242 Tibet and Turkestan
Younghusband expedition, will serve Russia admirably, as authorizing the easy conquest of Chinese Turkestan. For such is the accepted code of balances generally adopted by the nations who believe themselves commissioned to benevolently assimilate certain other nations. Indeed, except for her present preoccupation in another part of the Chinese Empire, the consular guard might at any moment be put to the easy task of seizing the reins of government now in the hands of the quiet, dignified, philosophical Chinese officials, who, alas ! have somewhat outgrown that simple faith in Force which
controls the policies of Christian nations. The easy-
going Turki people, natives of the soil, accustomed to be mastered, will doubtless be indifferent to the change, perhaps even hopeful. Already they feel that the Russian Consul-General largely influences the acts of the Chinese Taotai.
"Recognizing then that the status quo is now being rudely shaken in Thibet, and may at any time be destroyed in Turkestan, let us note that in both cases there will result a partial disintegration of the Chinese Empire, for whose integrity the world may well be concerned. In neither case is the territory now considered a part of any of the eighteen provinces constituting China proper, but in one case the administration of all public affairs is directly in the hands of men named in Peking, and in the other the suzerainty of China is distinctly recognized in the presence of three Ambans residing in Lhassa and exercising preponderating influence in all important matters. If, however, the encroachments from this direction could be guaranteed to be arrested at the frontier, separating China proper from Turkestan on the one hand, and Thibet on the other, the world-at-large—wisely shirking the moral questions, because all have sinned alike—might be content to exhibit only the interest of curiosity
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