Russia,
althouch If may also be true that she
cannot seriously injure us l'Hear, near. !
II that is the case it IS case winch
deserves the serious consideration OF the
people Of this country 1t is impossible TO over
rate the gravity OF the issue. 1t is not a
question OF a single pert in China-that Is a
small matter. II Is not a question OF single
| province; it a question of the whole fate OF
| the Chinese empire, and our interests IN emma
| are 50 great our proportion of the trade is 50
! enormous. and the potentialities OF that trade
| are so gigantic. that | feel that no more vital
ouestion has ever been presented for the decision
! OF a government and the decision of a nation.
| and for my part | have tried tonight to state
| clearly and without eXaggeration the conditions
| Of the problem that have before us. :.