days under the Articles of Confederation. The Chinese Revolution occurred in October, 1911. Three years have hardly passed since the formation of the republic. Can we yet say, O ye of little faith! That "China as a progressive state has been tried and found wanting," and that "she is incapable of developing herself"?
I sincerely believe with President Wilson that every people has the right to determine its own form of government. Every nation has the right to be left alone to work out its own salvation. Mexico has the right to revolution. China has her right to her own development.
Ithaca, N. Y., Feb. 27.
主笔先生：
余拜读了贵刊二月六日所刊署名“一位中国朋友”的来信，甚感兴趣。余对该作者之乐观主义深表赞同，即认为“目前形势之发展必将有利于各有关方面”，然而，对其所提出的实现乐观主义梦想之方法，则不敢苟同。该君似乎主张：解决远东问题之关键，在于日本对中国事务之管理是否负责、有效。依在下之愚见，这不是解决问题的根本方法。
这位“中国朋友”似已忘记这样一个重要事实：吾辈正生活于一国民觉醒之时代。该君甚至也已忘记，就连菲律宾也不甘受制于美国之“有益”统治。在二十世纪之今日，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。中国国民之觉醒意味着满洲统治之结束，余深信，对任何外来之统治或“管理”，国人定将忿懑不已。
更有甚者，贵刊记者对于中国国民自治和自我发展能力之估计偏执一端。该君指责说：“有人把共和国视作东方复兴之例证，事实上该共和国是注定要惨遭失败的……以一先进国家之标准来衡量中国，是完全不够格的。她不具备自我发展之能力。”然余亦要提醒该君，像中国这样一个泱泱大国，其改革决不会是一蹴而就的。奉劝他多读一些书，譬如约翰·菲斯克的《美国历史的关键时刻》，如此他便会明白：即便是像美国这样一个共和国，也不是单凭一项突然颁布的、神奇般的法令即可建成。试想一想，美利坚合众国在沮丧的十三州邦联宪法时期，其遭受之重创则比中华民国所遭受的更甚。辛亥革命发生于公元1911年10月，创立共和国至今还不足三载，岂能说已决无希望！岂能说“以一先进国家之标准来衡量中国，是完全不够格的”？又岂能说“中国不具备自我发展之能力”？
余完全信奉威尔逊总统所言：各国人民皆有权利决定自己治国之形式，也唯有各国自己才有权利决定自救之方式。墨西哥有权革命，中国也有权利来决定自己的发展。
胡适 纽约，绮色佳，2月27日
Dear Sir:
Permit me to say a few words concerning your editorial on which appeared on Feb. 24, 1915. As your editorial was largely based udon a letter to from a man who signs himself "A Friend of China", I beg to enclose a letter in which I have endeavored to show the fallacies in his arguments. In my humble judgment, correspondent can not be a true "friend of China", nor can he be "an expert in Eastern affairs", as seems to think.
As one who comes from among the Chinese people and who knows their inspirations and aspirations, I declare most emphatically that any attempt to bring about a Japanese domina
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