iters and so-called authorities.

For my part I can only claim a laborious and painstaking effort to get
the facts. Letters of introduction to eminent Englishmen kindly
furnished me by Ambassador Bryce opened the doors of British
officialdom for me, and the friendship of Mr. Roosevelt and letters
from Mr. Bryan and our Department of State proved helpful in other
ways. I thus had the good fortune not only to get the ready fraternal
assistance of my brother newspaper men (of all races) everywhere, and
the help of English, German, and American consuls, but I was aided by
some of the most eminent authorities in each country visited--in
China, by H. E. Tang Shao-yi, Wu Ting Fang, Sir Robert Bredon, Dr. C.
D. Tenney, Dr. Timothy Richard; in Japan, by ex-Premier Okuma,
Viscount Kaneko, Baron Shibusawa, Dr. Juichi Soyeda; in Hong Kong, by
Governor-General Sir Frederick Lugard; in Manila by Governor-General
Forbes, Vice-Governor Gilbert; in India, the members of the Viceroy's
Cabinet, Hon. Krishnaswami Iyer, Dr. J. P. Jones, etc, etc. To all of
these and to scores of others, my grateful acknowledgments are
tendered. They helped me get information, but of course are in no case
to be held responsible for any opinions that I have expressed.

To Mr. G. D. Adams, of Akron, Ohio, and Dr. Arthur {ix} Mez, of
Mannheim, Germany, two generous fellow-travellers, my thanks are due
for the use of many of their photographs, and I am also indebted to
_The World's Work_ and _The Review of Reviews_ for permission to
republish articles that have already appeared in these magazines. The
larger number of chapters included in this volume, however, were
originally prepared with a view to their use in my own paper, The
Progressive Farmer. They are, therefore, often more elementary in
character, let me say in the outset, than if they had been written
exclusively for bookbuyers, but it is my hope that their journalistic
flavor, even if it has this disadvantage, will also be found to have
certain compensating qualities.

Perhaps just one other thing ought to be said: that practically every
article about any country was written while I was still in the country
described. In this way I hoped not only to write with greater
freshness and vividness, but I was enabled to have my articles revised
and criticised by friends well informed concerning the subjects
discussed. The reader will please bear in mind, therefore, that a
letter about Tokyo is also a lette