胡適留學日記卷十二三、《晚郵報》論「將來之世界」

卷十二三、《晚郵報》論「將來之世界」

　　（十一月廿五日）

　　十一月十日，紐約《晚郵報》有社論一篇，題曰《將來之世界》。其大意以為世界者，乃世界人之世界，不當由歐美兩洲人獨私有之。亞洲諸國為世界一部分，不宜歧視之。其最要之語為下錄兩節：

　　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.

　　〔中譯〕

　　亞洲人持有一種精神，即反對這樣一種心態：總以為世界只由兩塊大陸組成，總把世界之事務當作兩個大陸之事務來處理；在處理非洲、亞洲之事務方面，只需作些最低限度之砍削、修補，使之盡可能適應西方之調整運作。阿斯奎斯先生說：「直到歐洲之小國家皆獲得獨立憲章，直到歐洲最終從強權統治下解放出來，我們才肯罷休，才肯撒手不管。」可是，印度之激進主義者卻不明白，為什麼在處理戰爭事務時，不論是亞洲之戰爭，還是歐洲之戰爭，甚至於是印度人也參與其中之戰爭，均把亞洲排除在外。塞爾維亞人有塞爾維亞人之志氣；波蘭人有波蘭人之抱負；同樣，印度人也有印度人之渴望。亞洲是世界之一分子。毫無疑問，這場世界戰爭將在全球範圍內引起廣泛之重視，我們只要看看下列事實即可明白：許多民族被捲入這場戰爭，在戰場上兵戎相見，其數量之多，種類之雜遠遠超過古羅馬軍隊所曾經歷過的——這些民族有來自美洲的，來自非洲的，來自澳洲的，來自亞洲的，還有自然是來自歐洲的。

　　當我們說到世界大戰以及戰爭所波及到之世界時，我們也同樣會將西方各國排除在外。七百萬比利時人之命運，近五百萬塞爾維亞人之命運，比起三億多印度人或將近三億五千萬中國人之戰爭遭遇，將是一個更加令人出神之問題。凡涉及印度和中國事務，他們仍然只是作為西方利益之附加物來考慮。戰後，條頓人或協約國在中國之影響還很重要嗎？德國反對英國統治印度之態度強烈嗎？換言之，印度將屬大不列顛統轄呢？抑或還是在德國勢力之庇護下生存呢？儘管我們承認，亞洲問題已與西方問題日益密切，休戚相關，但是，當我們言及戰後事務之處理時，很難把亞洲事務納入統盤考慮之中；除非在對歐洲事務作重新安排時，我們才將亞洲事務作為其附帶之因素，而加以一併考慮。

　　余與吾友鄭萊及韋女士皆久持此意。今見此邦一最有勢之日報創為此論，吾輩之表同意可知也。余連日極忙，然不忍終默，乃於百忙中作一書寄《晚郵報》（書載十一月廿三日報），引申其意。此等孤掌之鳴，明知其無益，而不忍不為也。

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