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THE CHINA
CRITIC
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March 13, 1930
March 13, 1930
THE CHINA CRITIC
259
93
RACE
BOOK REVIEW Edited by Quentin Pan
AND POPULATION PROB- LEMS. By H. G. Duncan.
XV and 424 pp. New York: Longmans, Green and Co. 1929.
quantitative
This book forms one of the Long- mans' Social Science Series under the general editorship of Professor Ernest R. Groves. It is designed as a general introduction to population problems, both in their qualitative and aspects. As a textbook it differs from others in that it contains a great many quotations and citations from various au- thorities in the field, as the author has tried to make it serve at the same time as a book of readings. We see here the last stage of the process of the simplica- tion of supplementary reading ma- terials, for which the average Amer- ican
college student cannot but feel thankful. Knowledge is nowadays ob- tainable in increasingly handy and digestible doses. Let up hope there is
in appreciable loss
flavor and piquancy which goes with original and deliberate search.
no
The text is in two books, the first hav- ing to do with the problem of races, and the second with the problem of numbers. While on the whole the au- thor presents a quite balanced panoramic view of the whole field of population problems, the second book appears to be much better written. One of the rea- sons for this is that the qualitative prob- lem has been approached in recent years from many more angles than the quantitative, and there is much less agreement as to some of its major issues. As one of the weaknesses we may mention our author's failure to dis- tinguish between race as "stirps" which involves valulation and race as a taxo- monical term which is merely descriptive. The failure is quite common, it is also found in Professor Hankin's Racial Basis of Civilization, but is quite serious as it tends strongly to becloud the issues involved. The racialist eugenist owes the untenability of his position almost entirely to his inability to make this distinction. A better outline of the volume would be Book I, The Problem of Races, Book II. The Problem of Quality, and Book III, The Problem of Numbers.
Another weakness appears to be our author's inability to be really impartial between
rival schools any two
of thought. This weakness is of course well-nigh universal. While the author "has striven to refrain from injecting his own conclusions," his inclination to- wards some particular viewpoint or school of thought is often quite obvious from the way he sifts his reference ma- terials and the varying emphasis which
he puts upon them, usually through the use of italics. Our author starts one of the chapters saying, "We have no intention of minimizing the importance of the social environment, but it is well to remember........." But he concludes the same chapter with a passage from Jennings, the very last sentence of which he has taken pains to italicise: "And the way they (the hereditary units call- ed genes) interact and what they pro- duce depends on the conditions." SJ our author appears to be at heart an environmentalist. Similarly he appears to be a racial egalitarian, and tend to minimize racial differences. While he speaks disdainfully of the racialists, he himself has not hesitated to refer to the Mexican as "a more slothful and less progressive group" than the Americans, the Chinese as "non-assuming," and the Japanese as "efficient," nor has he been słow in
Smith's adopting Professor Tentative Scheme of the Relationships of the Different Genera, Species, and Races of the Human Family, which makes the Nordic Race the latest de- velopment of the trunk and all other races earlier developed branches from the trunk.
respectable
That in the discussion of monogenism versus polygenism and of the produc tion of genius, Crookshank and Redfield should have occupied as places as most other authorities, and this in an introductory textbook, is a big surprise to us, We also wonder why in the discussion of mental differences between races, Profesor Porteus' contri- butions which are based upon quantita- tive measurements and upon a method of testing which obviated the use of language, are not even alluded to.
As minor mistakes, we may mention that the three teeth of the Java Man were not all discovered by Dubois in 1891-2.
One of the three came to light
a few years later as a result of the expedition sent out by Madame Selenka. Polydactylism, brachydactylism and the "sex-linked disease, color-blindness" are by this time fairly well established to be Mendelian traits, and not "thought by a few" to be such. Students in heredity usually do not call such traits as color-blindness "diseases," And in calling such traits "sex-linked," author has himself implied something more than what is strictly Mendelian.
The volume has more typographical errors than one would normally expect from American publishers.
One error is perhaps serious, as it appears more than once; we refer to Professor H. F. Osborn being misspelt "Osborne""" page 143.
our
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Inspite of all this, we do not hesitate to recommend this volume as a good textbook for a term course in Race and Population Problems, provided of course the teacher knows how to make good some of the drawbacks we have men- tioned. For Chinese colleges and uni-
versities which are not equipped with good reference library the volume will prove particularly useful, as it is in part a book of readings, containing as many as "some 650 quotations and cita- tions" which "present the major as wel! as some of the minor contributions to the field."
