Frank Swettenham

“ For Japan, and for us, the best policy will be an undivided China and a guarantee of lasting peace, during which the middle kingdom will be able to develop its immense resources, to the benefit not only of Japan but of this country, and of every other nation which honestly seeks the open door and fair trade on equal terms. ”

“ There are practically no local manufactures to compete with English-made goods, and no hostile tariffs.
Colombo, Singapore, and Hong Kong complete the line of British fortresses, which, with Gibraltar, Malta, and Aden, guard the great ocean highway from Europe to China and Japan. It is natural that an island kingdom, which owes its position amongst the nations to sea-power, to an immense mercantile marine, and to enterprise in exploiting distant markets, should have taken care to secure convenient stations on one of the greatest of the world's trade-routes ”

“ Until the face of the earth is changed, or until England loses her command of the sea, nothing can alter the fact that vessels of every nationality, on a direct voyage from Europe to China or Japan, must make use of British ports of call. If this country were unfortunately involved in war, and the ports of all British Colonies were closed, trade with the Far East—by the Suez Canal, at any rate—would practically be denied to an enemy's ships. ”

“ So regarded, British Malaya—as the united Colony and Protectorate would naturally be styled—stands easily first of all those British Colonial possessions which do not enjoy responsible government Moreover, this is a possession in which the nation may feel some legitimate pride, for no part of it has been acquired by conquest; no people and no potentate complain that our influence has injuriously affected their liberties, their dignity, or their comfort Neither the Colony nor the Protectorate has any debt whatever, though many great and useful works have been constructed out of revenue. ”

“ Japan has been compelled to draw the sword, and, in defending her existence as a nation, she has achieved such results, on sea and land, that China now regards her as the dominant Power in the Far East When the war is over, China will listen to the advice of Japan as she has never listened to the divided counsels of Europe. ”

“ Japan's position was equally clear to every intelligent observer, and all students of Far Eastern affairs recognised that the moment Russia really threatened Korea, Japan must and would fight for existence, with its back against the wall. Germany, a comparatively new factor in the Far East, has a policy which may roughly be described as Shantung for Germany alone, and the rest of China, especially the Yang-tse Valley, for German enterprise on at least equal terms with all other nationalities. ”

“ It has hitherto been customary to rank Ceylon as the premier Crown Colony, and, strictly speaking, she has a good claim to that position; but the Federated Malay States, which are not British possessions, have, in the last thirty years, been so administered, under British protection, that, from a roadless, sparsely inhabited, and quite unknown wilderness, they have developed into a dependency which rivals, in almost every particular except population, the greatest and most prosperous of English Crown Colonies. ”

“ To-day Singapore, counted by the tonnage of the shipping which annually makes use of it as a point of call, stands eighth on the list of the world's great ports. The value of its trade in 1903 was nearly £70,000,000. About 200,000 tons of coal are constantly stored on the wharves; it possesses great facilities for coaling, docking, and repairing ships, and, as a fortress, it is probably capable of defending itself against any attack likely to be made on it by an enemy. ”

“ Where so much might be said, there is wisdom in restraint; but everyone who has any personal acquaintance with the facts must feel a keen anxiety that those with whom will rest the final decision of this momentous question will at least have the fullest and most accurate information to guide them. ”

“ It has been commonly asserted, especially by Englishmen settled in China, that England has never had a definite policy in the Furthest East, and, while no attempt has even been made to disprove that statement, the facts seem to justify it Russia, on the other hand, made little secrecy as regards her intentions. ”

“ M. Paul Doumer, lately Governor-General of French Indo-China, and now the President of the Chamber of Deputies, tells us, in his recently published account of his Far-Eastern administration, that 'a nation with a bold and energetic policy may secure a flourishing commerce. ”

“ They all contribute handsomely to the cost of Imperial defence, and, though they are all exceedingly prosperous, an immense proportion of their populations are Asiatics—as peaceful, loyal, and law-abiding subjects of the Crown as are to be found in other parts of the Empire. ”

“ These three Eastern Colonies—Hong Kong, the Straits, and Ceylon—with the Malay Protectorate, enjoy a revenue of over £5,000,000 per annum, and their in and out trade is worth at least £160,000,000. They are Crown Colonies; two of them have no debt, and their ports are absolutely free ”