Untitled

Hokitika Guardian, 27 June 1925, Page 2

Aft Kit the Great War. continues Mr I.ampert. China proved a happy hunting ground tor the determination of the Bolsheviks to sovietise the world, and in a country in a state ol torment, seething with discontent against lo,vigil aggression, Russia stirred up muddy waters to her own benefit. The anti-racial and also anti-social tenets of Bolshevism attracted the most porfervid of the intellectuals who have for manv years assumed guidance of the yellow Republic. Bursting with misdirected zeal and patriotism many of these half-educated and unruly students fell an easy prey to the facilctongued .Soviet doctrinaire. The native Press became the agent tor tulininations against western and .lit,panose imperialism, and demands for the alsilit ion of extra territoriality and the return of all onncos.sions became more and mere insistent as time went, on. The Hong Kong strike ol 19212. and later than that in Canton against the foreign concession on the island of shamoeu. as well as other manifestations in many parts of the Republic, have all helped to increase native antagonism. It is significant to note -.hat various public bodies have since I! I,ceii formed, ami disappeared because public opinion was not yet Millicie'itly formed. only to reappear as the strength of the movement grew, to demand “the revision of all unequal trealties." Agitators have i: insistently spo,u:-led (he public with the iniquity of (lies’ treaties, and the “Sovereign Rights of Cliina” has been the slogan of the student r lass |or many .wars. Foreign euernnehments. real and lancietl, have been unfailingly obstructed. After the Russian. Revolution in 1917, beginning with a thin trickle, and over swelling in volume, there came to Shanghai a. tide of refugees in all stages of destitution to make matters there worse. So unhappy was their plight that these refugees were obliged to resort to all and every means of livelihood. The only positions open to them were of a lowly nature. Aet they came in hordes. They became chauffeurs, cooks, waiters, newspaper sellers and even beggars. Russian men, women, and children", some of birth and breeding, competed with natives in the labour market, and thousands became a direct charge upon the foreign and Chinese communities. Many While Russians, ollicers and men of the old Imperial forces, whom ‘lie Revolution had found in Siberia and .Manchuria, joined the armies of Alarshall Chang Tso bin, becoming Chinese subjects. Kuropean residents in China experienced the mortification ol beholding these mercenaries taking part as shock troops in factional encounters in various sections of the country. It is easy to imagine the effect of all this upon the native mind which had already begun to hold the foreigner in increasing contempt. Tune has done, needless to write, nothing to improve this opinion. Since 1014 there has been a remarkable growth in the formation of a ■Chinese public opinion, and this was particularly noticeable to the writer upon his return to China in 1919 Irom the Great AA ar. Modern education, the growing power of the intellectuals and the native Press, increased internal communications and the trend of other circumstances incidental to the transition of a people like the Chinese from an archaic civilisation to the modern concept. lias deeply stirred the native mind. AYliat a differente to the condition of the inhabitants of the Flowery band even two decades ago, when a man was firstly a native of his own particular village or town; secondly, a citizen of. sav, Fukien province; and last, of all thought of himself as an inhabitant of the Celestial Empire as it then was. Chinese public opinion. led by the student educated in Europe. America, and also Japan is a mighty factor in Far Eastern polities. Freed from the incubus of AVeslern exploitation China will liecome a power to be considered.

In a study of local conditions the thought must arise that what is needed most for the advancement, of the district, is additional population. Tn the past- there has been the practice of resting on extraneous aids for a measure of development to ensure a progressive increase of population. But these have l**en temporary expedients, not lasting in their effect, ft is perhaps fortunate that the district has not suffered unduly from boom periods, for in that escape the reactionary times attendant to slumps have l.c-en missed also. Perhaps the opening up of the district has not progressed as much as it should. More might have been done with reading and bridging, and undeniably railway extension south would be valuable. It is disappointing that fresh mineral finds have not exercised their magnetic influence hy creating a recurrence of rush days. The land whence more permanent prosperity springs is being occupied slowly, and tilling is coming more and more into vogue. In the the pre-war days pastoral pursuits, particularly dairying, were in favour.

but then camo the war period and inliated prices. The equilibrium of the land industry was seriously disturbed and folk changed from dairying to grazing, from wool to butter, as prices fluctuated, and the changing over had a militating effect on general prosperity. The South Island generally suffers from the want of population, for .’t is falling behind the North Island steadily. Situation and climate are supposed to account for the majoi difficulties removing population irom the South to the North, but here on the AVest Coast tlypre is- an average climate which it would lie hard to beat all the year round. The climatic difficulty on the Coast is the wet spring, which delays crops, and ripening fields are often delayed to the point of loss. Tit that respect cropping here has its drawbacks. But there are many compensating advantages, not the least of which is the price of land for its quality and general productivity. It. i- ; a question, too, how far closer settlement would not help the district to increase its population. 'I here arc possibilities in that respect, as some of the larger holdings might Is. 1 subdivided. but for various reasons a

number of largo blocks arc held, and used mainly for grazing, and often hut poorly stocked for that purpose. The cleared area of land nowadays provides what might he described as an abundantc of feed for the flocks and herds of tfie district, and on that account it would be more satisfying to see areas turned over lo dairying, as an aid to industrial production in which New Zealand lias excelled greatly already. But apart from the land and its produce, not omitting the native product of timber, it would be well in the interests of established progress, to .see manual industries growing up about us. By this means an artisan population might bo added, and there would be a class of consumers here most helpful to general trade. With the prolific supply of timber in the district, there arc industries associated with timber which should lie profitable here at a point where the main commodity to he. used would lie so ready at hand. If other trading concerns eouhl he launched in conjunction with hides and skins, other adjunctive aids to maintaining an enlarged population would also be available. The position seems to call for the' spirit of enterprise. The lead requires to be given. Perhaps the Progress League eouhl set up a special committee of investigation to plumb possibilities in regard to matters. Millers might lie consulted as regards manufacturing various commodities. Other avenues might suggest themselves if only attention were devoted to the subject, and the present, with people talking about quiet times, might bo the host opportunity to launch a project affecting industrial activities which would go same way towards attracting a.ud holding additional population hereabouts.