Re: Race or Mongrel, by Alfred P. Schultz
Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 5:59 am
CHAPTER XX: THE YELLOW RACES
In many respects the Chinese are superior to the whites. Their family life is purer. Children respect their parents more. Age is more respected. Agriculture is held in the highest esteem. Nowhere is the soil more perfectly tilled than it is in China. The landowner who does not till his ground loses it. There are no landsharks in China. The canonical writings of the Chinese are not attributed to divine inspiration, and they influence the life of the Chinese more than the Scriptures influence ours. Every sentence of the Chinese canonical writings can be read in an English family without causing offence. The same cannot be said of the Scriptures.
Tshang-Ki-Tong, in "La Chine et les Chinois," expresses the conviction that Chinese ethics are in practice, if not in theory, purer than European or American morals. The Chinese never neglected education, and have evening schools for those who cannot attend during the day. Chinese merchants enjoy the highest respect for their probity. Alcoholism is almost unknown. Centuries of conscious effort have practically eradicated it from the country. In the year 2285 B.C., a man was banished for having discovered the means of obtaining alcohol from rice. In 2200 B.C., the Emperor Yu declared that wine will drive kings out of their kingdom, and prohibited its use at his court. When China attempted to stamp out the opium habit, the Christianity of England prevented it (Opium War). Much has been written concerning the corruption of the Mandarins, but this corruption, as depicted by those best informed, is not greater than the American home product.
The Chinese are prohibited by ancient laws from marrying members of another race. This prevents degeneration. This gives China its remarkable stability. It is the only country that has had an existence of five thousand years.
The Chinese are not inferior to the Japanese. Mang-Tse says: "I have heard that the barbarians have learned from China, but never that China has learned anything from the barbarians." "Until our own time this has been true. China was to the surrounding nations, Thibet, Burmah, Siam, Annam, Corea, and Japan, what Greece was to Rome and to Western Europe. It gave to these nations its ethical teachings, its system of writing, and its political and social organizations. For centuries China was the instructor of these countries and the alma mater of their scholars " (Von Brandt).
Physically the Chinese are superior to the Caucasians. They are industrious, intelligent, temperate, and superior to the Slavs by far. They have no nerves; nothing fatigues them; they prosper in every clime, and they work in the torrid zone as well as in the arctic circle. Colonel Grandprey, of the French legation, states in the Revue de Paris that the Chinese are excellent army material. They are long-lived, rarely sick, indifferent to exertion and suffering, intelligent and obedient.
Chinese women are not too lazy to give birth to children and not too lazy to nurse them. It is true that young children are frequently killed in China. So are they in Europe, and so are they in America. White mothers kill more children in utero than they give birth to. In Japan and in China one hundred and thirty-two children out of a thousand die before they are one year old; in the white world this number is two hundred to three hundred out of a thousand. This high death-rate has its cause. Probably the drugs which many white mothers take in order to kill their child before its birth cause the child to be born with diminished vitality. Many white mothers are too lazy to nurse their child. God and nature ordained that mother's milk is the child's nourishment. Many women think that a patent powder does equally well. There is no substitute for mother's milk. We have no right to point the finger of scorn at China. It is the story of the mote in the other man's eye.
Economically the Chinese are underestimated. China has millions of the best workers in the world. They have no nerves, they are never tired, and can be had in limitless numbers for a third of the wages of Europeans. China has more than four hundred million inhabitants, which means one hundred million workmen. Artisans, miners, and agricultural labourers get about ten cents a day. As soon as the industrialization of China is complete, the whole yellow market will be lost to the Western world; and the neutral markets will be won by the goods which are as well made and much cheaper than the European productions.
The result will be an enormous decline in wages everywhere in the world. Pene-Siefert states, in "Jaunes et blanc en Chine," that the time is rapidly approaching in which the white man will not be able to sell anything at all in China. Paul Leroy-Beaulieu thinks that our grandchildren will curse us for having forced China to become an industrial country. Richthofen calls the industrialization of China, on the part of Europe and America, a suicidal process. The industrialization of China, however, cannot be checked.
