The Evolution of the Boycott.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXII, Issue 12796, 30 September 1905, Page 3 (Supplement)

The Evolution of the Boycott.

The Chinese boycott of ■ American goods shows no sign of abatement in spite of diplomatic representations cn the one hand and assurances on the other. The American Government has shown a ready appreciation of the serious character of the movement, and has done what could be done to convince the Government_at Pekin that the act of excluding American goods from the markets of China is an unfriendly, and possibly even a dangerous one. The Chinese Government, it need hardly be said, has responded by cordial assurances that nothing can be further from, its wishes thq.n to give offence, und that steps have been taken to put a stop to the movement complained cf. The boycott goes on as before, however, only, it is reported, more rigid and more widespread than ever. The Chinese Government has kept its word by issuing oiders that the boycott should cease; and this, after all, was the limit of its power in the matter. In no country in the world—in none certainly where population is large and the markets are open to many,.if not all nations—can it he practicable to enforce such an order as this. It is no more possible to make the people of any nation buy goods they do not wish to buy th'an it is to make the proverbial horse drink water it prefers to leave alone. The people of China, are like other peoples to-day, undergoing a process of change and development, and with them it is largely taking the form of a strong, if not- yet a very intelligent, patriotism. ~ Tilt Boxer rising was one illustration of the fact, and the American Boycott is another of the same kind. The influx of the foreign devil and the niaoutrages which (consciously or unconsciously) he did to the feelings of the other people were the occasion of the Boxer rising; the fact that experience showed its methods to have been a mistake has in no way changed the attitude of the Chinese mind towards foreigners and their ways. The Government at Pekin may issue any mandate it pleases; the result will be the same. While the people of China—and by the people we mean the trading and intelligent classes—feel resentment against any particular nation, the people, and not the Government, will decide the policy. There can be no doubt of the resentment felt'at present by China against America, and it can hardly be denied •that it is a natural one. The United States refused to admit the people of the flowery land into the States, and indeed take every Btep possible to get rid of those whp came there before the new policy was formulated. They are willing—more than willing, indeed—to trade with China, but only on the lerms that while they may impose any duty they please on Chinese imports into America, China must not impose a duty exceeding 5 per cent, on American goods seeking a market in China. It is not wonderful that, tbe great people of Eastern Asia should gradually awake to the fact that the arrangement is a little one-sided and insulting to them as an independent people. It is easy to picture to ourselves the temper in which proposals of this kind, if made to the great American Republic by any other nation, would be received in the United States; and even a slight effort to put themselves in the place of tlieir Mongolian friends should enable them to comprehend the position and see that China's new policy is not an unreasonable one. 'lf America is justified—and who can say she is iiot T —in including the wave af Chinese immigration which threatened to overflow the Western States a few years ago, China is not less justified to-day in refusing to do business with a nation which desires only to make use of her markets, while she has as little else to do with her people as possible. It is a curious illustration of the unexpected that from China should come the first great practical evolution of the policy of boycott. The idea after all is essential!} reasonable, and it is also essential'}- up to date. After all boycott is only self-protec-tion, the acknowledged right of each individual, and of every self-governing community. What our Parliaments do by statute, that the associated trading associations are doing to-day for China, withoul the help of a Government. A protective policy, directed to the remedy of externa 1 wrongs, 'can hardly be regarded as less allowable than one which looks to the fostering of our own industries at the expense of foreign manufacturers; but, no mattei how we regard it, there can be little doubt that the new policy adopted by China wi'l find imitators elsewhere as occasion offers. The results may be such as we little suspect. They may lead to a substitution of war by exclusion of trade for wars of violence; they may even build up industrial Vails of division between the nations til" racli is reduced to finding its own trade within its own boundaries, and being content- with such commerce as its own people can supply.—(Exchange.)