Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/55

Rh whole, is wanting in the case of China, for the scion of an alien race sits upon the throne of the Mings. The vast extent of Chinese territory is in itself a sufficient bar to rapid consolidation, either of interests or of aims; still more must the variety of race and of language war against the rapid evolution of a national movement towards a single goal. The practical man, then, while he does not lose sight of the possibilities of the future, will recognise that he has yet to deal with the present, and in those chapters in which I have attempted to deal with the trade and industry of China I have been careful to restrict myself to an examination of the facts as they are to-day, and to refrain from indulging in what can only be a speculative analysis of a more or less remote future. It is perhaps for this reason that there will not be found in the pages that follow quite so attractive an estimate of the prospects of Chinese trade, or of enterprise in China, as has sometimes been held out by those who have written upon the subject. The disadvantageous conditions under which the renovation of China is being brought