Q. P.
OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
THE RAILWAY ENTERPRISE UNDER THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT LA Brief History of the Ministry of Railways
Dr. Sun Yat-sen said "Transportation is the key to Industries and Railway the key to Transportation." Verily the Rail- way is the fundamental instrument of transportation and therefore the founda- tion of industrial development. That is why Dr. Sun Yat-sen advocated, at the very beginning of the Republic, the con- struction of a 100,000-mile railway net- work. His advocation has taught us that without executing the Railway policy, material construction in China will be impossible.
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The National Government, acting on Dr. Sun's instruction, established November 1st, 1928 under the Executive Yuan the Ministry of Railways to take charge of the Railways in the Country and to consummate Dr. Sun's plan. Mr. Sun Fo was appointed Minister; Messrs. Lien Sing-hai and Wang Cheng were ap- pointed Political and Administrative Vice- Ministers respectively. On the day of the Ministry's inauguration, it consisted, as provided in the Organic Law pro- mulgated by the National Government, four departments, namely, the Depart- ment of General Affairs, the Department of Railways Administration, the Finance Department and the Department of Plan- ning and Construction with Messrs, Chen Yen Chun, J. K. Choy, Wang Cheng and Y. S. Chun as Directors of the respective departments. Messrs. C. S. Liu, T. C. Yen, Kuan Keng Lin and J. Usang Ly were appointed Counsellors.
Having taken over from the Ministry of Communications all duties pertaining to Railways, the Chiaotung University in Shanghai, the Civil Engineering College in Tangshan, the College of Railway Ad- ministration in Peking and a chain of Railway Middle and Primary Schools es- tablished in the various Railway Centers for the education of the children of Rail- way employees; the Ministry set to work, Minister Sun Fo introduced in the Central Political Council of the Kuo- mintang two Administrative Policies; i.e. the Centralization of Railway Adminis- tration and the Independence of Railway Accounting System. Having passed
these resolutions, the Central Political Council ordered the Ministries of War and Railways to execute these policies in full. The Railway enterprise in China began a new life.
On account of the lack of Railway ex- perts in Chim, Dr. J. A. L. Waddell was retained as Consulting Engineer, Mr. J. J. Mantell as Adviser on Railway Man- agement, Mr. R. S. Norman as Legal Adviser and Mr. Wm. B. Poland as finan cial Adviser to the Ministry.
For the sake of facilitating business transaction, an office of the Ministry was established at Shanghai with Mr. Tieh- sun Chen as Director.
So much for organization let us now come to the administration of the various Railways.
Since Nanking became the National Capital, the political and economic im- portance of the Nanking-Shanghai and the Shanghai-Hangchow-Ningpo Rail- ways has gradually grown. Mr. J. K. Choy was appointed to concurrently take charge of these administrations.
The Peiping-Mukden and Peiping- Suiyuan Railways, being trunk lines of the North-East, have suffered great damages from internal strife of late. They urgently need rehabilitation. Mr. Wang Cheng was appointed to currently take charge of them.
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The Lunghai and the Tatung-Chengtu Railways were formerly administered by Directorates-General. Upon the recom mendation of the Ministry, the Executive Yuan abolished the above mentioned offices so that the administration of these Railways would be under one head in- stead of two.
The settlement of the Tsinan Incident called for reorganization of the Kiao- Tsi Railway Consequently the Kiao-Tsi Railway Mhaging Commission was es- tablished with Dr. T. C. Yen as Chair- man of the Commission.
Later with its head office removed to Peiping, the Hankow-Peining Railway was renamed as Peiping-Hankow Rail- way. Mr. W. T. Liu was appointed Man- aging Director.
Messrs. Pan Ting-hsien, Sun Ho-kao and Faung Ta-chih were appointed Man- aging Directors of the Peiping-Suiyuan, the Tientsin-Pukow Railways and tho Hunan-Hupei Section of the Canton- Hankow Railway respectively.
Then three Railways in Kwangtung came under the actual control of the Ministry. The Canton-Samsui Railway was amalgamated into the Canton-Han- kow Railway with Mr. Chen Yin Wen as Managing Director, while Mr. Liu Chiu-ko was made Managing Director of the Canton-Kowloon Railway.
Upon the request of the Kianesi Pro- vincial Government, the Ministry took
over the administration of the Nan- chang-Kiukiang Railway. Mr. Kung Hsueh Shui was appointed Managing Director.