"Where Europeans and Americans leave, Japanese take their places, to teach the Chinese to compete with English factory girls and artisans " {Daily Chronicle). "The slumbering factors of an immense industrial production exist in China" (Richthofen). Her resources are unlimited. Her soil is very fertile. She has in close proximity the most extensive mines of iron and coal in the world. The "Open Door Farce" is not worth discussing. It is a trick of incapable statesmen to open doors, every now and then, on little pieces of paper. The Chinese are born merchants. Maier calls them the best merchants in the world. The commercial centres of the East, Hongkong, Shanghai, Kiautchou, Hayphong, Saigon, Singapore, Bangkok, Penang, and Colombo would dwindle into insignificance if the Chinese were to leave them. The Chinese are good seamen. The crew of most of the ships that ply in the Indian and Pacific Oceans are Chinamen.
The Japanese have proved that they are not mere imitators. Japanese physicians made important medical discoveries. Doctor Kitasato, the assistant of Behring and Koch, discovered the germ of bubonic plague; Doctor Shiga discovered the bacillus of dysentery. The commerce of Japan with China is growing rapidly, at the expense of the commerce of other countries. Japanese goods are very much cheaper, and they can be carried to China in a very much shorter time than they can from America or Europe. The white world will never be able to compete with Japan for the commerce of China. The Japanese are a race closely allied to the Chinese race, and they therefore understand and can satisfy the wants of the Chinese much better than we can. At the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war, the Japanese pretended to fight for the open door principle. The truth is, that Russia kept the door open in Manchuria, and Japan closed the door promptly when she acquired Formosa. Moreover, the Japanese officials restricted the white merchants to such an extent that they were soon forced out of business.
China will do on a much grander scale what Japan has done on a smaller scale. China will adopt steam, electricity, railroads, telegraphs, telephones, and manufactures of all kinds. Japan taxed all articles which foreigners exclusively consume one hundred to four hundred per cent. Will China not do likewise, in order eventually to expel the hated white devils, without enforcing exclusion laws? If as many Americans went to Japan as Japanese are coming to America, they would be in the position of pariahs, and be treated as such. The feeling against foreigners is very strong in Japan, and they are doing their best to stimulate the feeling of hatred and distrust that the Chinese entertain for the white man.
That the Japanese are dangerous competitors, the Californians know. There the Japanese have monopolized the flower and fruit trades, and in the clothing branch they are gaining the upper hand by forcing the Jews out. Their sweat-shop methods are worse than those of the Jews. The hop and sugar-beet fields, the ranches, the orchards, and the vineyards are filled with Japanese labourers. Some time ago there was war between the Italian cobblers and the Japanese cobblers, and prices were cut savagely, until the Japanese had gained the upper hand. Almost all curiosity shops are owned by Japanese. They own much real estate in California, whereas in Japan the law prevents foreigners from holding real estate. Most of the Japanese in California have come from Hawaii, where they have forced the white element out of most industries. The same yellow cloud hangs over California.
It is scarcely possible to overestimate the economic yellow peril. Samson-Himmelstjerna states that on account of its old culture, its severe morality, its unlimited resources, its intelligent, industrious population, China will surprise the world even more than Japan did. In fifty years, Sir Robert Hart declares millions of Boxers, soldiers as good as the Japanese and equally well drilled and equipped, will be ready to fight for China. General Frey ("L'Armee Chinoise") thinks that China, in a short time, will be able to wage war successfully not only against one Western country, but against a coalition of the powers.
In the meantime Japan has undertaken the reorganization of the Chinese army and navy. Hundreds of Japanese officers are in China as military instructors, and hundreds of Chinese officers are studying in Japanese war-schools. Japanese officers are the instructors in the military schools of Peking, Canton, Paotingfu, and Wutshang. Thousands of Chinese students are studying in Japan. Japanese newspapers are printed in Chinese and spread broadcast all over China. The Japanization of the East is rapidly progressing.
