That is the Government
view-point. It is important to note this.
In China, however, the Government is not the people. It never has been.
It is not to be expected that great political and social reforms can be
introduced into such an enormous country as China, and among her four
hundred and thirty millions of people, merely by the issue of a few
imperial edicts. The masses have to be convinced that any given thing is
for the public good before they accept, despite the proclamations, and
in thus convincing her own people China has yet to go through the fire
of a terrible ordeal. Especially will this be seen in the second part of
this volume, where in Yuen-nan there are huge areas absolutely untouched
by the forward movement, and where the people are living the same life
of disease, distress and dirt, of official, social, and moral
degradation as they lived when the Westerner remained still in the
primeval forest stage. But despite the scepticism and the cynicism of
certain writers, whose pessimism is due to a lack of foresight, and
despite the fact that she is being constantly accused of having in the
past ignominiously failed at the crucial moment in endeavors towards
minor reforms, I am one of those who believe that in China we shall see
arising a Government whose power will be paramount in the East, and upon
the integrity of whose people will depend the peace of Europe.
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