sess, against the mighty nations of Europe? Defenseless,
unarmed China is no match for the "civilization" of the West!

A few nights ago I got a French point of view of the affair, and will
give it to you just as I heard it, without comment. One of the
attaches of the French legation was dining with us. This Lao Hsi Kai
business, which has been uppermost in every one's thoughts for the
last four weeks, was naturally in our minds as we sat down at dinner.
Not to mention it would have savored of constraint; yet it was equally
embarrassing to speak of it. After ten or fifteen minutes, during
which the subject was carefully avoided, I took the bull by the horns.

"Seems to me you've stirred up a great mess out here," I began.

"Mess?" replied the young Frenchman. "Oh, you mean that affair of the
other day! Ah, these Chinese! Perfectly impossible people!"

He crumbled his bread a while, and then continued with much heat.

"For fourteen years," he burst out, "we have been wanting that piece of
land, and asking for it! Asked them for it fourteen years ago! Told them
fourteen years ago that we wanted it!

"And what did they do?" he went on irritably. "What did they do but
procrastinate, knowing we wanted it! Put us off. Postponed a decision.
Practically refused to give it to us, knowing we wanted it! Other things
came up in the meantime, so we did not press them, and the matter
dropped for a number of years. However, we took it up again in 1914, two
years ago. It was the same thing--procrastination: delay; no positive
answer. Then we pressed them a little harder. What did they do? Asked
for more time to think it over, more time after all these years, knowing
we wanted it! Knowing that we had asked for it fourteen years ago, as
far back as 1902! Knowing that we had asked for it as far back as 1902,
they still had the audacity to ask for more time to think it over!

"However," he resumed, "we gave them more time. They asked for a year.
We gave them a year. When the year was up, they asked for six months.
We gave them six months. When the six months were up, they asked for
three months. We gave them three months. We were most reasonable and
patient. When the three months were up, they asked for one month. We had
infinite patience. When the one month was up, they asked for two weeks.
We gave them two weeks. We had infinite forbearance. Think of it!
Naturally, at the end of two weeks, when they still had not made up
their mind