he Chinese!

How demoralizing this boycott is may be gathered from the way the
foreign press is raging about it. One bitter editorial, entitled, "A
Plain Talk to the Chinese," has this to say:

Boycotts and strikes, in lieu of diplomatic action, are
becoming somewhat of a fad with the Chinese. They have
been practised with impunity and considerable success for
the past fifteen or twenty years.... We wish to impress
upon the Chinese people and Government that these
anti-foreign agitations are becoming somewhat of a
nuisance, and it is high time the foreign powers stepped
in and put a stop to them.... The foreign powers have no
means of getting directly after this handful of agitators,
but they have the means and the power--the will only is
necessary--to hold the Chinese Government responsible, and
to demand satisfaction in full for all losses suffered by
firms and individuals as a result of these organized
boycotts. We wish to warn the Chinese that this boycott
business can be carried out once too often, and it looks
to us that they have just now reached this once-too-often
stage. If the French Government, backed up by the Allies,
demands indemnity for all losses sustained, we will hear
the last of Lao Hsi Kai and all similar affairs in China.
It may be just as well to remind the Chinese Government,
in case they conclude that the Allies are too busy in
Europe to pay serious attention to Chinese affairs, that
the Japanese are one of the Allies, and _their_ hands are
not particularly tied at present.

Good gracious! A threat to call in the Japanese! Don't you love it!

XIII

THE LAO-HSI-KAI "INCIDENT"

It's about over, I should say. The French are going to keep their
ill-gotten gains, and the Chinese are giving up all hope of getting Lao
Hsi Kai back again. The thing has drifted from an "Outrage" into an
"Affair" and now it's only an "Incident," which means it's over. The
boycott continues, but it is dwindling in intensity and will soon
subside. It is now but a question of time before China settles down
to an acceptance of the situation, bows before the might and majesty
of Western civilization, and prepares herself for the next
outcropping of kindred ideals.

You ask, why didn't the Chinese fight? "What with, stupid Gretchen?"
How can a virtually bankrupt nation like China take up arms, which she
doesn't pos