THE “YELLOW PERIL.”

Waipukurau Press, Issue 3, 2 January 1906, Page 2

THE “YELLOW PERIL.”

Another Local Man’s Views. [To the Editor. Sir, —I have noticed in your last issue a letter on the Chinese question which seems to me to voice opinions only of self-satisfaction and selfishness. This “Anti-Chow’ r evidently considers the morality and civilisation of Europeans to be on a high plane, and loathes, as the plague, the poor Chinese who have brought about the “ruin of some of the brightest of the young girls of our community.” ’Tis a pity for our community when its brightest young girls have received such a home-training that they can be tempted by a Chinaman. The “bright young girl” who consorts with the Chinese has probably fallen already through the agency of a “ moral ” European. I do not wish to say that the Chinese are not on a lower moral plane than Europeans, but the gist of “ Anti-Chow’s ” argument is thit: “ We are good, the Chines© are bad ; boycott them, do nothing to help them ; so long as we can secure light for ourselves, let all the rest of the world bo in darkness.” He should remember when he talks of his personal experiences in these dens of iniquity — experiences of which I am unable to boast—that these dens are caused, or have been caused to a very great extent, by Europeans. The Chinese are boycotted and driven from decent' quarters, and their opium smoking is a habit which was originally forced upon them by European traders and the British Government, notwithstanding the fact that they protested, and even went to war to keep the awful vice out of their land. The truth is that the Chinese are too thrifty and hard-working for the Europeans to compete with successfully, and consequently they seize upon their vices as a pretext for driving them out. Were they treated more as men and fellowbeings, they would become better citizens, for there are cases on

record of the better educated of them taking respectable positions in the community.—l am, etc., An Chew. Waipukurau, Dec. 29.