After the inauguration of the Ministry, the Ministry of Communications, acting on the order of the State Council trans- ferred to the Ministry of Railways all duties pertaining to National Highways. A National fighway Planning Commis- sion was organized with three Comis- sioners appointed by the Ministry and one representative from each of the Provincial Construction Departments and Mr. Y. S. Chun as Chairman. It com- pleted its task of planning in three months.
The Ministry of Communications also handed over its European office at Paris which served as an organ to arrange for international through traffic. Upon tak- ing charge of this office, the Ministry appointed Mr. K. Y. Woo as Director and concurrently as Delegate to the International Railway Union representing the Peiping-Liaoning, the Peiping-Han- kow and the Tientsin-Pukow Railways.
For the classification of goods and the determination of tariffs, the Advisory Committee on Fares, Rates and Class- ification of Goods was appointed with the Director of the Department of Railway Administration as Chairman of the Committee.
In order to unify the accounting and statistical systems of the various Rail- ways, the Advisory Committee on the Unification of Railway Accounts and Statistics was appointed with the Direc- tor of the Finance Department as Chair-
man.
An Editorial Committee on Railway Rules and Regulations was also appoint- ed. Vice-Minister Lien Sing-hai serves as Chairman.
To eliminate corruption in the purchas- ing of Railway materials, a purchasing Commission, a Commission on Selection of Tenders and a Commission on Inspec- tion of Purchased Materials were or- ganized. Later, the three Commissions were amalgamated into the Purchasing Commission with Messrs. Hu Chi-hsien, Tiehsan Chen and Chen Chiu An as mem- bers of the Standing Committee. Three Sub-committees were appointed to Pei- ping, Hankow and Canton.
For the training of qualified person- nel for Railway Service, the improvement of the existing Railway Schools and the education of the low grade staff and laborers now in active service, the Com- mittee on Railway Education was or. ganized with at first. Mr. Y. S. Chun and later Mr. Kuan Keng Lin as Chairman.
More than fifty years have elapsed since Chinn first adopted modern means of communication, but no complete and reliable record of the History of Com-
munications is available. Since the or- ganization of a Committee to compile a history of communications under the auspices of the Bureau of Compilation and Translation in the defunct Peking Government in 1922, the history has not been completed although several changes had already taken place. The Ministry, in cooperation with the Ministry of Com- munications, organized the Committee for Compiling the History of Communica- tions with Mr. Kuan Keng Lin as Chair- man and Mr. Chang Hsin Cheng, a divi- sion chier of the Ministry of Communica- tions, as Editor-in-Chief.
In last September Vice-Minister Wang Cheng resigned cn account of poor health. Mr. J. Usang Ly was appointed to succeed him. Meanwhile Mr. Hu Chi- hsien was appointed Director of the Finance Department, Dr. T. C. Yen was transferred to be Chief Technical Expert. Messrs. Liang Han Chau, F. K. Sah and Dr. King Cheng-yang were appointed Counsellors.
Not long after, Mr. J. K. Choy was sent to Europe to study Railway condi- tions and problems. Mr. F. K. Sah was made acting Director of the Department of Railway Administration and Mr. Hu Chi-hsien was appointed to concurrently take charge of the Administration of the Nanking-Shanghai and Shanghai-Hang- chow-Ningpo Railways,
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The Peiping-Mukden Railways was renamed as Peiping-Liaoning Railway with Mr. Kao Chi Yi appointed Managing Director. The unification of administration in the Peiping-Liaoning Railway was effected.
For one year after the establishment of the Ministry, no serious change in organization took place. But being new- ly established the division of duties in- side the Ministry worked more or less on a trial basis. As the Ministry goes on experience calls for reorganization. Therefore, on the 18th of last November, the National Government promulgated the revised Organic Law of the Ministry. In the new organization the Ministry is composed of the following departments and bureaus:-
1. The Counsellors' Office. 2. The Secretariat.
3. The "epartment of General Affairs, with Mr. Chen Yen Chun as Director. 4. The Department of Traffic ari Operation with Mr. Kuan Keng Lin as Acting Director.
5. The Finance Department with Mr.
Hu Chi-hsien as Director.
6. The Engineering Department with
Mr. F. K. Sah as Director.
7. The Railway Through Traffic Ad- ministration with Mr. Kuan Keng Lin as Acting Director.
8. The Bureau of Statistics with Mr.
F. K. Mok as Director.
9. The Railway Health Service with
Dr. S. M. Woo as Director.
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