Paul S. Reinsch

“ During the first years of the reform era one might still see men who were having a difference frantically grabbing at the back of each other's heads where there was, however, no longer anything to afford a secure hold.
A great part of Chinese life is public. It is on the streets with their innumerable restaurants; their wide-open bazaars of the trades; their ambulent letter-writers and story-tellers with the curious ones clustered about them; their itinerant markets; their gliding rickshaws; their haphazard little shops filled with a profusion of ageless, precious relics. ”

“ Yuan Shih-kai, a ruler whose power was personal, whose theories of government were those of an absolute monarch, who believed that in himself lay the hope of his people; China itself a nation of individualists, among whom there was as yet no unifying national sense, no inbred love of country, no traditions of personal responsibility toward their government, no sense that they themselves shared in the making of the laws which ordered their lives—these, I think, were the first clear impressions I had of the land to which I came as envoy in the early days of the Republic. ”

“ But it was not until January 22nd that I learned the astonishing nature of the Japanese proposals. Calling on one of the Chinese ministers on current business, I found him perturbed. He finally confided to me, almost with tears, that Japan had made categorical demands which, if conceded, would destroy the independence of his country and reduce her to a servile state. He then told me in general terms their nature, saying: "Control of natural resources, finances, army! What will be left to China! Our people are being punished for their peacefulness and sense of justice." ”

“ The world is beginning to have an idea of its importance. Those who have long known it, who have given attention to its traditions and the sources of its social and industrial strength, have the conviction that China will become a factor of the first magnitude in the composition of the world of the twentieth century. They have penetrated beyond the idea that China is a land of topsy-turvy, the main function of which is to amuse the outsider with unexpected social customs, and which, from a political point of view, is in a state bordering upon chaos. ”

“ The report of the Engineers' Commission which investigated the Hwai River Conservancy project made that enterprise look even more attractive than I had anticipated. The value of the redeemed land alone would be more than enough to pay the cost of the improvements. I felt that the work would give great credit to the American name. Not only would it assure the livelihood of multitudes through the redemption of millions of the most fertile acres in China, but it would give to the Chinese a living example of how, by scientific methods, the very foundations of their life could be improved. ”

“ The Chinese people were being whirled in the vortex of old and new. The old organization was beginning to crumble; the new had not yet taken shape. It was easy to find spots of weakness and corruption, aggravation of which would bring about an actual demoralization of social and political life and the obstruction of every improvement; bandits could be furnished with arms; weak persons craving a stimulant could be drugged with morphia; the credit of native institutions could be ruined; and the most corrupt elements in the government encouraged. ”

“ Personal rule, imperial traditions, hamper the Chinese in their efforts, unguided as they are by experience; moreover, they meet with foreign skepticism and opposition. It is America's rôle not officiously to interfere in their endeavours, but in every proper way to help them.
The institutions a nation develops are largely its own business. Other nations should not interfere. But in China all liberal-minded, forward-looking men see in the United States a free government which they not only wish to emulate, but to which they look for interest, sympathy, and moral assistance. ”

“ From the point of view of art, China stands for a refinement of quality which attests the loving devotion of generations to the idea of a perfect product; in the representative arts, calmness of perception has enabled the Chinese to set a model for the artistic reproduction of the environments of human life. In their conception of policy and world position, the Chinese people have ever shown a readiness to base any claim to ascendancy upon inherent excellence and virtue. ”

“ I sincerely trust that your great interest and your energy in endeavouring to extend our interests in China may have an effect upon our own Administration. I believe the bankers will always be willing to help if they are able to do so, but we are not, like our Continental friends, anxiously looking for chances to invest abroad, especially at the present time when we have so many troubles of our own, and instead of being merely shown the opportunity, we must be persuaded in the first place that it is sound business and in the second place that it is our patriotic duty to undertake it. ”

“ Carey brought his unwarped intelligence to bear with great freshness on Chinese affairs, which he discussed in the language of an American contractor and business man who reduced everything to terms of getting something done. To observe how a man of his training, instincts, and tradition, so utterly different from the Chinese, remained in constant, intimate intercourse and joyous mutual understanding with them, made one believe that there must be real bonds of sympathy between Americans and the Chinese. ”

“ Foreign women have sometimes been terrified by these vast, surging crowds; but no matter how timid they be, a few rickshaw rides along the streets, a short observation of the manners of these people, will make the faintest hearted feel at home. Before long these Tartaric hordes cease to be terrifying, and even the feeling that they are ethnological specimens passes away; it is remarkable how soon one feels the humanity of it all among these multitudes that seem to engulf but that never press or crowd. ”

“ A more awe-inspiring and majestic approach to a seat of power is not to be seen in this world. We can well imagine, when tribute bearers came to Peking and passed along this highway beset with imposing structures and great monuments, that they were prepared to pay homage when finally in the presence of the being to whose might all this was but an introduction. ”

“ I did not lose my earnest goodwill toward the Japanese people but I could not shut my eyes to Japanese imperialist politics with its unconscionably ruthless and underhanded actions and its fundamental [Pg 335] lack of every idea of fair play. The continuance of such methods could only bring disaster; their abandonment is a condition of peace and real welfare. The aims and methods of Japan's military policy in the Continent of Asia can bring good to no one, least of all to the Japanese people, notwithstanding any temporary gains. Such ambitions cannot permanently succeed. ”

