The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1907. THE CHINESE AT HOME.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2142, 26 July 1907, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JULY 26, THE CHINESE AT HOME.

Just now when New Zealanders arc becoming interested in the problem of bow to keep the Chinese out ot this country it is useful to turn for a moment, and consider the reasons which actuate the Oriental, in his desire to take up his residence in foreign lands. At the present tune millions of Chinese are suffering in their own country the greatest privations as the result of a widespread famine. It is computed by workers who have returned from the infected districts that quite 3000 persons are dying daily. Wo wero told months ago 'that tlioro were over 400,000 people to whom this famine spelt death, and it would appear that, cruel as it may seem, it would liave been better to'havo concentrated the efforts for relief more than has been the case, and stubbornly faced the fact, that largo districts must lie' left untouched. The supplies have been long delayed on their way inland from Shanghai, and in some cases where food was on the spot in small boats tho people had not _ the lew necessary cash with which to purchase tile means for subsistence. Free tickets have been carefully distributee! to the most necessitous persons in some cases, but the wholesale free distribution of food would have only ended in riot. With millions pi starving, the difficulties of transport, limited funds and foreign workers, and tho too frequent apathy of the Chinese officials, it is tho inevitable that is happening. No one who has not travelled $n China can have any idea of tho country affected, of the terrible plight of multitudes of starving people, and their general resignation to the most terrible of deaths when tho missionaries cannot- give them sufficient food to keep them alivjo. America is sending large funds, shiploads of flour for immediate consumption, and wheat for planting; all the local supplies have been hurried to the interior, and in a few days cargoes of wheat will arrive from Australia. But- it is “a drop in an ocean.” Cannibalism is rife in some counties, and at Cliinlciang the refugees are digging for a kind of white clay to bo found near that port, which they mix with food and vegetables, as it is said to give a “satisfying” feeling to the hungry consumer. The eating of this clay is having fatal results, as may lie expected, and the Viceroy, Tuan Fang, lias sent to have it tested, meanwhile contributing £IOO towards the purchase of flour to distribute to the clay-eaters. The people call this clay the flour of the Goddess of Mercy! Chinn as a nation lias done little to allay this terrible suffering, and but for the self-sacrificing efforts of the missionaries the death-roll would have been the most terrible in history. It will thus bo seen that such a country as New Zealand must inevitably have a strong attraction for people who live under such conditions as are forced upon the Chinaman in his own “Celestial” home.