In 1899 the Toadoboun-kai was founded (Eastern Culture Society). Its aims are, develop race consciousness, cherish race traditions, and proclaim and bring about the solidarity of China, Japan, and Corea. This powerful organization is presided over by Prince Konoye, brother of the Emperor of Japan, and president of the House of Peers. The watchword "Asia for the Asiatics" is a weapon used in a hundred centres at once. Religion is pressed into service. Buddhistic high priests meet in Tokio, in order to unite the different sects in a common cause.
In India the Mahabodhi society represents their views. Hostility to the Christian missions is the common cause. The propaganda is anti-Christian, that is, anti-white, and therefore very powerful. In Siam the Japanese influence is as powerful as it is in China. Japanese officers are the councillors of the king and Japanese officers are in the navy of Siam. The Japan-Siamese society of Tokio and Bangkok is doing for Siam what the Eastern Culture Society is doing for China and Corea.
It has been said, "When China's military education by Japan has in a measure been accomplished, let Europe beware."
Why Europe? Europe is overpopulated, its soil tilled for centuries. Its mines are not very rich; indeed, many of them are exhausted. Europe is at the farthest distance from East Asia, most difficult to reach, and can protect herself best. The yellows can acquire better possessions, with less risk and trouble. The islands of the Pacific, Australia, and parts of the two Americas are the places they covet. Who is considered their arch enemy by the yellows? Professor Jonizu, of Tokio, tells us, and his fellow countrymen as well as the Chinese agree with him. That enemy is the United States of America. Several centuries ago the English and the French wanted nothing but vermin in South America, and they expelled the Dutch from Brazil. To-day, it is we who want nothing but vermin on that continent. That the vermin will not for ever be lord of that beautiful land is evident. We want no decent white neighbours in South America; possibly we shall in time have decent yellow neighbours.
The military abilities of the yellows are greatly underestimated. It is forgotten that Ghenghis Khan collected armies that were superior in numbers to those of the modern great powers; that he carried death and destruction to every place he went; that his armies destroyed five million lives. It is forgotten that the lame Timour was victorious in thirty-five campaigns and led his yellows to Moscow. The battle with the Tartars is forgotten, in which the German knights repulsed the Asiatics before the walls of Liegnitz. It is forgotten that the yellows ruled Russia for several centuries. It is forgotten that in the eleventh century A.D. the Chinese were about to introduce universal conscription.
The hatred that the yellows entertain for the white races, especially the American, is intense. The Bushido spirit is not dead in any of the yellow races. Is there a military yellow peril? Yes, and it is greater than the economic yellow peril. It is more imminent than we think. And it is against America that it is chiefly directed. At present the Pacific is a Japanese lake. Our position is similar to that of Russia before the war.
The yellow peril does not consist in their great number, but in their moral and physical superiority. We are their superiors intellectually only, and that intellectual superiority is becoming smaller every day. The yellow peril can be met only by making ourselves the moral, physical, and intellectual superiors of the yellows. A strong race must be created here; our family life must become purer; children must be taught to respect their parents and old age. Women must not murder their children, either before or after birth. Alcoholism must be stamped out. We must become able, if we are not, to do our own work. If we leave it for all times to the immigrants, we shall finally be compelled to call the coolies to do it for us.
The nervous system alone does not make a man, nor does it make a nation. A strong, muscular system must support that nervous system, or something is wrong. Let us build more ships. Men-of-war assure international courtesy. The conviction that the opponent is strong, powerful, and well armed has a tendency to preserve the peace. It frequently takes the edge off a crisis. The soothing syrup and lollipop of the eternal peace maniacs is impotent.
