o Parliament can rightly be termed incompetent when it has the support
of an entire people, when it recognizes its own limitations, and when
its members are willing to undergo great sacrifices for their nation's
dignity and sovereign rights....

"As to the Persian people themselves, it is difficult to generalize. The
great mass of the population is composed of peasants and tribesmen, all
densely ignorant. On the other hand, many thousands have been educated
abroad, or have travelled after completing their education at home.
They, or at least certain elements among them which had had the support
of the masses, proved their capacity to assimilate Western civilization
and ideals. They changed despotism into democracy in the face of untold
obstacles. Opportunities were equalized to such a degree that any man of
ability could occupy the highest official posts. As a race they showed
during the past five years an unparalleled eagerness for education.
Hundreds of schools were established during the Constitutional regime. A
remarkable free press sprang up overnight, and fearless writers came
forward to denounce injustice and tyranny whether from within their
country or without. The Persians were anxious to adopt wholesale the
political, ethical, and business codes of the most modern and
progressive nations. They burned with that same spirit of Asiatic unrest
which pervades India, which produced the 'Young-Turk' movement, and
which has more recently manifested itself in the establishment of the
Chinese Republic."[133]

Mr. Shuster concludes: "Kipling has intimated that you cannot hustle the
East. This includes a warning and a reflection. Western men and Western
ideals _can_ hustle the East, provided the Orientals realize that they
are being carried along lines reasonably beneficial to themselves. As a
matter of fact, the moral appeal and the appeal of race-pride and
patriotism, are as strong in the East as in the West, though it does not
lie so near the surface, and naturally the Oriental displays no great
desire to be hustled when it is along lines beneficial only to the
Westerner."[134]

Indeed, many Western liberals believe that European rule, however
benevolent and efficient, will never prepare the Eastern peoples for
true self-government; and that the only way they will learn is by trying
it out themselves. This view-point is admirably stated by the well-known
British publicist Lionel Curtis. Speaking of India, Mr. Curtis