had the acuteness to utilize the Mongol khans as their chief instruments of oppression, by making them responsible for tribute and conscripts, and by allowing them to retain absolute power over their subjects. The livelihood of the Mongols depends upon the natural growth of their stock and its products, which of recent years have commanded a value upon the Siberian and Chinese markets. Being typical Asiatic nomads, they live in portable felt tents, and their sole capital consists of horses, cattle and camels. They subsist upon mutton and mare's milk, and the wool and hair of their flocks provide them with the felt necessary for the coverings of their tents. Their only requirements, therefore, consist of cotton cloth for their clothes, tea and small ironware, and the means of obtaining these is found by the sale or barter of the surplus produce, consisting mainly of wool, horse hair, hides and skins.
But the purchasing power of the Mongols has become impaired by the tyrannous rapacity of the authorities both temporal and spiritual who exploit them. Indeed, signs of economic exhaustion are not wanting, for in bad seasons summer droughts and bitter winters curtail the natural growth of their flocks, while in good seasons the whole of that increase is absorbed by high tribute. They are thus reduced to a condition of social and economic serfdom.
The recent revolution, although it has made the Mongol khans practically independent, has created no guarantee that the Mongol tribesmen will receive less oppressive and differential treatment than in the past. The struggle has been that of Chinese tyrant versus Mongol tyrant rather than that of Mongol tyrant versus Mongol tribesman. In some respects
