PROBLEMS OF THE EAST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19419, 30 August 1926, Page 12

PROBLEMS OF THE EAST.

ADOPTION OF WESTERN WAYS DIFFERENCE IN VIEWPOINTS. THE INDUSTRIAL PHASE. Difficulties surrounding the. adoption in the East of Western political ideas and social standards were referred to yesterday by Mr.. J.. Merle Davis, general secretary of the Institute of Pacific Relations, in an address in the University College arts building. The Hon. George Fowlds presided. Mr. Dans said that in his travels he had been greatly struck with the profound differences in the social fabrics o£ the countries bordering the Pacific. The fundamental basiis of Eastern social life was the family or group system, "wherein the individual had no significance. On the .other Mtt'd, CHfe West regarded the community as of" no motneriF whatever, apart ,from' t Hs' Capability'in''assisting'the progress of the nation. As Western influence permeated'the East, the grip on the group systcyn' slackened, and vast- difficulties were created among the people who for generations had been brought up on other traditions. "The Japanese are open to more serious misinterpretation than any other people in the world to-day," Mr. Davis continued. "They go on the principle that a stranger is 'a crook' and a man to be watched until he proves himself. The Anglo-Saxon acts on the assumption that a man is a gentleman until he shows he is not. These two peoples are bound to misunderstand each other and to have heart-burnings, if not direct, conflict." The Factor oif Time. The United States felt that the Japanese community on the Pacific coast, was beingengineered from Tokio, and fears and suspicions had been caused by the compact social life which was considered a danger to the economic system. While in China recently; Mr. Davis said he was asked by the then Premier if he could not communicate in some way to the West that .the Chinese needed more time to effect changes. He lamented that the West ignored the long history of China. They had democratic .institutions but understood nothing about republican gov : eminent. 'Surely, he argued, if, France took., so. Jong to - secure; good government it would take them longer. They had been settling down like cement for 400 years, but he failed, to see how. the cement of tradition wa.; suddenly to be run into new moulds as the West expected. For this reason the West would have to be patient. The opinion that the industrial revolution in England in the nineteenth century would assume the importance of a prologue -to the drama: of the inidustrial■isafitm of iVa's" expressed bv Profess^erbury .Col-.

Trade Competition. .;'« The increase', inexport of Japan'.B staple product, .raw silk, had increased fivefold .since "the war, period' as. a direct result of . the application of scientific method's, lie said. Whereas New' Zealand was proud of a capacity 'of'66,ooo'electrical units, 'Ja'pan commanded '2,000,000. oljhiSr w v a.q.;,typical of her,,production.- The great disturbance of- the; econdmic.equilibrium of - the East would be greater wb<?n i t came .than, we- had yet come realise. The conditions existing! tf-day- in" such Eastern cities as Bombay ana Shanghai were - comparable .with those-existing, in London, Liverpool and-.. Manchester ..early last century, when: women-'worked in the .mines and child labour was an existent,•©vi|i >• *. . l >-. Cheap labour, -in these.places was going -to be a greatgr, a blow tiQ.Jgngland than to indeed, ala in vm~ wi&jlwfl .hit in!-.nearly -every important market in. .the Ear East .as a. result of Japan's trade activities. If Lancashire .workmen were out- of work on the streets, it did not seem,reasonable that New. Zealand could sell them her butter and frozen meat if they., had ho money with which to buy. For this reason he suggested . that New Zealand was concerned in the business of the Far. East.