“ When a government takes a step involving life and death and all the interests of its own and of general civilization; when, in connection therewith, it calls upon other powers to associate themselves with it—it ought to be safe to presume that the government means what it says. It should see that the action it invokes involves great sacrifices, and it must not invoke it lightly. A responsible official would not be justified in interpreting such a note in a platonic sense.
At once questions of finance arose. Ancient China had taken her brave step in modern world affairs. ”

“ A section of our capitalists have been given every facility to make money and to lend it to China; with the money squeezed from them, the military bureaucrats have been corrupting party men and sending them to China and elsewhere, to exploit the warring nations while they are busy with the war. The civilian officials and militarists cannot think anything except in terms of German fear or admiration. If such Japanese are employed by the Peking government, it will forever alienate Chinese sympathies from anything we may propose. ”

“ The Chinese may make a concession under such circumstances, but they will thereafter have no interest whatsoever in facilitating the business in question; on the contrary, it is likely to be delayed and obstructed at every point, so that it can be carried out only through constant pressure and show of force. The people of China have a strong and widespread sense of equity. He who proposes a reasonable arrangement and gives himself the trouble to talk it over with officials and other men concerned, in the spirit of arriving at a solution fair to all, will build on a sound foundation. ”

“ I have said that a little vision and the application of American scientific methods would transform China. Chang Chien had instanced the Hwai River valley, and the ease with which it might be made to bloom as the most fertile tract on the globe. China boasts the most skilled horticulturists and truck-farmers of any nation, and they breed its thousands of species of vegetables and flowering plants and shrubs. It is said of the Chinese gardener, that if there is a sick or weakened plant, he "listens and hears its cry," and nurses it into health like a mother. ”

“ The popular sense of equity, which in China asserts itself naturally in strikes, responded everywhere. Unless the Government dismissed the three offenders, merchants would close their shops. Teachers, students, shopkeepers, chauffeurs, dockhands, all classes of workmen would strike. All China, indeed, would go on strike.
The movement gained momentum like an avalanche thundering down a mountain. Its fury was first of all concentrated on the attempt to force the dismissal of the three officials who were, in the popular mind, guilty of trading away the national birthright. ”

“ Yet I was strongly convinced that it is under any circumstances injudicious for one nation or the officials of one nation to assume that they can determine what is the best form of government for another nation. The fundamental principle of self-government is that every people shall work out that problem for itself, usually through many troubles and with many relapses to less perfect methods. ”

“ National resources and industries were looked at not from the point of view alone of any local group interested but of the unity of national life and effort. To know that in this great task of reorganization, Americans would be most welcome as associates and directors; that they were spontaneously and sincerely desired in order that all these materials and resources might the more readily be built into a great and effective unity of national life—that, indeed, could not fail to be a cause for pride and gratification to an American. ”

“ The United States of America enjoys a position of great advantage for assisting the Chinese Government and influencing its development in the direction of free national life. The lack of a desire for political interference, the real sympathy felt in America with the strivings of the Chinese people, and cultural, educational, and charitable work unselfishly performed, have given the United States the undivided confidence of China. It is certainly true that the Chinese people are anxious to follow in the footsteps of the United States if they may only be permitted to do so. ”

“ In Peking he studied the Chinese railway situation. In his quiet, thorough-going way, he looked into the whole question for China; it was not long before he had great confidence in its possibilities. I felt it would be a godsend if a man of his genius for original planning and constructive work, proved in the great Panama Canal project; a man, moreover, who had intimate experience of American railway operation, could work out with the Chinese a systematic plan for developing their railway service. The Chinese would have eagerly welcomed this chance, but they were not free. ”

“ At this time, when the Far Eastern question is the chief subject-matter of international conferences and negotiations, China stands before the world in the eyes of those who really know her, not as a bankrupt pleader for indulgence and assistance, but as a great unit of human tradition and force which, heretofore somewhat over-disdainful of the things through which other nations had won power and preference and mechanical mastery, has lived a trifle carelessly in the assurance that real strength must rest on inner virtue ”

“ No one could have appreciated more highly than I did the important work done by American missionaries, teachers, and medical men, in bringing to China a conception of Western learning and life. But if China should have to rely entirely on other nations for active support in the modern development of her industries and resources, then our position in the eyes of the Chinese nation could never come up to the opportunities which Nature had given us through our geographic position and our industrial strength. ”

“ Chinese revolutions and declarations of independence might be bruited to the world, which might think China had plunged into anarchy. As a people the Chinese are freer from governmental interference than any nation living. If the entire Central Government should suddenly disappear from the face of the earth, it would make little difference in China. Yet the long continuance of political conflicts lets foreign intrigue into the national quarrels, and so reacts dangerously.
The people as a whole wished the nation to be a unit. ”

“ Never before has an opportunity for leadership toward the welfare of humanity presented itself equal to that which invites America in China at the present time. The Chinese people ask for no better fate than to be allowed freedom to follow in the footsteps of America; every device of intrigue and corruption as well as coercion is being employed to force them in a different direction, including constant misrepresentation of American policies and aims which, however, has not as yet prejudiced the Chinese. ”

“ The Chinese Government has never admitted that its right to plan the defence of its coastline is subject to veto by any other government. Such admission on our part that Japan has the right to claim special interests in Fukien would shake the confidence of the Chinese in our seriousness and consistency, and in our determination to protect our legitimate interests in an undivided China, freely open to the commerce of all nations, where Americans can do business without asking permission of any other outsiders. ”