Evening star., 1928-11-04
BY COUNT CARLO SFORZA,
Former Italian Minister of Foreign AM
and Ambassador to France.

Former italian Minister of Foreisn Affairs
and Ambassador to France.
FEW months ago, being in China
n for the third time in my life
"A and hearing complaints from
4 \ foreign diplomats of the intol-
erable situation in store for
them, a quotation rang continuously In
INV rnind--a phrase recurring in one
of the most living plays of the 1mmor-
tai Moliere. The French humorist I'M
agines a husband, George Dandin, who,
through stupidity, is the author OF all
his own troubles, beginning with the
infidelity of his pretty wife. The re-
frain is, "Tu ras voulu, George Dan
din!"-"You asked for 1t, George
Dandin"
There is no doubt that the European
powers in general-and especially DUR
ative cabinet - have been, In Chlna'
their own George Dandin.
The British policy in China has been,
in this last period, tremendous series
of blunders and hesitations. The Amer
ican policy, on the contrary, while not
always conscious of its force, at least
has avoided all those errors that re-
main. like barbed wires, in the pain
of friendship among two great peoples.
On the whole, it may be SAID, WlCnouC
anv shadow of flattery, that London's
action appears to have been dictated
bv the past and Washington's by the
future.
However, to be just, we must not for
get that the recuperatlve power OF BTU
ish public life is far stronger than Is
generally supposed; it may well oe tnat'
after SO many recent errors, some ~
ture English government Will mo tIle
way to recover the old-tlme brlClSii
standing in the Far East. Inc people
who miraculously re-estaonsheo DUEL
| loyalty on the morrow OF a sangunialy
and aggressive war are Well anle 10 re-
Nobody can deny that the entire his
| torv of European relations with emma
the relations of state with state, Whlcn
began In the nineteenth century IN
reality are anything but long ano
glorious page of British history. Ihe
| first efforts in Canton and the frSt
nunitiye measures were British; tne
| first establishment at Shanghai, al
| though open to the trade OF all Europe,
was British; the organization OF tne
maritime customs, which gave 10 emma
| her most solid revenues, was Brltlsn
beneath its cosmopolitan aspect; up to
Yesterday the predominant niluence III
fhe dinlomatic corps at Peklng was
british In short, all the power, all
the prestige of the West in emma were
for a century expressed IN one word
England.
Il would require more than the usual
dose of small minded meanness ina,
characterizes international struggles, II
would need a rare amount OF schaden.
freude - that charming German wore
which expresses delight at the mls1oL.
tunes of a friend-not to be StrucK WIFE
painful stupor at the sight OF greal
historical prestige that seems on the
point of growing dim. ,
What are the reasons for TINS cnange
which the troubles of China alone seen
inadeouate to explain? In the firs'
place there are accidental causes-the
blindness of the great English mer.
chants in China is one. Incapable o.
seeing beyond their current trade bal
ance' furious at finding their business
decreasing, they wanted the Brltist
government to halt the course OF events
When, last year, Gen. duncan wa
; steaming toward Shanghai with hl'
divisions the die-hardS of the settlemen
already we're dreaming OF punitive eX'
petitions, of extended occupations pc
J yond the limits of the Settlement, 1ol
: the protection of some distant factory
/ or. perhaps. for the launching, In the
; newly occupied zones, of some promls'
ing business undertaking that could bt
, turned into money. When they founc
i. that Gen. Duncan, very sensible man
did not lend himself to their plans theil
disillusionment vas bitter. It Is nol