The empire of the Mikado to a Japanese is a spiritual empire as well as a material empire. The Mikado is the religious head of the nation, typifying the Bushido (war spirit) of the people; and the aim of that spirit is to satisfy Bushido, the god of war. Where will war be found? The American is the most hated of the white devils, and fifty thousand men are working day and night in the arsenals to perfect the equipment of the army and of the navy. Twenty thousand men are at work day and night in the cartridge factories. Every day hundreds of shrapnel-shells are stored away.
As the yellow terror is threatening us, and will probably soon be at our throats, the propaganda of the peace maniacs is pernicious. The Hague farce is a disgusting spectacle. It is based on lie, bluff, hypocrisy, and cant.
England proposes limitation of armaments. A few centuries ago Holland shared the control of the ocean with England, and there was no other sea power. For reasons akin to those for which England waged the "Opium War," she made war on Holland. In the war the Dutch proved themselves good seamen and good soldiers. Holland, however, being not a nation, but a fragment of a nation, was not strong enough to prolong the struggle indefinitely, and, when exhausted, she had to yield. England ruled the waves. This was the time when England claimed that the seaboard of other countries was her boundary.
Now the ocean has become free to all people. English supremacy cannot be maintained. America, Germany, France, and Japan share the control of the ocean with England. England still predominates, and she wants the status quo preserved. She cannot accomplish that end by making war on any of these powers; for, even if victorious, her opponent will have dealt her such blows that England will have ceased to be a great sea power. For this reason England has become unctuous, and recommends disarmament. She claims that the English navy alone is for defence; all other navies are for the purpose of attack and aggrandizement. England, therefore, should police the sea, and nations should cease building ships.
Past history does not warrant us in believing that England would police the seas impartially; and, even if she did, we must decline to become her vassal. Germany declines, France declines, and Japan declines. Let England disarm, if she so wishes; let us build ships. The peace conference is a farce, and it is folly to send men to take the part of clowns in The Hague circus.
In many respects the Chinese are superior to the whites. Their family life is purer. Children respect their parents more. Age is more respected. Agriculture is held in the highest esteem. Nowhere is the soil more perfectly tilled than it is in China. The landowner who does not till his ground loses it. There are no landsharks in China. The canonical writings of the Chinese are not attributed to divine inspiration, and they influence the life of the Chinese more than the Scriptures influence ours. Every sentence of the Chinese canonical writings can be read in an English family without causing offence. The same cannot be said of the Scriptures.
Tshang-Ki-Tong, in "La Chine et les Chinois," expresses the conviction that Chinese ethics are in practice, if not in theory, purer than European or American morals. The Chinese never neglected education, and have evening schools for those who cannot attend during the day. Chinese merchants enjoy the highest respect for their probity. Alcoholism is almost unknown. Centuries of conscious effort have practically eradicated it from the country. In the year 2285 B.C., a man was banished for having discovered the means of obtaining alcohol from rice. In 2200 B.C., the Emperor Yu declared that wine will drive kings out of their kingdom, and prohibited its use at his court. When China attempted to stamp out the opium habit, the Christianity of England prevented it (Opium War). Much has been written concerning the corruption of the Mandarins, but this corruption, as depicted by those best informed, is not greater than the American home product.
The Chinese are prohibited by ancient laws from marrying members of another race. This prevents degeneration. This gives China its remarkable stability. It is the only country that has had an existence of five thousand years.
The Chinese are not inferior to the Japanese. Mang-Tse says: "I have heard that the barbarians have learned from China, but never that China has learned anything from the barbarians." "Until our own time this has been true. China was to the surrounding nations, Thibet, Burmah, Siam, Annam, Corea, and Japan, what Greece was to Rome and to Western Europe. It gave to these nations its ethical teachings, its system of writing, and its political and social organizations. For centuries China was the instructor of these countries and the alma mater of their scholars " (Von Brandt).
