national policies. It was, however, too much to expect that nationalistic interests would not be predominantly potent in the Conference. It was, therefore, not to be expected that China would obtain from the Conference all that she might desire to obtain, or all that, upon a basis of abstract justice, she ought to obtain. It was to be hoped, however, that she would obtain substantial relief from existing violations of her sovereign rights as well as a removal or loosening of some of the bonds which, by treaties, had restrained her freedom of political and administrative action.

For many years China had been unfortunately circumstanced as regards her relations to the other Powers. Very early she developed a civilization which, in many respects, has compelled the admiration of the world, and along with this civilization a form of government and methods of administration which, as their long persistence showed, were well suited to the simple economic life which her people led. When, however, she was brought into close contact with the Western World, and was forced, whether she wished it or not, to conform to their standards of international intercourse, to receive within her borders their merchants and missionaries, and to adopt many of the features of their intense commercial and industrial life—when this had come about, it soon transpired that China had not a governmental organization that would enable her to defend herself against attacks upon her sovereignty and territorial integrity. Because of her very size, as well as because of her lack of a strong executive authority

in her central government, China found herself compelled to surrender the suzerainty or sovereignty which she had previously exercised over certain areas lying outside of her eighteen Provinces, and also to consent to the exercise within her borders of various forms of jurisdiction which have lessened the efficiency of her government over her own people and derogated from her dignity as a great State.

This had been her misfortune, but it was her good fortune that when, in the Conference at Washington, there was to be a general consideration by all the Powers concerned of their future policies in the Far East, China was able to come to the council table with no acts of aggression of her own toward other friendly Powers which needed to be explained or defended, and that she was able to appear as a petitioner for the recognition of and adherence to principles which were not only just in themselves but which in their application would be of benefit to all and promotive of international peace and good will. In other words, China, at the Conference, did not have to ask that she be given any territory the legal title of which was not already conceded to be hers. She needed to ask for no rights other than those universally conceded to attach to sovereign States. She needed to ask only that certain wrongs done to her in the past should be corrected, and that she be made more fully the mistress in her own household. And even these claims she could put forward, not in absolute terms, but as warranted by the progress which she could demonstrate she had made in bringing her institutions and administrative methods into conso

nance with the standards of right and efficiency which the Western Nations exact of themselves. Thus supported, China believed that she would be able to show that what she sought would be beneficial to the Western Powers as well as to herself.

China's Fears. One very serious disadvantage China rested under at the Conference-one which was ever present in the minds of other Delegations and which undoubtedly operated powerfully to prevent China from securing much of the relief which she failed to obtain. This disadvantage was due to the fact of the disturbed political conditions in China itself, and the slight degree of effective control over the country which the central government at Peking was able to exert. It was not simply that there was an organization in the south, with its headquarters at Canton, which claimed to be the "constitutional government of China and which denied legal legitimacy to the Peking Government, but that, throughout the Provinces, there were bodies of troops, aggregating, according to some estimates, more than a million men, many of whom were not under sufficient discipline, and all of whom were commanded by Tuchuns who paid only the slightest attention to the orders or wishes of the civil authorities, who fought against one another, and, not infrequently, committed acts of violence against persons and property within the regions in which they were stationed. Because of its weakness, the Peking Government for several years had not been able to obtain from the Provinces their normal contributions to the Central Treasury with the result that, deprived of an adequate revenue,

China had been obliged to rely upon loans for its current administrative expenses. Furthermore, the Peking Government, because of a lack of confidence by the Chinese people themselves in its efficiency and stability, had not been able, except in small measure, to obtain these loans from Chinese financial interests, but had been compelled to obtain them from abroad, and under very disadvantageous conditions. Finally, to make matters still worse, just before the convening of the Conference, the Peking Government had been compelled to make default upon certain of its foreign loans.

It is not surprising, therefore, that China came to the Conference with mixed feelings of hope and fear. It hoped for relief from past and existing wrongs by foreign Powers against herself. It feared lest these Powers would take advantage of her undeniable domestic disorder and administrative weakness to take concerted action to impose new restraints upon the autonomous exercise of her administrative powers which would amount to a political receivership, and which, though declared to be temporary in character, might easily prove permanent and thus mark the beginning of the end of China's status as a sovereign and independent nation. Upon this point it will be found that China won a complete victory, for not only were no new limitations imposed upon her by the Powers, but joint declarations by all the other Powers at the Conference were obtained to the effect that they would not take advantage of the existing conditions in China to obtain for themselves special rights, and that China was to have

the fullest and most unembarrassed opportunity to develop and maintain for herself an effective and stable government.

China's Ten Points. The Chinese Delegates early considered among themselves whether it would be the best policy first to bring before the Conference specific proposals for action upon the part of the Powers, and then to endeavor to have adopted certain general principles and policies which it was hoped the Powers might formally adopt for the guidance and control of their future actions in the Far East and especially with reference to China; or whether it would be wiser first to seek the adoption by the Powers of these general principles, and then to bring forward the specific applications which China would desire. It was decided that this latter procedure would be likely to lead to the best result, and, therefore, at the opening of the first meeting of the Committee of the Whole on Pacific and Far Eastern Questions, on November 16, the Chinese Delegation presented what have since been known as China's Ten Points.

This maneuver upon the part of the Chinese Delegation was undoubtedly a wise one, since the result was that, from that time forward, the work of the Committee assumed almost exclusively the character of an examination of the Pacific and Far Eastern situation from the point of view of China. That is, China appeared as the proponent of the matters which were discussed. At the same time this meant that upon the Chinese Delegation was thrown by far the greatest burden of work which any of the Delegations at the Conference had to bear. Fortunately