A CHINESE EYEWITNESS IN GERMANY BEFORE THE WAR.
[To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR.") Snc,—We know that in dealing with Germany before the war the united wisdom of the British Cabinet was only equal to going quite wrong. Let me contrast with their judgment on the inten- tions of Germany the opinion of a cultured and professionally accomplished Chinese gentleman who is now, and has for long been, an Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements. I refer to the Hon. Dr. Lim Boon Keng. About seven years ago Dr. Lim Boon Keng was visiting relatives in China and took an opportunity to proceed to Peking. While there the Chinese Government utilized his professional knowledge in connexion with the organization of the hospitals, and finally invited him to act on a mission to Germany to represent the Chinese Government at a great International Hygienic Congress that was held in the summer of 1911 at Dresden. Dr. Lim Boon Kong also visited other German cities, including Berlin, Leipzig, Chemnitz, Halle, Hamburg, Bremen, Glogau, Munich, and other places. Naturally many Germans of note were pleased to talk with him, and, being taken for a Chinese official, instead of the loyal British Chinese resident of Singapore that he was, he heard frank opinions that would have been withheld from him if his name had been merely Haldane. In September that year Dr. Lim Boon Keng, being almost stupefied with the outspoken enmity of all sorts and conditions of men directed against Britain, wrote to me a personal letter conveying a warning that, whatever Germany said diplomatically, her actual intention was to be truly derived from the unconcealed opinions of the educated classes. This is his evidence, which was so outspoken that I refrained at the time from publishing any of it, though the war has now removed the strong German element from Singapore, and therefore any pos- sible reason for withholding his views. This is the entire letter, in which it is amusing to note that the severely logical Chinese mind rejects the conclusion that a democracy will ever produce a Government by the best brains Of a nation (in which he is naturally correct; it merely produces an average, which need not be very high) :— " Hotel Hauffe, Leipzig, Sept. 7. 1911.
MY DEAR ST. CLAIR,—This has been an Annus Mirabilis; with feasts, Coronation, strikes, and rumours of war. The Germans are a very serious people; stolid, rather slow and pig-headed sometimee, but always keen for the main chance. The most interesting thing is for the present their hatred of England. As a whole the people seem to desire peace; but whenever you mention England, then every man, woman or child rises up with indignation and scorn, to tell you that England ought to be taught a lesson. The news- papers continue to publish irritating articles attacking France and establishing England as the enemy. The straight talks of English Ministers were of course most resented. Some day England will have to reckon with Germany. This cannot be avoided. Either England must give way or she must destroy the ambition of Germany. Europe cannot have both; either alone must be supreme. The Germans recognize this fact, and if you will compare the growth of the German Navy since 1900 you will realize the real significance of the danger. I think English newspapers do not realize the situation sufficiently. English politicians, till lately, have taken no notice of this Anglophobia, but if there is indication of some future great change in Europe, it must be found in the universal national illwill towards England. Many Germans in society make an effort to avoid speaking English! Some who can speak it well pretend net to know it. The Germane have done well for themselves in the last fifty years and they deserve every praise. It would be a very good thing if we could send men from England to see how they do things here. The rabble have no voice nor authority; hence Science prescribes the policy, while business methods dominate routine. Industry is cropping up everywhere and the people seem very prosperous.—Yours sincerely, Len BOON Kgso."
Concerning the writer of the above letter I have now a literary secret to unfold. One of the most successful books of the 1901 season was The Chinese Crisis from Within, published by Grant Richards; really a rearrangement of a series of articles con- tributed to the Singapore Free Press under my editorship. In a prefatory note to that I wrote this passage :— " The author is a Chinaman, who has had an excellent Western education. For obvious political and personal reasons, his identity is to remain unknown save to myself. The reach of the Manchu knife is long, and it is known that emissaries of the Empress- Dowager came here not long ago in search of Kang Yu Wei him- self, with orders to assassinate him. It is more prudent, then, that these articles, which constitute a powerful indictment of the Manchu Court of Peking and of its chief personages, should appear under an assumed name, Wen Ching' being that chosen by the author."
The Manchu peril has long. disweweared, and, with his consent, I have been permitted to state tar" Wen Ching " is the Hon. Dr. Lim Boon Keng, M.B. and C.M. Edin., Chinese Member of the Straits Legislative Council, Officer of the British Empire, and the public-spirited leader of the patriotic Straits British Chinese com- munity. It would be a fortunate thing for Britain if even a third of the House of Commons had anything approaching to Lim Boon Kong's eloquence, ability, and political sincerity.—I am, Sir, &c., Sports Club, St. James's Square. W. G. ST. Curs.
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