Page:Stanley Kuhl Hornbeck - The Situation in China (1927).djvu/24

 indicate that the work of the Propaganda Bureau of the Left Wing is creating—or has created—an instrument of terror which, unless suppressed, must inevitably alienate the moderately and conservatively minded elements among both Chinese and foreign sympathizers with the Nationalist cause.

What may happen next within China, what may happen as between the foreign Powers and China, how long it may be before a stable central government is evolved in China, what may be the character of that government and who its head, time only will reveal. In considering China's past, present and future, it is necessary at all times to take into consideration the size of the country and the enormous number of the population. China is changing neither very rapidly nor very slowly. Her mass is such that she can sustain no rapid acceleration and no rapid diminution of speed. The one thing that is certain is that she is no longer travelling in the orbit which marked her course during many centuries. She has diverged from that line. She is changing. She will have to undergo much change before a new stability is reached. Mere impatience on the part either of her own people or of foreigners will achieve nothing. Patience on the part of both, constructive effort on the part of the Chinese themselves and demonstrated willingness to assist on the part of foreigners are the only factors which may serve to shorten the period of turmoil and readjustment through which, like it or not, China must go and the world must watch her go.