Knox hoped to carry out in his plan of the neutralization of Manchurian railways is now to be applied openly to all the railways of China to be constructed in future, and to all other public and basic undertakings, falling within the scope of the New Consortium. As to whether this policy of internationalization includes only international finance, or also international administration and hence control, it remains to be seen in the contracts that are to be concluded. It is, however, to be hoped that the policy of internationalization will cover only international finance, and will not include international administration and control, which will infringe upon and impair the sovereignty of China.

Furthermore, the New Consortium neutralizes Japan's efforts to control China. Had it not been for the early formation of the New Consortium, as China tottered on the brink of bankruptcy, Japan, by repeated loans, might have this day fairly reached the goal of controlling China through finance. As it is, and especially as the Department of State and Thomas W. Lamont successfully warded off Japan's reservation as to South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia and brought her into the fold of the New Consortium without any reservation or condition, obligating Japan to observe the canons of the Consortium, it has definitely neutralized her efforts to control China, or at least, has placed an almost insurmountable difficulty before Japan's ambition in this direction.

On the other hand, with the advent of the New Consortium, China is face to face with the moral crisis of choosing the right way at the parting of the roads. She can avail herself of the assistance the New Consortium can render and use the loans contracted for constructive purposes and thus build up her own economic structure and stabilize her own political equilibrium. In this way she can find her salvation and derive benefit from the New Consortium without incurring its perils. Or, she

can contract loans for administrative and consumptive purposes, wasting the proceeds of loans and pawning her national assets, one after the other. In this way, she will inevitably follow the footsteps of Egypt and bring her people to the brink of ruin and bankruptcy. Which road will China take? May her responsible leaders select the right path!

Finally, the advent of the New Consortium brings into being a great issue in the politics of the Far East, which will be the burning problem of the next decade or so. That is the control of China. On the one hand, if China should fail in her loan obligations, the Powers, through the agency of the New Consortium, are bound to impose international control. On the other, Chinese nationalism, awakened to the seriousness of the situation, and having manifested itself so effectively and so nobly in the Chinese Revolution of 1911 and the Students' Strike and Economic Boycott of 1919, would not permit their inalienable right of national independence to be mortgaged or extinguished, but would enter upon a death struggle for the preservation of their national liberty and sovereignty. Hence it is reasonable to believe that the next decade or so may witness the great struggle of the Chinese people for their national independence as against the control of Japan, or of the Powers through the New Consortium.

NOTES TO CHAPTER XXV

1. Documents Concerning the New Consortium, released to press by the Dept. of State, Mar. 30, 1921; Far Eastern Review, March, 1921, p. 150.

2. T. W. Lamont, Preliminary Rep. on the New Consort for China, p. 6.

3. Documents Concerning the New Consortium, op. cit., Joint Note, Sept. 28, 1920.

4. Copy furnished through courtesy of J. P. Morgan & Co. 5. Documents, op. cit., Joint Note of American, British, French and Japanese Legations at Peking to Chinese Foreign Office, Jan. 13, 1921.

XXVI

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AND CHINA

ANOTHER event that has affected, or is going to affect, the foreign relations of China, is the League of Nations. In this treatise, we do not propose to deal with the organization, operation, or efficacy of the League as it is, which falls beyond the scope of this work, but we do aim, rather, to treat of the effects it has upon the foreign relations of China and of the rights and duties which she has incurred by virtue of her membership therein.

Before the advent of the League, there was no guarantee or protection for the territorial integrity and political independence of any nation. To maintain its national existence, every nation was obliged to depend upon its own armament or upon the help of its allies. In other words, the rights of territorial integrity and political independence were not secured by any other means than the armament of the nations themselves and the arbitrament of war. Stated in another way, the nations, for want of adequate remedy furnished by the society of nations, had no more rights of sovereignty than those which their own armament and other resources could maintain and those which the other states were willing or forced to accord to one another. For instance, after China's disastrous defeat of 1894-5 by Japan, the Powers proceeded to her and seized various strategic bases. In the eyes of the Powers, China had no more rights of sovereignty than those which her own armament and other resources could defend and those which the Powers accorded to her. In short, under the old régime, the sovereign rights of ter

ritorial integrity and political independence were not secured by any international protection or guarantee, and she was therefore exposed to the ill-treatment and spoliation of the stronger Powers. Thus, the old régime was the rule of might, and not of right.

The new order, however, as inaugurated by the League of Nations, furnishes what was lacking in the old régime. no matter how inadequate and how impotent it may prove to be. That is, it provides for an international guarantee or protection of the sovereign rights of territorial integrity and political independence. While formerly there was practically no court of appeal for the vindication of national rights, now there is the League which requires the submission of all disputes among the members either to arbitration or to inquiry by the Council or the Assembly of the League. While under the old régime there was no international guarantee or protection for national rights as growing out of sovereignty, in the new order there are the sanctions provided in the League Covenant consisting of diplomatic severance, economic boycott, international force upon the recommendation of the Council, and expulsion from the League by a unanimous vote of the Council and Assembly. Whereas in absence of a league each nation had no other alternative than either to fight or to submit, in case of an ultimatum or actual invasion, as shown in the case of Japan's ultimatum of May 7, 1915, now under the protection of the League a member so threatened can appeal to the Council or Assembly, or submit to arbitration, in which cases, if the recommendation of the Council is unanimous, or if that of the Assembly is concurred in by the representatives of the Powers on the Council and a majority of the other members, excluding in each case the parties to the dispute, or if the award of the arbitration is properly made, the party so threatened can abide by the award or recommendation and thus win the protection of the League.1

Thus, however inadequate, a remedy is provided for the rights of nations, which was non-existent under the old régime. This surely is a step forward in the political evolution of mankind.

With this provision of an international guarantee or protection for national rights, China's foreign relations undergo a change for better. Whereas formerly China could not appeal to any tribunal or constituted authority in case of the violation of her rights, but had either to submit or fight, she can now call for arbitration, or appeal to the Council or the Assembly for a recommendation; and should she choose to abide by an award or recommendation made in pursuance of the provisions of the Covenant of the League, she would obtain its protection in case of an attack. While under the old régime her rights of territorial integrity and political independence were insecure except as her own armament, or jealousy among the Powers, or their friendly assistance could maintain them, her territorial integrity and political independence are now assured by the League, or at least supposed to be so assured. To put it concretely, under the protection of the League, the threatened partition of 1900 is not likely to come to pass again, nor the German seizure of Kiaochow, nor the Japanese ultimatum of May 7, 1915. Herein lies a great advance in the foreign relations of China as arising out of the existence of the League.2

Having seen the improvement in China's foreign relations as growing out of the existence of the League and her membership therein, we will next consider the rights and duties she has acquired as a member of the League. At the meeting of the Assembly, she has the right to cast one vote and to have no more than three representatives (Article 3). At the meeting of the Council, by virtue of her recent election thereto,24 she has the right to cast one vote and to send one represen