胡适留学日记卷九一〇、投书的影响

卷九一〇、投书的影响

　　（三月一日）

　　SUH HU SPEAKS UP

　　Perhaps on Thomas Carlyle's good old theory that every man needs a master, some Western theorists are arguing that the solution of the Far Eastern Question lies in placing upon Japan the responsible and effective direction of Chinese affairs. Japan herself takes this view, it seems, but it is not enthusiastically indorsed by the government at Washington and it will not harden into reality without serious remonstrance.

　　Suh Hu, writing from Ithaca, where we imagine him to be an active member of the Cornell Cosmopolitan Club, does not agree, either. He declares that in this twentieth century "no nation can ever hope peacefully to rule over or to interfere with the internal administrative affairs of another nation, however beneficial that rule or that interference may be." That is a sweeping assertion, demanding present modification in several cases. But China has developed an active and progressive consciousness. Suh Hu is right when he says that the establishment of the American republic was not accomplished by an instantaneous fiat; and as a matter of fact he believes that the Chinese republic is getting along as well as the American republic was doing at the Critical Period, described by the late John Fiske.

　　"Mexico," concludes Suh Hu, "has the right to revolution. China has the right to her own development." There is some room for argument as regards the first part of that declaration; none whatever with regard to the second. A Japanese attempt to assume charge of China will result in a sea of trouble; and we hope Japan has statesmen who can see it.

　　〔中译〕

　　胡适之高论

　　也许是受了托马斯·客莱尔妙言旧论之影响，认为人需要主宰者。于是，一些西方理论家正在争论，远东问题之解决在于使日本担负起有效管理中国事务之责任。看来，日本自己也如此认为。然华盛顿政府对此议并没有表示热烈的赞同。如果没有经过认真的规劝，此议颇难实现。

　　胡适从绮色佳写信来表示也不赞成此议。我们猜想他可能是康乃耳世界学生会的一名积极分子。他宣称，在此二十世纪，“任何国家皆不该抱有统治他国或干涉别国内政之指望，不管该统治或该干涉如何有益”。此断言不容置疑，只在某些情况下尚需稍加修正。但中国已经具有了积极的、进步的国民之觉醒。胡适说得不错，美利坚合众国之建立不是单凭一项法令一蹴而就的。他还认为，事实上，中华民国之建立绝不亚于已故的约翰·菲斯克所描述的当时美利坚合众国之建立。

　　胡适推论道：“墨西哥有权革命，中国也有权利来决定自己的发展。”这句话的前半句尚有讨论之余地，而后半句则是毫无疑义的。日本企图控制中国，其结局必定是引火烧身；我们希望日本能有有识之政治家看到这一点。

　　吾所投The New Republic之书，乃为Syracuse Post-Standard引作社论，则吾书未尝无影响也。

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