The Sinhalese, natives of Ceylon, while I was in Colombo, addressed a remarkable communication to the Governor-General. They said a hundred years ago there was established in the United States a new theory of government—that there should be no taxation without representation. “Now,” they said, “we ask a share in the government of the island. We pay taxes. You may fix a property qualification and say that no one having less than a thousand pounds sterling shall share in the government. We shall not object. You may also fix an educational qualification. You may say that no one but a college graduate shall take part in the government. We will not object. In short, you may fix any qualification except a racial qualification. That would not be fair.” “And what answer have you to make?” I asked Mr. Crosby Rolles, editor of The Times of Ceylon. “To meet their request,” he replied, “would mean to turn over the government of Ceylon to them at once, because there are 6,000 of them and only 5,000 English men, women and children. We must stop educating them.” What do you think of that for a remedy? Personally. I do not think it will work, any more than I think any rule of arbitrary repression can endure. I cannot bring myself to sympathize altogether with the views expressed by Mr. Roosevelt in his recent Guildhall speech. I take refuge in what seems to me the larger experience and riper judgment of Lord Curzon of Kedleston, who in July, 1904, was also given the freedom of the City of London in Guildhall, and on that occasion used these words: “Depend upon it, you will never rule the East except through the heart, and the moment imagination has gone out of your Asiatic policy your empire will dwindle and decay. “In smug complacency you may close your doors which look toward Asia, while you open wide those which look toward Europe; you may refuse the Oriental admission to your schools, while you accord the privilege to any child of a European; you may pile import duties mountain high, and raise our standards of living to any pitch of extravagance; you may build warships without limit, and you may continue to treat the Asian as legitimate prey. But I am confident that it will not avail. “As a soldier, whether at Omdurman, in the Sudan, or on 203–Metre Hill, at Port Arthur, the man of color has shown himself a right good fighting man; in commerce he has, by his industry, perseverance, ingenuity and frugality, given us pause; and before the eternal throne his temporal and his spiritual welfare are worth as much as yours and mine.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BOOKS _When our readers wish to know where to buy the best books on race and other human problems they should consult this list_: A BOOK ALL INTERESTED IN HUMAN PROBLEMS OUGHT TO READ JOHN BROWN A Biography Fifty Years After