THE CHINESE QUESTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1029, 19 August 1871, Page 1

THE CHINESE QUESTION.

Thk Celestial element is increasing — some will ha\e it Midi alarming rapidity, in our jnidsi. The Chinaman, it may be, is seeking in Otago, as he is elsewhere amonu the British and IndoEuropean races, the probable fulfilment of his destiny. And, although a disjointed raid is bring e\er planned against him, yet with stolid Oriental indifference, or in ignorance of the existence of an anti-Chinese feeling, he moves on, rather in obedience, a* it would seem, to the laws of his apathetic nature, than to impulses born of a spirit ofcnterpri.se, that h.nes to face and dare opposition. 'With no speculation apparently iv his soul, Jows possesses great physical endurance and perseverance, and these stand him in good stead, until in fact, as it would .seem from his career in California, he becomes the chosen servant for all the inferior descriptions of labour. If he gets no voice in the social institutions of the country wherein he is a .stranger (he neAer lias expressed a desire for it, and probably ne\er will) he has all he wants — to grub about, hoard a little treasure, and take the place-, of it drudge. In San Francisco, from IS«2h(«,£S#oj 3io fewer than \H), ()()() x ( 'hines'" immigrants arrived, 7-V){)<) beings pi-aj^ly in round numbers distributed" through, the United States ai present. The conveyance thither and subsequent care of these immigrants is managed by tivo Chinese companies established in San Francisco. Their names are respectively, ' Yrxr; Wo,' 'Si Yap,' 'Sam Yap,' 'YaxWo, 1 and <Nixg Yi:rxc;.' By these companies they are brought from the ' poverty of their life' in the flowery land to the generous shores of California, These companies are the links by whieli connexion is maintained with China. The Chinese are, under the protection and guidance of these societies from the moment of their inhaling the la,st whiff of the amhrosijtl odour of Celestial shuns, till they are returned thither alive, or as embalmed bodies. The companies are their responsible agents all through. This has hitherto been the case ; and, concomitant with this, has been the feeling by which they have been regarded by the miners to whose fields they always first resort. But the striking change that has now occurred is, that the American-* of their own accord, and as a matter of economy, are importing Chinese. The cotton planters in the Southern States, taking into consider; it ion the difficulties of their labour system, and that the standard of Chinese labour in San Francisco is much higher than it, would otherwise I»e, but fov the commissions and charges of th»> Chinese Companies, have combined and chattered a ship, now making the, passage to Hong Kong for a cargo of immigrants. American planters have thus become, of their own choice, and for their own benefit, importers of Chinese labour ! Such is the movement that is iv progress, and which leads us to ponder the concluding sentence of the account which we published in our issue of the 12th inst., and from which we derive these facts, It is as follows : 'The present condition u ol' our^ lal,f!lir system is to be fcired of all men. ;L J h.a any improvement can. come to 'it, excepting bj means of the present competition, is impossible. That closely bound up in it are our present happiness and future prosperity, i£ a plain truth obvious to a)l. As no

groat event can take place in the world without a wise ulterior design, it may be that the tinal solution of the labour problem will be found in the advent into the West of the ' heathen Chinee.'

And yet it is before the unwearied plodding of the Chinese and theirunityof action that we hear of European miners confessing their own weakness. We cannot help thinking it is a humiliating confession ; and believe that a combination of men submitting to be led by those who thoroughly understand the work, and to be wilder strict discipline, would accomplish results, wonderful, when compared, with those of the Chinese. Where mining has been crowned with the most complete success, it has been by European miners working together patiently aud systematically. 'It is idle talk,' says a contemporary, ' to say that we c mnol combine and manage our labour like the Chinese. We reply that we must. Where would Ballarat be if our de sultory system were pursued there ? We must adapt ourselves to circumstances, and right the enemy with his own weapons, which will do moi'C for us than any legislative enactment.'

We readily grant that the exodus from China is, in many respects, far from desirable ; and that it bears specially hard upon the miners, since at the best it gives them a competitive battle to fight, which otherwise they would have been saved from. But let them .steadily and resolvedly fight this b title, and the very habits and discipline acquired in doing .so will not be lost. The destiny of the Mongol hordes will be, fulfilled, it may be, according to the hypothesis mooted. But large numbor.s would certainly be forced to betake, themselves to other lauds would the miners but effectually combine to .secure for themselves the riches that remain in our alluvial iiekls.