faith and
assurance in the strength of England and her ultimate
triumph, but since the agitation by shortsighted though
well-meaning people, while some English dailies even
advocate the sending of several Chinese divisions into
Mesopotamia, this confidence has been greatly shaken.

Should China enter the war, it would prove dangerous to
her national life and injurious to the prestige of England
in the Far East. The mere desire to get China to join the
Allies is to Chinese minds a confession of the Allies'
inability to cope with Germany. Just now comes Premier
Tuan's report to the President that the Entente Powers are
coercing China to join the Allies. Already the question
has raised bitter dissensions among our statesmen. Discord
now may evoke anarchism which will arouse the two strong
but perilous elements in China, anti-foreign fanatics and
Mohammedans. Since our revolution, anti-foreign feelings
have been suppressed by us, but anti-foreign spirit lives
and may take advantage of the critical time and rise in
another Boxer movement with general massacre of
foreigners. If war is declared against any country, the
ignorant class cannot distinguish one nation from another,
and consequences would be more fatal to England, owing to
her larger interest in the Orient.

Again, the Mohammedans cannot be overlooked. To fight
against their Holy Land would be a sacrilege.

The worst results of anarchism in China, I fear, would be
dissension among the Entente Group, which would surely
mean disaster to the Entente cause. Under such conditions
and at this critical juncture, China cannot be expected to
do otherwise than maintain strict neutrality.

My motive for calling your Excellency's attention to this
injurious agitation is actuated not purely by the desire
to preserve China from anarchy and dissolution, but
prompted by my warmest sympathy for a country whose
interest I have deeply at heart, and whose integrity and
fair name I have every reason to uphold and honor.

SUN YAT SEN.

IX

THE GERMAN REPLY

The German Government has sent a reply to China's protest, a most
conciliatory note, saying that it is extremely sorry to hear that
China's shipping has suffered so greatly through the submarine warfare,
and that if China