THE YELLOW PERIL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 111, 3 February 1908, Page 9

THE YELLOW PERIL.

'Sir, —It is high timo tha I=Jthovcasb"fop China received some vindication:; in--ihooNoHii Zealand Press. Several of tho leading journals make a special point of-Rij'fng'w.hat?..-ever bad can bo said of tho ,Cbiupse v ,wjthqufc,. ! , so far as I'can sco, •giving-, ! t)i£ii}; n^'paijt',fqr,' a single virtue worth the_wej}|rt!n!-'. '-TBis' unfair treatment is.most unfartunate.!'for- tlib racial prejudice ; existing ■b,et i w,cori'.':'t]ip..i;ast. and the West, always strong','is'very''much' 1 ' increased, and. tends to further to_ the real merits of tlio quetsion . Iho first great. objection? ,tcr "„the\ presence of the Chineso in our midst, and tlio one that weighs' most- with the-body-ef-tho people, is that tho yellowjnen,- owingto ..tlieijcomparatively low standard ; able to undersell tho prejudice wages.'to. such aii "extent" that'tlib" .white worker is unable to cqmpeto;with:tJien). fexcept by coming down to tho sauio levol.or jiving. Now, sir,' would- itiis! be tlio result if tho Chineso workers were* brbughtwwrthm. the. scope of tho .Arbitration Courts,and/-,marlj subject to, the awards? .'■ AYguld bo at-any disadvantaguVuticlcr such" cir- : oumstnnces? It does not seem to mo-tli'at'--' ho would —unless the Chinaman/.working 1 ; fofi an equal wage, -is superior.; to,the w.hitoimauj., in which case' tho Chinanja|} tp succeed. ' " Tho second grand objection-io'-'tlia Cliiiies6 : as citizens is that tftbir presencQjicro must lead to intermarriage with"" th'e"'"whit : e ■ race, artd with tho worst speoiesi\wjth-.t]io result tliat a half-casto race would"''spring'up a dangor to tho safoty of the cohunuiii£y.._._. So far as I know, no ,New Zealand newspaper has yet ventured .-seriously.' to cionisiSorHlift problem of a fusion of tlio white, and,-yelkHv, races. Most adopt the ing contemporary, which- i ...ti; rp eg (it Va rticlo woundup by saying, "And; 'thp : questiqh of a halt-caste race wo refuse'to'c»]tertam , ,'v or words to thai effect. .. gir, : -r-if on'o,' may venturo .would bo r tho consequences: in ' Chineso wero to migrate. t6"New'. Zialaiiii"iiL substantial numbers? '/ . ' Bxperieuco teaches us tha| l ,a,lialf<ca"st,e, l race, generally falls below tlio, 'of 'tlio' '.parent races, inheriting .>i<|Mi'. oliiea'cji, and few of tho virtues; teaches us that a judicious mixjng of;different, bloods often produces a progeny-superior to either of'the ancestral racps." ,'.,.. We J'liiglish',,' proud of what wo aro. pleased |'puro, blood," should'.reroomberjihat. in truth a mongrel race. .Tho'fr'uits.'.of'. J the,' mixture of several alien bipotjs,vj-wiii ci)*. had tho happiest of results,!,Jprqdij'ciflg a> people healthier both than the Britons,- Saxons,;. Normans,'' panes,', eto.'v who begat us. In tho o cii'sot6f l .a,'flisi,qn between the East', arid the,; \yest,;' i we'.;havq j two absolutely distinct peoples',7 who !'hav6' practically; nothing in common I ,'aridi both most virtuous Where tho other'of ijh'eitf, is most'lacking,- . Is it not,;at.-least,worth; considering whether: a fusjqn'.t'lof Jlioso.'tjvpj distinct divisions of theihhmari"Jainily,.?miEli,t. not, in time, result in producing' ' superior to either of them?. ~ In-'philosoflTiy the thought' of tho.;BasVem v iirbri'dr^^Mns l,tacomplement to tho'wisdoni';',of ( ,Ei]rppqr;afld if tho' Ohiiiese 'and ■ European'' minds ' were fused in the samo way, is it 'notypossiblo that, a- like result would follow,;Prqba,bly; fo> 'several generations, tho'. ooinmiaHity,;: ■yroiild. bo in a state of turmoil,-"- and: r the r whitcs; espeoially would- suffer ; buj, ( ib.is; immediate effect that.rcquires,.to ;bo;-y?a;tchicd ; : so much as tho ultimate effect.-.on 'posterity. The 1 immediatq;.fruita/of--.suchi»- ' policy, would probably bo'b}.dTpbut. ; if,,wo ; 'aro superior to the Chinese-Ihjjld-bp no ohauco of our VeiiJg in oy'envMmed.' The' new peoplo would doiy^ygss>"lio-radically different to either "tho the .European races, but ; it'seems to mo _fpasiblc that 'the fact of tho very great between the 'civilisation of Asia ani}'>tj\at'.of; Europe would make this new great one indeed. , , .■ The consequences of : the policy , aro plain. ; Tho present-feeling'6f hostility, i accentuated by'- iharsliK- legislation and tho gc-ncral spread "of / prejiidicq 'hyi thft nowspapers, anti-Asiatic sooiotics,'land us in tho final.in.a waitLTO.thith'o.iViSllqw, pfeoples—a." struggle wliiclv>.it;.:is' terrible 'to; contemplato, and •in which Mf quished our very, esi'stenco'-aaiia' hationinuist' be imperilled, if. wo are stroyecl. : Frightful as in'terWarrl6gb."W'ith' tho Chineso may seem on'firsti'though'tsjiil question whether it is notj a«wisor: c6urso''to permit than tho , one ' w&^'fartf''at;present actively taking'. If the. former'• Bitcccedodj; tho results would be jo accordanc'o with the' , spiriti'fpE v ChHstiap'' teaching, than,if we iinnl!y;:su'(ic<!cded b'J'. t'litf latter method.—l am, etc,, ' Foxton, January-25;. 190S^v"j"., r