Physically the Chinese are superior to the Caucasians. They are industrious, intelligent, temperate, and superior to the Slavs by far. They have no nerves; nothing fatigues them; they prosper in every clime, and they work in the torrid zone as well as in the arctic circle. Colonel Grandprey, of the French legation, states in the Revue de Paris that the Chinese are excellent army material. They are long-lived, rarely sick, indifferent to exertion and suffering, intelligent and obedient.
Chinese women are not too lazy to give birth to children and not too lazy to nurse them. It is true that young children are frequently killed in China. So are they in Europe, and so are they in America. White mothers kill more children in utero than they give birth to. In Japan and in China one hundred and thirty-two children out of a thousand die before they are one year old; in the white world this number is two hundred to three hundred out of a thousand. This high death-rate has its cause. Probably the drugs which many white mothers take in order to kill their child before its birth cause the child to be born with diminished vitality. Many white mothers are too lazy to nurse their child. God and nature ordained that mother's milk is the child's nourishment. Many women think that a patent powder does equally well. There is no substitute for mother's milk. We have no right to point the finger of scorn at China. It is the story of the mote in the other man's eye.
Economically the Chinese are underestimated. China has millions of the best workers in the world. They have no nerves, they are never tired, and can be had in limitless numbers for a third of the wages of Europeans. China has more than four hundred million inhabitants, which means one hundred million workmen. Artisans, miners, and agricultural labourers get about ten cents a day. As soon as the industrialization of China is complete, the whole yellow market will be lost to the Western world; and the neutral markets will be won by the goods which are as well made and much cheaper than the European productions.
The result will be an enormous decline in wages everywhere in the world. Pene-Siefert states, in "Jaunes et blanc en Chine," that the time is rapidly approaching in which the white man will not be able to sell anything at all in China. Paul Leroy-Beaulieu thinks that our grandchildren will curse us for having forced China to become an industrial country. Richthofen calls the industrialization of China, on the part of Europe and America, a suicidal process. The industrialization of China, however, cannot be checked.
"Where Europeans and Americans leave, Japanese take their places, to teach the Chinese to compete with English factory girls and artisans " {Daily Chronicle). "The slumbering factors of an immense industrial production exist in China" (Richthofen). Her resources are unlimited. Her soil is very fertile. She has in close proximity the most extensive mines of iron and coal in the world. The "Open Door Farce" is not worth discussing. It is a trick of incapable statesmen to open doors, every now and then, on little pieces of paper. The Chinese are born merchants. Maier calls them the best merchants in the world. The commercial centres of the East, Hongkong, Shanghai, Kiautchou, Hayphong, Saigon, Singapore, Bangkok, Penang, and Colombo would dwindle into insignificance if the Chinese were to leave them. The Chinese are good seamen. The crew of most of the ships that ply in the Indian and Pacific Oceans are Chinamen.
The Japanese have proved that they are not mere imitators. Japanese physicians made important medical discoveries. Doctor Kitasato, the assistant of Behring and Koch, discovered the germ of bubonic plague; Doctor Shiga discovered the bacillus of dysentery. The commerce of Japan with China is growing rapidly, at the expense of the commerce of other countries. Japanese goods are very much cheaper, and they can be carried to China in a very much shorter time than they can from America or Europe. The white world will never be able to compete with Japan for the commerce of China. The Japanese are a race closely allied to the Chinese race, and they therefore understand and can satisfy the wants of the Chinese much better than we can. At the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war, the Japanese pretended to fight for the open door principle. The truth is, that Russia kept the door open in Manchuria, and Japan closed the door promptly when she acquired Formosa. Moreover, the Japanese officials restricted the white merchants to such an extent that they were soon forced out of business.
