胡适留学日记卷十二三、《晚邮报》论“将来之世界”

卷十二三、《晚邮报》论“将来之世界”

　　（十一月廿五日）

　　十一月十日，纽约《晚邮报》有社论一篇，题曰《将来之世界》。其大意以为世界者，乃世界人之世界，不当由欧美两洲人独私有之。亚洲诸国为世界一部分，不宜歧视之。其最要之语为下录两节：

　　The state of mind against which the new spirit among the peoples in Asia protests is the one which sees the world as made up of two continents only, and which regards a world-settlement as any settlement that regulates matters in these two continents, with a minimum of cutting and trimming here and there in Africa and Asia to make the Western adjustment as smooth as may be. "We shall not falter or pause," said Mr. Asquith yesterday, "until we have secured for the smaller states of Europe their charter of independence, and for Europe itself final emancipation from a reign of force." But radical opinion in India fails to understand why a war fought in Asia as well as in Europe, and one in which the people of India are taking part, should leave Asia out of account in the settlement. There are Indian aspirations as well as Serb and Polish aspirations. Asia is part of the world. Unquestionably, the war will bring about a wider recognition of the true area of the globe, if only through the fact that it has brought together on the battlefield a more extraordinary mingling of races than the Roman armies ever witnessed—from America, from Africa, from Australia, and from Asia, as well as from Europe.

　　It is still true that when we speak of the world-war and of the world as it will look after the war, we think almost exclusively of the nations of the West. What will happen to seven million Belgians, what will happen to less than five million Serbs, is a more entrancing question than what the war will do for more than three hundred million people in India or nearly three hundred and fifty million in China. Where India and China are taken into account, they still figure as mere appendages to Western interests. Will Teuton or Allied influence in China be paramount after the war? How seriously are the German threats against British rule in India to be taken; in other words, will India belong to Great Britain or will it pass under Germanic influences? We admit that Asiatic problems have been brought into closer touch with Western problems, but when we speak of the great settlement after the war, the settlement of Asia hardly enters into the reckoning except as it may enter as an incidental facior in the rearrangement of affairs in Europe.

　　〔中译〕

　　亚洲人持有一种精神，即反对这样一种心态：总以为世界只由两块大陆组成，总把世界之事务当作两个大陆之事务来处理；在处理非洲、亚洲之事务方面，只需作些最低限度之砍削、修补，使之尽可能适应西方之调整运作。阿斯奎斯先生说：“直到欧洲之小国家皆获得独立宪章，直到欧洲最终从强权统治下解放出来，我们才肯罢休，才肯撒手不管。”可是，印度之激进主义者却不明白，为什么在处理战争事务时，不论是亚洲之战争，还是欧洲之战争，甚至于是印度人也参与其中之战争，均把亚洲排除在外。塞尔维亚人有塞尔维亚人之志气；波兰人有波兰人之抱负；同样，印度人也有印度人之渴望。亚洲是世界之一分子。毫无疑问，这场世界战争将在全球范围内引起广泛之重视，我们只要看看下列事实即可明白：许多民族被卷入这场战争，在战场上兵戎相见，其数量之多，种类之杂远远超过古罗马军队所曾经历过的——这些民族有来自美洲的，来自非洲的，来自澳洲的，来自亚洲的，还有自然是来自欧洲的。

　　当我们说到世界大战以及战争所波及到之世界时，我们也同样会将西方各国排除在外。七百万比利时人之命运，近五百万塞尔维亚人之命运，比起三亿多印度人或将近三亿五千万中国人之战争遭遇，将是一个更加令人出神之问题。凡涉及印度和中国事务，他们仍然只是作为西方利益之附加物来考虑。战后，条顿人或协约国在中国之影响还很重要吗？德国反对英国统治印度之态度强烈吗？换言之，印度将属于大不列颠统辖呢？抑或还是在德国势力之庇护下生存呢？尽管我们承认，亚洲问题已与西方问题日益密切，休戚相关，但是，当我们言及战后事务之处理时，很难把亚洲事务纳入统盘考虑之中；除非在对欧洲事务作重新安排时，我们才将亚洲事务作为其附带之因素，而加以一并考虑。

　　余与吾友郑莱及韦女士皆久持此意。今见此邦一最有势之日报创为此论，吾辈之表同意可知也。余连日极忙，然不忍终默，乃于百忙中作一书寄《晚邮报》（书载十一月廿三日报），引申其意。此等孤掌之鸣，明知其无益，而不忍不为也。

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