ASIA AGAINST THE WORLD

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 156, 26 March 1908, Page 4

ASIA AGAINST THE WORLD

"A TREMENDOUS CONTINGENCY." INTERESTING REVIEW. ARTICLE. A striking irtiqle. upon what may he called the world-meaning y of tho' antUAsihtic movement appears in-the. " Fortnightly Review," abovo the signaturo " Viator." The writer, who clearly-possesses an intimate knowledge of tho Far-Eaiit, is full of grave apprehension, not only for tho future of the empire, (jut for the future 'of rwhito' civilisation. He is convinced, that'tho-. balance of forccs in tho colour conflict is changing .to tho disadvantage of tho whito racos; that the jnoral frontier of, whito influence is contracting; and that the political boundaries of whito predominance are unstable, but unlikely 'to be 'extended/ Tho " tremendous contingency" which-lie'fears is "that tno action of the Anglo-Saxon democracies throughout the world,"whether exprsssed by yellow elections in this country (i.e., Great Britain), by race-riots upon the Pacific slopo, or- by" 1 restrictive immigration' laws in. tho Commonwealth and the Transvaal, _ may oreate tho political unity of India and the fighting unity of Asia." In such an event the white nations—though 'numbering hundreds of millions, forming a gigantic federation among thomselves, and constituting still the strongest racial factor in the world s affairs —may possibly find themselves con-, fined to Western Europe and.North America. "If Australia, South Africa;-'and 'dominion in : the East," proceeds lator. " are to be preserved as part of . the white man's heritage, if even South , America . is ito be held in cortain security, thero will, bo required a very different, policy from that which is now being pursued'by this' empire and tho. United States." ; THE WHITE' MAN'S DEMANDS. 1 I What, in effect, does tho present policy of the. Anglo-Saxon- democracies amount to? To the 'exclusion .of tho Asiatic from every continent savo his own. Not only aro Australia" and: North. America to po closed to him —and North' America must ultimately I implv South America as well, if the Monroo doctrino is to hold good—but :cvon Afrida, tho " Dark Continent," which might reason-!-ably have seemed a fitting field of enterpriso into which tho surplus population of crowded; and prolific Asia might ■ overflow. China has learnt its lesson from the Raudcoolin controversy. It feels that "tho sort of sanitary cordon established- against - yellow emigrants is. complete." This, it is worth remembering, is ■ the oiio question iipon which thero is an absolute identity of interests botween Chinii. and Japan. Both pooples must/'ancl" _>vill»■ resji st., being 'penned lip within their original .limit's. / Tho higher their standard: of " living rises".w ; ith their advance, in western knowledge, the stronger must ' grow tho' economic pressure .behind that resistance. ~ .Compared-with Asiatics, tho whites are a small minority. Asia con' tains something like. 800,000,000 of peoplehalf- the ..whole- .'■number', of mankind. .Yet tho whites .claim to' reserve, for ■ settlement and ' political.control 'the. two Americas,'■ Aus'tralia, and Africa, .in-addition to Europe,, domanding .for' themselves .at tljo same, timo equality or more than 'equality in Asia.■ . :Is Asia'/'driven by .natural forces -.of.-twice the .urgency, towards colonisation, to bo' de-barred-from-expansion? That'is tho question which -the'; Anglo-Saxon deniocracies have to face. rlf tlioy answer, "Yos," tlion tliey mus trecogniso that the prohibition iB worth tho foi-co behind . it—no more—and-that it incites all Asia to the joint.'devclppmcnt of a counter-force.. "Tho Asiatic point-of vjow must bo considered, not as a matter of justice alone,-, .hut of expediency, s In - Japan thb' : hitherto despised Asiatic has a champion into whose ariiis.all Asiatics may bo driven by tho gradual realisation' of a common peril. , ' ••. ■;•. ' v ASIATICS AND' THEIR DISABILITIES. 1

"The Japanese;" as 'fViator" points out,' "had too "much" legitimate solf-esteem; and too.casual an acquaintance with tho psychology, and conditions of tho West,:. ,to-grasp readily the fact that they were to be subject, as a nation; to'an immense, permanent: disability because .of . tlieir, complexion. They, certainly imagined that they were solely and justly"- contemned beca-uso-;of'"their want' of knowledge, and because , of their even' less oxcusable.inferiority: :in , theprofession- of arms, as 'practised: by >'enlightened' peoples. "They have proved:beyond all. debate the impotentialities' of tho Asiatic renaissance 'for war,- industry, colonisation, j seapower,- and thought. Yet. they are still excluded froni : tho .fields' of. settlementi'jnto which,iare; freely admitted tlio "Jews. who are helots in'.the'i Russia vanquished by Japan, and'they are'excluded by" tho races who claim most vigorously the open-door in tho: Far East." This is proof, to all Asiatics that, unless they can- exert force,' they will for all time bo- shut out from the privileges which whito races enjoy in the rest of tho world.-. ' :'. ■- '. v/' v v ~

Indian, subjects of the British Crown aro being! subjected to the same disabilities as other Asiatics, and even within tho Empire exclusion is only too often accompanied by insults, born, of the average white man's profound-, ignorance'vof -Oriental-life. What gave , such strength/ to' the 'Indian protests .against recent Transvaal was not ip much exclusion as tho;'(to'Asiatics) brutal incthods . adopted for carrying ,it out. ,'ln orderr to'identify, the-Indiaris already in the. colony, men'.of .high! caste 'and. irreproachable •praetor,'iwero.-treated'.: like -pariahs. They, were compelled to ' hSyo N their finger-prints taken, all - the digits being shown together, in tho stylo used in India for the registration of criminals. Action such as .this by tho authorities of a British colony rouses, deep .indignation.- against tho dominant white' raco throughout, India., " It. is," says " Viator," " a matter of life arid death for our regime in the Bast that no artificial unity of the Indian peoples—Bengalis with Sikhs, Pathans, Rajputs, Mahrattas, and the rest—should bo created by_ spreading the burning senso of a common injustice, such as registration of Indian, immigrants in the Transvaalby tho system of fingor-prints only used for criminals elsewhere." . ... . does not ignore the' economic and social reasons which underlie tho action of the Anglo-Saxon democracies,; but lie fails, or !perhaps it was not his intention, to put the other side of the, caso. If thero is anything in his'' argument,' it '.is that white countries such as Australia' should freely admit 1 coloured people. This! is impossible, no matter what 'ihay bo the ultimate consequences. The. reason lies much deeper than "Viator" is apparently inclined to go. ,'As a partial—but only a partial—solution of tho problem, ho suggests specially reserving certain Crown colonies and protectorates for Asiatic immigrants—tho foundation, in fact, of an Indian, colonial empiro. . ,