Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 109 (Color Image)

0109	Among the Celestials : vol.1

CHAP. iv.] OUR POLICY. 83

My reply would be that it is not merely for

the sake of the J s. d. that we would strive to

maintain our present position. We should do

so to uphold a principle the principle that,

while we are prepared to respect the rights of

others, we are equally determined to maintain

our own. In India we know perfectly well the

absolute necessity of not giving way on a point

of principle before an Asiatic power. In the

matter of Manchuria we are engaged with

two Asiatic powers, Russia and China, each

of whom it is necessary to treat on precisely

the same lines. Give way an inch before an

Asiatic, and he believes you weak, increases in

bombast, and gives you infinite trouble after-

wards, when you are compelled to make clear

to him your true relative position. Give way

upon a question of our rights in Manchuria

without obtaining some counterbalancing ad-

vantage, and we shall have a compound increase

of difficulties afterwards in maintaining similar

rights, first in North China, and afterwards

in the Yangtse Valley ; for not only will the

Russians have less compunction about infringing

our rights, but they will also be in a better

position for enforcing their demands.

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