Revolt in China

To the reader whose knowledge of China is gained largely from newspaper accounts, revolution may well seem to be the chronice condition of that country. The past twenty years have seen a series of military dictators succeed each other in the seat of power only to be ousted in turn by some ambitions subordinate or rival. Out of this chaotic scene Professor Holcombe here tries to isolate the significant incidents and to demonstrate the continuity of development that lies behind them. The book is more than a scholar's reference work, for the facts collected are analyzed and interpreted by a critical mind that is well versed in governmental problems. In his hands the future of China resumes a question of absorbing interest not only for its significance on world politics but also as the story of a people's striggle to lost birth right.

In the political capacity of the Chinege people the author has great confidence. With the tradition of an empire that for centuries was a model of efficiency and well-being far surpassing anything Europe had produced, it is now a question of adapting the old political ideals, to forms more sutable for competition in an industrial age. Force alone cannot hold together a country as wide-spread and as poorly provided with means of transportation as China; a fact amply proved by the failure of any of the generals who have made the bid to establish a secure government during the decades just passed. So the progress of the Revolution has really been the story of a search for a code of political ideals that would win the moral support of the people.

After ill-fated attempts to imitate first the Western parliamentary and then the Communist systems, the present Nanking leaders are in possession of an ideology more adaptable to the needs of the country and which gives promise of making its exponents the agents of the restoration of order and unity to China. It is the work of the late Sun Yat Sen, the revolutionary leader who was able to understand both the past glories and the future problems of China and who mapped out a scheme of national development that is the goal of the Nanking regime. Even the generals that revolt against its authority claim as their motive a greater devotion to the principles of Sun Yat Sen than that possessed by the present rulers, for after twenty years of disorder China is weary of supporting dictatorships with no other justification than military strength.

There is no space here to take up in detail the principles upon which this great patriot founded his scheme of government. They include the introduction of a system of state capitalism, the replacement of the family by the individuals as the responsible unit of the state, and the enforcement of absolute eauality in dealings with foreign nations. Full realization of these ideals may take many years but in time they will succeed in restering China to the position of a world Professor Holcombe concludes on a note of optimism, and no one who reads the closely-reasoned and well substantiated justification for it which forms the body of the book will find it easy to dispute him.