China will do on a much grander scale what Japan has done on a smaller scale. China will adopt steam, electricity, railroads, telegraphs, telephones, and manufactures of all kinds. Japan taxed all articles which foreigners exclusively consume one hundred to four hundred per cent. Will China not do likewise, in order eventually to expel the hated white devils, without enforcing exclusion laws? If as many Americans went to Japan as Japanese are coming to America, they would be in the position of pariahs, and be treated as such. The feeling against foreigners is very strong in Japan, and they are doing their best to stimulate the feeling of hatred and distrust that the Chinese entertain for the white man.
That the Japanese are dangerous competitors, the Californians know. There the Japanese have monopolized the flower and fruit trades, and in the clothing branch they are gaining the upper hand by forcing the Jews out. Their sweat-shop methods are worse than those of the Jews. The hop and sugar-beet fields, the ranches, the orchards, and the vineyards are filled with Japanese labourers. Some time ago there was war between the Italian cobblers and the Japanese cobblers, and prices were cut savagely, until the Japanese had gained the upper hand. Almost all curiosity shops are owned by Japanese. They own much real estate in California, whereas in Japan the law prevents foreigners from holding real estate. Most of the Japanese in California have come from Hawaii, where they have forced the white element out of most industries. The same yellow cloud hangs over California.
It is scarcely possible to overestimate the economic yellow peril. Samson-Himmelstjerna states that on account of its old culture, its severe morality, its unlimited resources, its intelligent, industrious population, China will surprise the world even more than Japan did. In fifty years, Sir Robert Hart declares millions of Boxers, soldiers as good as the Japanese and equally well drilled and equipped, will be ready to fight for China. General Frey ("L'Armee Chinoise") thinks that China, in a short time, will be able to wage war successfully not only against one Western country, but against a coalition of the powers.
In the meantime Japan has undertaken the reorganization of the Chinese army and navy. Hundreds of Japanese officers are in China as military instructors, and hundreds of Chinese officers are studying in Japanese war-schools. Japanese officers are the instructors in the military schools of Peking, Canton, Paotingfu, and Wutshang. Thousands of Chinese students are studying in Japan. Japanese newspapers are printed in Chinese and spread broadcast all over China. The Japanization of the East is rapidly progressing.
In 1899 the Toadoboun-kai was founded (Eastern Culture Society). Its aims are, develop race consciousness, cherish race traditions, and proclaim and bring about the solidarity of China, Japan, and Corea. This powerful organization is presided over by Prince Konoye, brother of the Emperor of Japan, and president of the House of Peers. The watchword "Asia for the Asiatics" is a weapon used in a hundred centres at once. Religion is pressed into service. Buddhistic high priests meet in Tokio, in order to unite the different sects in a common cause.
In India the Mahabodhi society represents their views. Hostility to the Christian missions is the common cause. The propaganda is anti-Christian, that is, anti-white, and therefore very powerful. In Siam the Japanese influence is as powerful as it is in China. Japanese officers are the councillors of the king and Japanese officers are in the navy of Siam. The Japan-Siamese society of Tokio and Bangkok is doing for Siam what the Eastern Culture Society is doing for China and Corea.
It has been said, "When China's military education by Japan has in a measure been accomplished, let Europe beware."
Why Europe? Europe is overpopulated, its soil tilled for centuries. Its mines are not very rich; indeed, many of them are exhausted. Europe is at the farthest distance from East Asia, most difficult to reach, and can protect herself best. The yellows can acquire better possessions, with less risk and trouble. The islands of the Pacific, Australia, and parts of the two Americas are the places they covet. Who is considered their arch enemy by the yellows? Professor Jonizu, of Tokio, tells us, and his fellow countrymen as well as the Chinese agree with him. That enemy is the United States of America. Several centuries ago the English and the French wanted nothing but vermin in South America, and they expelled the Dutch from Brazil. To-day, it is we who want nothing but vermin on that continent. That the vermin will not for ever be lord of that beautiful land is evident. We want no decent white neighbours in South America; possibly we shall in time have decent yellow neighbours.
