The Convention of 1975 was called at Philadelphia.  All the Western nations, and some few of the Eastern, were represented.  Nothing was accomplished.  There was talk of all countries putting bounties on children to increase the birth rate, but it was laughed to scorn by the arithmeticians, who pointed out that China was too far in the lead in that direction.  No feasible way of coping with China was suggested.  China was appealed to and threatened by the United Powers, and that was all the Convention of Philadelphia came to; and the Convention and the Powers were laughed at by China.  Li Tang Fwung, the power behind the Dragon Throne, deigned to reply.

“What does China care for the comity of nations?” said Li Tang Fwung.  “We are the most ancient, honourable, and royal of races.  We have our own destiny to accomplish.  It is unpleasant that our destiny does not tally with the destiny of the rest of the world, but what would you?  You have talked windily about the royal races and the heritage of the earth, and we can only reply that that remains to be seen.  You cannot invade us.  Never mind about your navies.  Don’t shout.  We know our navy is small.  You see we use it for police purposes.  We do not care for the sea.  Our strength is in our population, which will soon be a billion.  Thanks to you, we are equipped with all modern war-machinery.  Send your navies.  We will not notice them.  Send your punitive expeditions, but first remember France.  To land half a million soldiers on our shores would strain the resources of any of you.  And our thousand millions would swallow them down in a mouthful.  Send a million; send five millions, and we will swallow them down just as readily.  Pouf!  A mere nothing, a meagre morsel.  Destroy, as you have threatened, you United States, the ten million coolies we have forced upon your shores—­why, the amount scarcely equals half of our excess birth rate for a year.”

So spoke Li Tang Fwung.  The world was nonplussed, helpless, terrified.  Truly had he spoken.  There was no combating China’s amazing birth rate.  If her population was a billion, and was increasing twenty millions a year, in twenty-five years it would be a billion and a half—­equal to the total population of the world in 1904.  And nothing could be done.  There was no way to dam up the over-spilling monstrous flood of life.  War was futile.  China laughed at a blockade of her coasts.  She welcomed invasion.  In her capacious maw was room for all the hosts of earth that could be hurled at her.  And in the meantime her flood of yellow life poured out and on over Asia.  China laughed and read in their magazines the learned lucubrations of the distracted Western scholars.