The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-06-30
From the Galaxy, for July.
OUR IMPENDING CHINESE PROBLEM.

our naU00al mOIulLS 10 the mlSty ven th@'
enshrouds the future, we shall see giant
spectre slowly defining its shadowy form
against the Western heavens.
Let US look and reflect; for it is the NIL
rage of distant empire, looming OF one
third of the human race. 1t is the fore
shadowing of problem which only time can
solve; but which is none the less one of the
most important in the worlds history. Let
us examine the elements of this problem:
On the Western shore of the Pacific there
is country, not much larger than the
United States east of the Mississippi, in
which a population of more than four hun
dred millions treads closely upon the capac.
ity of the soil for supporting existence
So true is this, that those years in which
the productiveness of the earth falls below
the average, witness widespread famine and
all the horrors that follow in its train.
By untiring patience and industry, by In
telhgence and the skill attained through
ages of experience, by uniting all these quail
tiles in wrestling from Nature the last atom
she can yield, and, finally, by returning to
Mother Earth, with scrupulOus care, all that
has been taken from her, with interest drawn
from sea and river, this race maintains Its
vitality unimpaired. But it is struggle
for life. So long as the thrOes of this ire
mendous struggle were confined to China by
strong natural and political barriers, they
found a remedy in defamation by famine
and pestilenee. But the past twenty years
have effected as great breaches in the polit-
ieal barrier which the Chinese had raised
about them, as twenty centuries have made
in their ancient wall of brick and stone
The social and political restraints which
have opposed emigration are disappearing,
and the first consciousness of an expansive
power is beginning to show itself in the mar
thine provinces of the empire.
A few years since, the confines of Asia
and its archipelagOes were the horizon of the
world to every Chinaman. The small fields
therein opened to a peaceful race attracted
many enterprising emigrants; but neither
were the openings large enough, nor the
facilities for reaching them great enough to
initiate any very important movement. The
discovery of gold in California and Austria
liza, and the demand for labor on the distant
shores of the Pacific Ocean, gave the needed
impulse. Timidly, at first, small numbers
went abroad; then tens of thousands, until
now there must be nearly two hundred
thousand Cinnamon on the American CONT
nent alone. During these years there has
been, also, a continuous stream returning to
Asia, and carrying home, in the aggregate,
large amount Of money and information.
Thus, the number OF Cinnamon who have
seen the outside world cannot be far from
one per cent. Of the whole male population
of the empire. These act as leaven on
ever-growing circles at home, spreading
among hundreds of millions those stories Of
adventure in distant lands, of wonders, oil
boundless demand for labor and of high
wages, which make individuals think and
become restless. Thoughts arise which,
when they become common to large numbers
are intensified to a degree proportionate to
the size of the masses swayed by them, until
the sympathetic attraction of remote coun-
tries produces the tidal wave and currents
of emigration. The measure of this move
ment is the exact resultant of all the social
and physical forces which operate in its ac-
ton. These are, of course, intricate and
obscure beyond computation; but they are
resolvable, in general terms, into one set of
favorable and opposing forces in China, and
other sets, with different resutants, for each
country outside of China.
INDUCEMENTS TO ENuGRATE.
In China We have one.tbird of the human
race, suffering from an excessive death-rate
and all the misery of an incessant struggle
for life, with no remedy but the ability to
overflow into other lands, until the popula-
ton at home shall stand in proper ratio to
the means of support.
Leaving out all other questions, the capa-
city of America for receiving emigration is
at present boundless, as compared with the
capacity of all the world to supply it. An
eminent English geographer has carefully
calculated that the two Americas are capable
of supporting thirty-six hundred millions of
inhabitants. Room and subsistence are not
wanting. The capacity for absorption of
labor is scarcely more limited. The end of
the long-continued exodus from Europe can
not be far off; to think otherwise is to believe
unjustifably in rapidly approaching decay
of the nations beyond the Atlantic. Social
and political reforms raising the condition of
the people, especially that of the women of
the lowest classes, the increase in industrial
prosperity, and the continued drain of skilled
labor to foreign countries, seem to be silent,
ly working throughout Europe toward the
establishment of proper balance between
population and means Of support.
The Chinaman in this country was for
years excluded from all participation in the
development of the national prosperity, and
was grudgingly allowed to work only in those
gold diggings which were considered worth
less by the American. But when pressing
necessity arose for labor on the public works
of California and Nevada, the Chiuaman was
found to answer every need; and now, hav-
ing become identified with our internal i'm
prOvements, he has obtained recognition as
a necessary element of pOpulation-the ex-
ecutiOn of great enterprises is based on his
cooperation For veal or woe, the Pacific
Railroad is uniting more distant extremes
than the two shores of our continent.
The facilities for crossing the Pacific are
yearly increasing; and so is also the knowl-
edge of America in China. Unless obsta-
cles be placed in the way, immigration will
increase rapidly; with additional encourage
ment it will soon become enormous.
Having no rights, exposed to continued
extOrtion, treated with contempt and indigni-
ty, branded as an idolator, and charged with
every vice by his scrupulously just, rei-
gious, and virtuous neighbOrs, the China
man, feeling that he has no position here,
seeks California, as the pearl diver does the
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