The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1869-07-31

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use of qualifying words, we are oblige
to answer Mot quite one huudre
, years."
THEIR CIVILIZATION STATIONARY.
We are apt to speak with contempt Q
Chinese civilization, and certainly it
very far behind our own but it has nc
4 always been so. Ten centuries ago the
were the most civilized people on til
globo. While our ancestors, ignoran
of the art of printing, were making al
their books by the tedious AMI expen
sive process of manuscript writing. tn
Chinese were printing books by the thou
sand. While our ancestors went fortl
! to battle, fighting hand to hand, igno
rant of power and its uses, the Chimes,
were making powder and frecrackers
every day. While our ancestors Were
ignorant Of glass and its uses, the Chi
nese drove a large business among them
selves in the manufacture Of glass. Blu
the trouble is-there she stands. JUS
as she printed books then, SO sh.
prints books now, just such powder anc
just such glass as she made then, just
as she makes now. No improvement
No advance for many century.
What is the cause of the intellectual
stagnation Of the nation Some flip.
PANTY answer: " They are an inferior
race and lack necessary brain for the
development of the highest civilization. u
But we may we'll question whether peo-
pie who, unaided from foreign sources,
have eliminated system of government
which has controlled the greatest nation
of the globe for centuries, can be charged
with an irremediable deficiency of brain.
In the national difficulties of 1S4O, the
London Times being judge, the official
dispatches of Commissioner Lin were su-
perior in argument, in political acumen,
and i'll elegance of diction. to the dispatch
es Of any of the representatives of the
foreign nations with whom he had to deal
Was be deficient in brains2 When the
Emperor To Kuong was pressed to legal
ize the traffic in opium, the old man an
swerea: Il know that my purposes will
be frustrated know that designing men,
for the purpose of illicit gain, will clan
destinely introduce the drug into my
country, but announce to the honorable
ambassadors that nothing under heaven
shall Influence me to legaIize the certain
ruin OF my people," Was not that an
swer statesmaunke as well as noble and
patriotic There is to-day in the Bank
of California a native Chinaman, who
not mere y in the beauty of his penman-
ship, but in the rapid;ty and accuracy
of his reckoning, is surpassed by no ac-
countant in this city. Does this argue
a du .lness ut intellect?
PROSPECTS OF MORE RAPID IMMIGRATION
The great recommendation of Chinese
labor is its chrapness. No people in the
world are such close economists. I hey
will live we'll according 70 their ideas,
where an Anglo-Saxon will starvc. a
little rice surfccs them, little pork
added constitutes high living, a little
chicken the highest Of luxury. Go into
Chinese habitation and you will find
every inch utilized. "A room ten feet
square will bunk dozen. besides afford
ing workshop, kitchen and eating room.
Reduce wages to the starvation point
for Yankee, and the Chinaman will
not only live better than at home, but
lay up money.
Now, capital on this coast clearly per-
ceives, and it will soon see it in the At
lantic States, that its interests lie in the
free and rapid importation of these cheap
workers Irish demagogues may oppose,
but there can be but one issue to this con.
test, Mobs midnight and inceudiarism
will avail nothing. The Pioneer Woolen
Mills were once burned for employing
Coolies, but now, like other mills, they
employ as many as they can. "A year
ago the Chinese graders in San Francis
CO were driven from their work by the
Irishmen they displaced; but long ago
the protecting police guard was with
drawn.
Large numbers Of Chinamen are al
ready employed as servants in hotels,
boardinghouses and families taking the
places of girls in chauberwork aud
cooking, in which they quickly become
For twelve months large
part of tie immigration has been boys
from ten to sixteen years old, who are
Immediately put to service in families,
where they soon pick up knowledge
of every day words and Of household du-
ties. In truth, the Chinese in Califor-
MIA are rapidly monopoising employment
in all the. higher branches of industry
usually allotted to women, such as run
ing sewing machines, aki e paper
bags and boxes, binding shoes and pack
ing machines. E. ....
THEIR ADAPTATION TO MANUFACTURING.
Another leading characteristic of the
Chinese is their patience This patient
steadiness peculiarly adapts them for
tending machinery. The tendency of
modern prodnctionis is to greater and
greater subdivision of labor-to confne
the operative to one part of the process,
and to require OF him close attention,
patience and manual dexterity. rather
than knowledge, judgement and brain
power. 1t is in these qualities that the
Chinese excel. California has always
produced an abunaance of wool but
he high price of labor was an impas-
sable barrier to its manufacture. But
ne plan OF experimenting with Chinese
abor suggested itself. 1t was tried, and
t proved entirely satisfactory. The fore
nen in these mills declare that with No
,ther operatives are they SO we'll and
oroftably served. They are promptly
It their post, .bpy work without lag
ing they have no gossip SO common
vlth faetory girls, and which involves