Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-21


lM q Wi cal problem of the modern
lM y al world centers here in the
IM Ea% capital OF the Chinese EN-
I'M AI pire. Asia, and not Europe;
A9zzMAAl the Pacific. and nots the At
lantie; the Orient, and not
the Occident, are the most important
factors In the problems which the
craftsmanship OF the immediate future
must solve. European politics, of
course, viii continue to attract greater
attention from the public but the wise
men of the world have come to reali-
zation that the chief theater of events
is again, after two thousand years, to
be found In Asia.
Among the many questions included
under the vinculum of the Asiatic
question, the most Important of all Is
the Chinese question. Turkey In Asia
Is but an appanage of a European
state and is of itself of little account.
India is tie life of the British Empire,
but its problems are purely Internal
and, except ip remote possibility DO
not threaten to involve the OUTSIDE
world Japan depends for further de-
velopment as well as for Immunity
from bankruptcy upon its ability TO
extend its influence, II not Its soyer-
eighty, upon the mainland of Asia. the
Russian advance was only checked by
the Japanese war, not stopped, and to-
day the Russians In eastern Asia are
undertaking, with promise of success,
the most gigantic scheme OF coloni-
zation in all history. Russia sees It's
future in Asia and. not in Europe
The Chinese question involves the
future of both Russia and Japan, but
1t is far more important in that 1t in
wolves the very life of the Oldest and
most populous civilized nation upon the
earth. Upon one side of this question
is the future of China; the Chinese
people standing for their national in
tegrity. their political independence
and their industrial liberty. Theirs
| is q fight for life Upon the other side
of the question appears Japan with
surging ambition breaking in fury
against the walls of insular isolation;
Russia untiringly and doggedly beat
| ing eastward and southwark for the
| Iong-dreamed-of ice-free port from
which to venture upon career OF
maritime adventure; England. Ger
many and France, with the lesser ma
tions of Europe at their heels, seeking
| to perpetuate system of unjust and
| ineuuitable commercial relations with
the Chinese, and dreaming of land ac-
QUESTION in the day of wreck and ruin.
| On the Chinese side of the question
is peace on the other side Is the con-
tinually increasing prospect OF war
On one side is the desire of a people to
| be left alone to carve out their own
destiny. On the other side is the
hunger OF vigorous and growing i'm
| perial ambitions. The law of the sur
vival of the fittest probably will govern
the outcome, but it may be that fitness
is not always to be reckoned In terms
of might.
| Another nation of the world has a
keen interest in the settlement of the
Chinese question and its correlated Is
Sues That nation has no part In the
quarrels over Asiatic land tenures, per
haps, but 1t has a place as the chief
world power of the Pacific ocean which
it cannot afford to yield to any otaer e
country. The United states of America
has a vital share in the Chinese prob
lem, and that interest, as well as the
spirit of American institutions, impels
/ ii toward alignment on the Chinese
side of the affair.
| Already American craftsmanship has
saved the Chinese empire from physical
dismemberment, and 1t is not impos-
sible that Yankee brain and Drawn VIII
be called upon to save China's indus
trial and commercial independence as
well, and to preserve the peace of the
Pacific. John Hay compelled the ma
tions to profess an agreement to main
1 tain the IeTTlluTlal enlily VI ShaAee'
Theodore Roosevelt brought to an END
the war between Russia and japan
which was being fought on Chinese
soil. Flihu Root let the world know
that in questions affecting Chinese
rights the American government went
so far as to appear as attorney-in-tact
on Chinas behalf in negotiations with
Russia William H. Taft and P. c.
Knox have struck a forceful blow for
| Chinese financial emancipation in the
recent railway loan negotiations.
| Americans are fond of thinking that
the United States became full-fiedged
world power in the moment when Dew
ey's guns announced the beginning OF
an era of oversee colonization. 1t
would be better to say that the Ameri-
can world responsibility began at that
time. and that American world power
only then began to grow. The develop
ment of the American navy, and the
Increased interest in foreign affairs
may have begun, and the epoch or
diplomatic isolation may have ended
with the Spanish war. But the strug-