[Footnote 30: _The Times_ of November 26, 1921, had a leading article on
Mr. Wellington Koo's suggestion, at Washington, that China ought to be
allowed to recover fiscal autonomy as regards the tariff. Mr. Koo did
not deal with the Customs _administration_, nevertheless _The Times_
assumed that his purpose was to get the administration into the hands of
the Chinese on account of the opportunities of lucrative corruption
which it would afford. I wrote to _The Times_ pointing out that they had
confused the administration with the tariff, and that Mr. Koo was
dealing only with the tariff. In view of the fact that they did not
print either my letter or any other to the same effect, are we to
conclude that their misrepresentation was deliberate and intentional?]




CHAPTER IV

MODERN CHINA


The position of China among the nations of the world is quite peculiar,
because in population and potential strength China is the greatest
nation in the world, while in actual strength at the moment it is one of
the least. The international problems raised by this situation have been
brought into the forefront of world-politics by the Washington
Conference. What settlement, if any, will ultimately be arrived at, it
is as yet impossible to foresee. There are, however, certain broad facts
and principles which no wise solution can ignore, for which I shall try
to give the evidence in the course of the following chapters, but which
it may be as well to state briefly at the outset. First, the Chinese,