The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, DEC. 9, 1893.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXX, Issue 10216, 9 December 1893, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, DEC. 9, 1893 .

| A good deal has been spoken and ! written lately about the danger I' of admitting into our midst the objectionably industrious, irreclaimr ably thrifty, and generally unspeakI able Chinaman. Not even the I candidate who staggers under the unproductive burden of the denominational vote is half so heavily handicapped in his struggle for a seat in Parliament as he who for a moment allows bis soundness on the polltax question to fall under suspicion. Nor is this very surprising, since it is certain that an extensive influx of Chinamen, drawn from

the class from which these im- ; migrants are drawn, and living under the conditions under which wa see them, would conduce neither to the moral nor the material welfare of our people. Yet, admitting that we do not want the Chinese here—for the very good reason that we are i unable to compete with them for a I livelihood —is it not a little arrogant ! for us to argue off-hand that the

j difference between Chinese and i Western social organisations is that between barbarism and civilisation? It is rather humiliating to our modem conceit to look upon the other side of the glass and see ourselves reflected to the eyes of the I Son of Heaven as merely detestable | barbarians, on whose mushroom proI greas China- looks contemptuously down from the altitude of a civilisation which was already real and | mature at a time when Europe was the home of actual barbarians. True, we have advanced since then, and are angry with China for having preferred to stand still. And she replies that the most striking features of European progress in her eyes are the two great scourges of mankind-

war and pauperism. To us the Chinese are unreasonable | people, who do their writing backI* wards, point their compass to the south, ennoble their ancestors instead of their posterity, and, greatest crime of all, refuse to be enamoured of our modern ideas of politics and com--1 merce- To them we are known I chiefly as the “foreign devils" who I insisted on forcing our opium trade 1 upon them, and then extracted a heavy war indemnity from them for our trouble in the matter. They claim that their civilisation, although standing on a different basis from ours, ig yet as real and complete a civilisation, and one which has rendered a third of the earth's population contented and

•prosperous for thousands of years. This view is set forth in a pica published by a Chinese general, Tahena-ki-Tong, for the better eomprehenaioa by Western nations of the true idsal of Chinese social organisation, and a few points in this publication are worth noticing as illustrative of the subject from a Chinese standpoint. The enormous population of China is regarded as one huge family of 400,000,000 members, of which the Emperor is the theoretical father, his whole duty being to render happy the lot of his children, in obedience to the teaching of Confucius that the perfection of ourselves and others constitutes the true human ideal. The logical outcome of this thought is that political questions, divorced from party views, are closely linked to social questions. But it is to the Great Council or Secretariat of the State that we must look for the machinery for actually carrying out this principle. This Council directs all governmental actions, and enforces the harmonious co-operation of eight Ministries which derive their authority directly from it. These Ministries—of Personal Administration, Finance and Agriculture, Rites, War, Public Works, Judicature, Foreign Affairs and the Navy—each consist of a Council of two Presidents and four Yice-Presidents, half of each Conncil being of the Chinese, and half of the Man-elm race. The unique feature of Chinese organisation is, of course, the Council of Censors, the “Court Watchful over Everything,” composed of twelve special censors chosen daily to inspect all administrative offices, aiding with their counsel or criticism and providing a court of final appeal. All its members are chosen from Academicians, and the election is one of the highest honours that can be conferred on a Chinese savant. It will thus be seen that the ideal set before Chinese statesmen is a very elevated one; and if it be urged against the system that the practice often falls short of the theory under the influence of corruption, we must remember that political corruption has not been wholly unknown in civilisations of more modem growth. Descending from the large family of the State to the family proper, we find morality safeguarded by the general responsibility of the whole family for the acts of its component members. A criminal act committed by an individual brings punishment on all his relations, on the principle that they should have better trained and looked after him. The honours achieved by an individual, on the other hand, extend even to his ancestors. Filial piety is the basis of all Chinese morality; disobedience to parents is the most unpardonable sin. A case of parricide would involve a whole village in disgrace and punishment for producing a hideous criminal. The effect of this system is to bring a strong force to bear on the moral welfare of relations and neighbours, and one which might with advantage be employed in connection with our own Colonial larrikins. The great source of national wealth is, of course, agriculture, and a glance at the system of cultivation in China throws some light on the remarkable success of our Chinese immigrants in that direction, Subdivision of the laud is carried to an extent unknown elsewhere. The land is worked on the family system, and so extraordinary is the diligence of these workers that the soil seems to rise to every call j made upon it by an ever-increasing i population. It is claimed by Chinese j statisticians that as each member of a family produces more than he consumes, the surplus thus obtained, when applied to the further imI provement of the soil, renders it equal to each fresh call. One would think, however, that there must come a day when population will overtake the supplies from the soil, and, from a Colonial point of view, that will prove a very unpleasant day. The world may possibly yet wish that European enterprise had left this mysterious ; people to the seclusion so dear to them, instead of insisting on tapping a stream which it may bo found difficult to dam. A spare hundred million or so of Chinamen seeking fresh homes in a world that baa been revealed to them originally against: their will would conctitute" a somewhat embarrassing problem for modern statesmen.