WHAT CHINA NEEDS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 188, 13 September 1909, Page 3

WHAT CHINA NEEDS

LORD WILLIAM CECIL DISCUSSES THE CHINESE PROBLEM.

"I suppose that it ie foolish to expect statesmen, much more ordinary peopie, to take any interest in the wonderful change of opinion that is taking place in China. Most people, metaphorically speaking, go through the world with their backs to the horses. They realise ; the dangers that have beset the ro.id along which their country has travelled; they ignore the dangers that arc in the immediate distance, and, in ft, they often hasten those dangers by their efforts to avoid the recurrence of dnncpia which are past and over." So writes Lord William Cecil in the National Review. SOME BLIND PEOPLE. "Louis XIV. prepares the way for the j Revolution by breaking the power of i the seigneurs. The Tndors. foster Unparliamentary system to prevent a recurrence of the Wars of the Roses, and thus promote the death of Charles 1. The English created the United States as a separate power by defeating the French in Canada. same \va v w.havc indirectly contributed to this revo-1 lution in thought in China by enablwsj , the Japanese to defeat the HuAians, thus opening the eyes of the Chinee both to their dangers and to their iossibilitics of improvement; and. two. fore, we have an indirect responsloEity , for this movement. / THE CHINESE GENTLEMAN.

"Before I went to China I had a dim ! idea that the Chinese gentleman was a I very stupid and unintelligent being, who I probably would not have minded such a ! national insult because he would not have appreciated it; but the moment I came into contact with him I saw my error. A Chinese gentleman is an extremely able and intelligent man; the weakness that besets China certainly does not come from his intellectual : v feriority. It is quite true {hat he is very badly educated in physical science, but we must remember that many of our best educators have maintained that literae humaniores arc a better mental discipline than science certainly they should hrighten that side of the intellect that deals with human relations.

"The Chinese gentleman has been trained in the philosophy, history, an* cultuTe of his race, and both in his speech and in his thought ho beau marks of the excellence of that training. He has now thoroughly realised his national weakness and his "consequent humiliation, and the whole of that mass of intelligent thought ir. China which was a few years ago conservative to obscurantism has now become progressive, even revolutionary There are many outward and visible signs of this change; wherever you go jon see vast efforts are being made to westernise the institutions of China. WHAT CHINA NEEDS. "What China needs at the present time is higher morality as much as Western knowledge. I do not think we realise the awful poverty of China or the possibilities of wealth that lie bt fore her. The Chinese are undoubtedly eslri'tiirly pool, because they have no industrial organisation, and they cannot organise till they can trust one another. Theru is no subdivision of labor, little use of animals, none of machines, with the result that everything that is produced is the result of a plan which involves the greatest amount of labor wilb the least effect. Still, the quality of the labor that is so extravagant'y wasted is simply excellent. The actual work done by the Chinese artisan bears comparison with the work of the artisans of any country, and, were the labo k organised, would be excellent in quantity as well as quality. But even as I write T can hear the reader say, 'Let the poor people remain in their poverty, for if they improve (heir mothods of production, with their great efficiency and low wages they would drive vl'l other workers out of the market.' T need hardly point out that this is a fallacy.

WHAT MAY HAPPEN. "The moment the Chinaman advanced in morals, two things will happen: first, there will be an effort on the part ot the community to improve the condition of the worker, just as much as there ale efforts on the part of the European nations to improve the conditions of their workers; and, secondly, those efforts will be possible, because the cost of production being diminished by the division of labor, the T atc of wages will be, as it has been in our countries, largely raised without diminishing the price of the finished article.

"The internal market of China will, of course, be the great market »or China's increased productions. I should think !)0 per cent. Of her population would be glad of more food, 1 should think 90 per cent, of the Chinese cou.d do with better clothes, I should thinlc 0!)! l per thousand would be only too willing to enjoy greater luxuries if they could get them. CHINESE TRADE. "As China develops her resources she will not only develop in proportion *iit internal market, but, in addition, she will demand from the rest of the world goods which, for 'various .reasons, she cannot herself produce, and {he vastness of her demands will, when they ire fully developed, -make many a Western working man busy. She will pay for the goods by sending over those articles of special Chinese manufacture which we cannot produce in this country. A QUARTER OF THE GLOBE. '

"No; if China develops iu morality and grows happier and richer, a byproduct of her prosperity will -be a general improvement of trade in the West; for .remember, China represents quite a quarter of the population of the globe, a-nd, though her present demand for our productions is relatively insignificant, owing to her poverty, when it is fully develped it must cause a very great inflation of trade in those countries which produce such goods. What is to lie feared is that China may join our Western civilisation in a sort of maimed condition, weighed down by bad government and false ideals and morals. This is a point which should appeal to all lovers of our own country and especially to working men. "The muting together of the good side of the civilisation of tho East and West is, of course, a matter of Rome difficulty, but it is not an impossibility. The best and wisest missionaries freeiy allow that the 'wisdom of the mighty Confucius is not inharmonious with the gentle teaching of the Gospel. The union can be accomplished, hut it needs all -thought and care."