The military abilities of the yellows are greatly underestimated. It is forgotten that Ghenghis Khan collected armies that were superior in numbers to those of the modern great powers; that he carried death and destruction to every place he went; that his armies destroyed five million lives. It is forgotten that the lame Timour was victorious in thirty-five campaigns and led his yellows to Moscow. The battle with the Tartars is forgotten, in which the German knights repulsed the Asiatics before the walls of Liegnitz. It is forgotten that the yellows ruled Russia for several centuries. It is forgotten that in the eleventh century A.D. the Chinese were about to introduce universal conscription.
The hatred that the yellows entertain for the white races, especially the American, is intense. The Bushido spirit is not dead in any of the yellow races. Is there a military yellow peril? Yes, and it is greater than the economic yellow peril. It is more imminent than we think. And it is against America that it is chiefly directed. At present the Pacific is a Japanese lake. Our position is similar to that of Russia before the war.
The yellow peril does not consist in their great number, but in their moral and physical superiority. We are their superiors intellectually only, and that intellectual superiority is becoming smaller every day. The yellow peril can be met only by making ourselves the moral, physical, and intellectual superiors of the yellows. A strong race must be created here; our family life must become purer; children must be taught to respect their parents and old age. Women must not murder their children, either before or after birth. Alcoholism must be stamped out. We must become able, if we are not, to do our own work. If we leave it for all times to the immigrants, we shall finally be compelled to call the coolies to do it for us.
The nervous system alone does not make a man, nor does it make a nation. A strong, muscular system must support that nervous system, or something is wrong. Let us build more ships. Men-of-war assure international courtesy. The conviction that the opponent is strong, powerful, and well armed has a tendency to preserve the peace. It frequently takes the edge off a crisis. The soothing syrup and lollipop of the eternal peace maniacs is impotent.
The empire of the Mikado to a Japanese is a spiritual empire as well as a material empire. The Mikado is the religious head of the nation, typifying the Bushido (war spirit) of the people; and the aim of that spirit is to satisfy Bushido, the god of war. Where will war be found? The American is the most hated of the white devils, and fifty thousand men are working day and night in the arsenals to perfect the equipment of the army and of the navy. Twenty thousand men are at work day and night in the cartridge factories. Every day hundreds of shrapnel-shells are stored away.
"Why such daily cast of brazen cannon
And foreign mart for implements of war?
Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task
Does not divide the Sunday from the week?
What might be toward, that this sweaty haste
Doth make the night joint-labourer with the day?"
-- Hamlet.
As the yellow terror is threatening us, and will probably soon be at our throats, the propaganda of the peace maniacs is pernicious. The Hague farce is a disgusting spectacle. It is based on lie, bluff, hypocrisy, and cant.
England proposes limitation of armaments. A few centuries ago Holland shared the control of the ocean with England, and there was no other sea power. For reasons akin to those for which England waged the "Opium War," she made war on Holland. In the war the Dutch proved themselves good seamen and good soldiers. Holland, however, being not a nation, but a fragment of a nation, was not strong enough to prolong the struggle indefinitely, and, when exhausted, she had to yield. England ruled the waves. This was the time when England claimed that the seaboard of other countries was her boundary.
Now the ocean has become free to all people. English supremacy cannot be maintained. America, Germany, France, and Japan share the control of the ocean with England. England still predominates, and she wants the status quo preserved. She cannot accomplish that end by making war on any of these powers; for, even if victorious, her opponent will have dealt her such blows that England will have ceased to be a great sea power. For this reason England has become unctuous, and recommends disarmament. She claims that the English navy alone is for defence; all other navies are for the purpose of attack and aggrandizement. England, therefore, should police the sea, and nations should cease building ships.
Past history does not warrant us in believing that England would police the seas impartially; and, even if she did, we must decline to become her vassal. Germany declines, France declines, and Japan declines. Let England disarm, if she so wishes; let us build ships. The peace conference is a farce, and it is folly to send men to take the part of clowns in The Hague circus.