Thus there will be no
political situation properly so called and there will be no
political questions to discuss (here the term political means
really administrative). If a critic of politics, therefore,
interfere with the question of Kuo-ti, he will be leading the
nation into a condition of political instability, thus undermining
the ground on which the people stand. Such critics can be likened
unto a man trying to enter a house without ascending the steps or
crossing a river without a boat.
They cannot influence the question of Kuo-ti. The force which
drives and steers the change of one form of State or vice versa is
generally not derived from mere politics. If the time is not ripe,
then no amount of advocacy on the part of critics can hasten it.
If the time is ripe, nothing the critics say can prevent it. He
who indulges himself in the discussion of the problem of Kuo-ti--
i.e., the form of States, as a political student, is ignorant of
his own limitations and capacity. This is as true of the active
politicians as of the critics; for the first duty of an active
politician is to seek for the improvement and progress of the
administration of the existing foundation of government. A step
beyond this line is revolution and intrigue, and such cannot be
the attitude of a right-minded active politician or statesman.
This is looking at it from the negative side.
From the positive, that is, the progressive point of view, there
is also a boundary.
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