If America is victorious in the Far
East, China will be Americanized, and though the shell of political
freedom may remain, there will be an economic and cultural bondage
beneath it. Russia is not strong enough to dominate in this way, but may
become strong enough to secure some real freedom for China. This,
however, is as yet no more than a possibility. It is worth remembering,
because everybody chooses to forget it, and because, while Russia is
treated as a pariah, no settlement of the Far East can be stable. But
what part Russia is going to play in the affairs of China it is as yet
impossible to say.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 63: On this subject George Gleason, _What Shall I Think of
Japan?_ pp. 174-5, says: "This paragraph concerns the iron and steel
mills at the city of Hanyang, which, with Wuchang and Hangkow, form the
Upper Yangtze commercial centre with a population of 1,500,000 people.
The Hanyeping Company owns a large part of the Tayeh iron mines, eighty
miles east of Hangkow, with which there are water and rail connections.
The ore is 67 per cent. iron, fills the whole of a series of hills 500
feet high, and is sufficient to turn out 1,000,000 tons a year for 700
years. [Probably an overstatement.] Coal for the furnaces is obtained
from Pinghsiang, 200 miles distant by water, where in 1913 five thousand
miners dug 690,000 tons.
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