MANCHURIA

Hokitika Guardian, 27 June 1929, Page 8

MANCHURIA

GREATEST MIGRATION Ob’ MODERN TIMES. A low years ago (says M,r C. A. Geo Mill'd in tlio •January number u'f tlic Bible for Cliina) :i prominent Methodist liislioji, iit'ter visiting Manchuria, declared tiiat lie regarded this part of Cliina sis presenting the greatest missionary opportunity of the present generation. Havin'* spent lour years in Northern .Manchuria and Tl of missionary service m other parts of China, the writer is not surprised that the Ij, : shop should have made this'observation. Yet if his conclusion were true at that time it is more so at the present, for millions ol Chinese have since .migrated here. from other parts of China. It is claimed that during the past year and a-lialf no fewer than one and a-lialf million people have moved into .Manchuria Irem Shantung •ind Chili, the two most northern provinces of China, directly south and south-west of .Manchuria. Although iiot coming in such large numbers, now that civil war has ceased, yet immigr: ids do continue to come. This is regarded as the greatest movement ol people in modern times. b’or many years Chinese have migrated here, about 250,000 coming annually, though many were unwilling to move their I'a in dies here on account ol traditional ties or for fear of bandits. So, after iho crops were gathered, not a lew relumed s 'lltli for tilt l winter. Hut these nast two years of civil war, unbearable faxalinn, banditry, and famine have driven many to sell out and move. here. Train loads of men, women and children have poured into Harbin and other northern cities, from whence these hundreds of thousands have gone forth, north, south, east and west, to take ta virgin soil and to start life over again. Harbin is the distributing point for most of them. It is both the commercial and railway centre of North Manchuria. The civil and military authority's of the three eastern provides which constitute Manchuria did •well to encourage the coining of those sturdy people, for they are adding much to tho development of this part of China. The South Manchurian rail-

way gave half-fare to the immigrants, and the Chinese railways and the Chinese Eastern railways granted free transportation to those who were unable to pay. Contributions, voluntary and otherwise, were received by the Chinese authorities from merchants of Harbin and other cities, to provide food and sleeping accommodation at certain places for the poorer classes, and some medical treatment was given, but there was nevertheless much suffering, inconvenience, and not a few deaths among the immigrants during the winter and early spring. They were crowded , into freight cars like cattle, were locked in, and forced to remain there under unsanitary conditions. Then when outside the cars they were often driven more like cattle than human beings. .Many who were able to do so paid their own'"way on the trains, having secured .something from tne sale of their laud and houses, hut others were not able to sell anything in the famine areas, where taxes were that high that they actually exceeded the value of the land, or the year’s crop. One’s heart was made to aelie as he beheld the poorer of these thousands drinking the l dregs of bitterest poverty, having left their homes, not until everything had been used up, or taken from them by the military, or the bandits. Old men and women would hang on to the stronger men ol the family, tho children likewise clinging to these. Clad in rags, they grasped tightly the few ragged quilts and torn clothes which still remained, usually all they had with which tr meet the rigours of long, severe winters where the thermometer remain.s around 25 degrees below zero and tlic ground freezes 12 feet deep. Hut they go forth with that u indoinitahle determination, characteristic of the Shantung Chinese, who for many generations have .suffered continuous struggle lor existence due to over-population, over-taxation, and poor government, as well as frequent famines and civil wars. All they need is a cluince and they will make good. One group of 1000 immigrants, many of them Christians, came through free from Tsinan, the capital of Shantung, to .Mukden, hut their money was insufficient to pay even half-fare on (lie Japanese railway, iso it was decided that the women and small children should go on the train and the men and hoys make the long trip by loot to Changsliun. At Changslnm, and again at Harbin, the women were forced to go on. Many of them did not know where their husbands in tended going, and followed the crowd and were lost. Some families were reunited. Others will never find those from whom they were separated. Manchuria has been coveted as a possession by both Russia and Japan ifreniany years, lint with the settling of these great numbers of people it is thought that Manchuria for China is assured. North .Manchuria is increasingly prosperous under the growing Chinese power and influence. .Vn-bin

has a business boom, and the country people are likewise doing well. Japan lias not ceased to develop South Man•iiuria in a marvellous way, but I

Chinese arc settling there piore than the Japanese. The greatest asset of Manchuria is her fertile soil, which is especially adapted to the growth of !'

soya bean, the value of which is oil. immense quantities of these beans are shipped annually to all parts of the world. This is encouraging the coning of Chinese from other parts in _*\en greater numbers than before, the present phenomenal influx. Manclmp* now presents claims as a mission field in point of numbers. She lias an estimated population of 35,000,000. 3 The aid of missionaries is still greatly needed. Those who are sympathetic and able to fit into the new conditions' are also most welcome.