Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-31
- IDA GILBERT MYERS.

FOREIGN RIGHTS AND INTER-
ESTS IN CHINA. BY Westel w.
Willeughby. Baltimore: The Johns
hopkins Press.
"LECTRICAL science. like some
l. gigantic spider, has inclosed the
r. entire world in a web of imme-
L. dtate contacts. The wide earth
itself is now a single neiShbor-
hood where not so long ago natural
exclusions existed upon its surface
and impossible separations. Nowhere
any more. therefore. is national isola-
zion a possibility however desirable
TO nationals themselves may such state
of self.restraint appear to be. frrele.
vant@here would be any approach ever
toward consideration of the political
ethics and propriety Of the later-day
penetrations by Europe into India and
China. into Africa north and south
Enough to state the fact that a shut
in nation is of the past. The future
will deal with a new internationaliSm,
one born of the shrinkage of vast areas
into hands breadth of communica-
ton by virtue of the magic of applied
science. out of this general truth, SO
stupendous aItds SO Significant, issues
this study of China by Westel WIZ
loughby.
The future. of this country is a Arob-
lem into whose solution must so all
of Ci1isras past.A And this, past sepa-
rates-iutostwo great parts. One is con
Cerned with ancient strains of race
and blood, with the rise and fall of
old civilizations, with the potency of
religiun in determining the social and
political fabric of the whole, with dy-
nastieS, succeeding one another by way
nf fo .1nnSe of
sion, somewhat remote now, but deep.
~ ingrained in effects that must count
in the new future Of the country. The
other part is concerned with the more
recent period wherein the doors of
China, so sedulously closed and bar
red. have been forced by Western en-
terprise and ambition. Into the in
volved problem facing this Oriental
country must be cast both of these fac
tors, each bearing strongly upon that
which China will finally come to be.
AS a contribution to the study of so
vital a question, Mr.. Willoughby offers
these two volumes of authoritative
substance. Here is the full body of
official agreement between China and
the outside world for the relatively
recent period Of the open door. The
bulk of these two volumes points upon
.
For, instead. of condensing material
in the interest. of brevity, this author
has submitted IN full text the various
treaties and other. documents of Off
cial or Guasi-official character that
bear upon thasQuestion under consid-
Grafton. The book sums. therefore, to
an easily accessible source OF knowl.
edge, authentic in character and COM
plete in scope, providing material for
q survey of China in respect to foreign
rights and interests in that country.
And this chapter Of international re-
lationships is of more than. commercial
and political interest. To a certain
extent it forecasts the future, not only
of China itself. but Of the intercourse
of that country as well with other
nations in the great commonwealth of
the world.
Westel w. Willoughby is professor
OF political science at John Hopkins.
In 1861 he was the legal adviser
to the Chinese Republic. In the con.
ference on Limitation of Armament at
Washington he was the technical ex-
pert to the Chinese delegation as he
was also counselor and expert to the
Chinese delegation to the International
Opium Conference at Geneva.
" v X
FROM MAN TO MAN. By Olive
Schreiner. author of THE Story
of an African Farm" etc. New
York: Harper & Bros.
OLIVE SCHREINER was one of the
~ big women of the present, big in
mind, free and independent. And, as
a matter Of course, her work partakes
hraodfh
Nowhere do these gifts stand in
clearer definition than in From
Man to Man. Against the beloved
South African background, vivid in
detail and wide in sweep, with which
her readers have become familiar,
she here sets the story of two sisters.
Such bare summary might suggest a
tale Of pastoral cast and content
were its author not Olive Schreiner
AS 1t is, this Is the story of all the
women in the world gathered into two
great classes-the weak women and
the strong ones. Here is one, strong
in love and intuition and in a stead
fast enduring. Here Is the other,
weak in beauty and loneliness, in de-
sire and in yielding. So lifetime and
place and circumstances-has it out
with these two, as it does with the
rest of us. The story. always sincere
and deeply understanding and pitt
fully tender, moves forward relentless
and gray. Nobly conceived and COM
pletely projected as the story itself
is. there is much else here beside the
play hour of destiny with two help
less humans. Long pages of discus
sion obtrude upon the central line of
narration. These project the themes
dear to Olive Schreiner-the place of
woman in the present scheme of ex-
3stence. the social outlook generally
in its unequal and unfair allotments
OF opportunity and erfdeavof,' the
promise and unpromise Of womans
future. Here a woman-strong in
Intelligence. fearless in the face of
custom and tradition, dauntless in the
pursuit of better ideals and prac-
tices-discusses such matters While the
story itself waits by the wayside. A
fault? 1t might be, If From Man to
Man" had been designed for the ease.
Inent Of leisure hours. But it was
not SO planned. Rather is it a noble
story OF tragic content over which
the authors passion for social justice
spreads the faint promise OF a better
fulfillment some day.
* * 81
LADIES AND GENTLDMEN. BY
Irwin Cobb. author Of "O1d Judge
Priest" etc. New York: Cosmo'
politan Book Co. ,,
lust as hosts Of readers have learned
to expect from Irwin Cobb. just so
in this group Of short stories does he
live up to the mark set by him and for
him. The romance OF every day, that
OF simply being alive in an amazing
world, provides the literary. stock in
trade of this genial and popular writer
Therefore. in his stories there are no
Himalayas Of human passion to climb
no Plutonan depths Of human sin TO
IL, l.. h ianrr AI,A