The China Story. by Freda UtleyReview by: Scott D. JohnstonThe Far Eastern Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3 (May, 1952), pp. 389-390Published by: Association for Asian StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2049581 .

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BOOK REVIEWS 389

of the religious systems are not systematically explored (e.g. the role of Con- fucianism as a keystone in the balance of power and responsibility in the Chinese family and hence in Chinese society as a whole). Nevertheless the work undoubtedly represents an absolutely first rate attempt to utilize ma- terials on China for comparative purposes in seeking to answer a specific empirical question. In the course of doing this Weber also contributed signally to the field of sinology, for certainly in his day no one else would have called attention as he did to the implications of many of these aspects of Chinese society for one another. Furthermore these things that Weber called to our at- tention have not lost their significance for practical problems. Whoever at- tempts to industrialize China-whether communist or not-will have to reckon with all those social factors that Weber claimed gave China simultaneously on the one hand at least as favorable a basis for the development of rational bu- reaucratic capitalism as existed in pre-Reformation Europe and yet on the other hand inhibited or failed to stimulate such a development.

MARION J. LEVY, JR. Princeton University

The China Story. By FREDA UTLEY. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1951. xiii, 274 p. $3.50.

Freda Utley in this work has obviously put forth a volume of special plead- ing. Her goal is to prove that Nationalist China was sold down the river by a conspiracy entered into by "Communist sympathizers," "dupes," and various misguided "liberals" of the professorial or newspaper variety. Starting with "Milestones on the Road to Korea," the book purports to show how China was lost. Succeeding chapters describe how Communists "captured" diplomats and the public. Special attention is given to Senator McCarthy, who is embraced for his forays in such passages as the following: "It was probably necessary to paint a terrifying picture on a large canvas without much attention to detail or fine shading, if at long last the American people were to be stirred out of their apathy concerning treason in high places." The "case" of Owen Latti- more is reviewed, and when accounts are added up they are supposed to prove that China was delivered to the Communists with the blessings of the Admin- istration. Throughout The China Story individuals and sources of information are impugned when they contradict the truth as Miss Utley proclaims it. Guilt by association is the rule, with some very strained examples turning up. After declaring that Communist sympathizers had little difficulty in getting past the government Loyalty Review Board headed by Seth Richardson, a Republican, Miss Utley then informs the reader that Richardson is a law partner of Joseph Davies, former Ambassador to Moscow and author of Mission to Moscow!

"Facts" and "evidence" are marshalled which are frequently of a very tenuous nature or are taken out of context. One of the "proofs" against Latti- more was his part in Henry Wallace's 1944 China trip, "following which Wal- lace recommended that we back the Communists." The Wallace report which

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390 FAR EASTERN QUARTERLY

has been released, together with additional testimony, demonstrates that Miss Utley's "evidence" was considerably less than satisfactory in this situation. In her conclusion she states that "Great men admit their errors and seek to rectify them even at the cost of tarnishing their reputations." The reviewer, not having heard any such admissions of error from Miss Utley and associates since the publication of the Wallace report or the testimony of Joseph Alsop, must conclude that this dictum operates only in one direction.

It is difficult to understand a book on The China Story which regards dis- cussion of the internal character of the Nationalist regime as begging the question, or maintains that space does not allow examining in detail the causes for the decline and fall of that regime. Nevertheless, this volume has signifi- cance in that it represents a position which has received great publicity and exercises influence. There are aspects of American Far Eastern policy which deserve criticism, frequently severe. Mistakes have been made. Unfortunately, however, the type of closed system of thought within which Freda Utley oper- ates can hardly be of great help. Dissenters are "dupes" or worse; wells of information are poisoned; the die is irrevocably cast. As long as this type of attack continues it will probably be impossible to have a really intelligent public discussion of China policy.

SCOTT D. JOHNSTON Hamline University

Agricultural Resources of China. By T. H. SHEN. New York: Cornell University Press, 1951. xvii, 407 p. Appendix Tables, Index. $5.00.

Plans and programs for agricultural improvement and rural reconstruction in China have been fairly numerous during recent decades, but, of those actually tried out, only a few have been successful. Dr. T. H. Shen holds that this is "partially due to the insufficient comprehension of China's national agricul- tural resources and their relations to the natural and economic background." He, with the assistance of associates at the National Agricultural Research Bureau of which he was former director, sets out to present "some organized thoughts" that may "pave the way for the planning of sound Chinese agricul- tural programs in the future."

The book brings together considerable factual material of varying quality on China's agricultural resources, but its striking feature is the cataloguing of plans, programs, recommendations, and hopes. Except for some references to J. L. Buck's classic work, Land Utilization in China, most of the statistical data on agricultural production (described as "mere estimates"), are from crop reports of the National Agricultural Research Bureau, an official agency. Stu- dents of the Chinese economy will find little that is new in this book, but they may value the convenience of the numerous summaries on different aspects of the many topics covered.

In attempting to survey such a vast subject in some 369 pages of text it is not surprising that the book is essentially an outline, filled in here and there,

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