The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1879-12-06
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Aobertlsfr
SATURDAY. 6.

" International Reciprocity, delivered on Thurs
day, Nov 9th. the occasion being the American
Thanksgiving. The discourse, as we observed
last week. was an able and interesting one, illus
trating the beneficial effects in this age Of the
world Of Reciprocity in Commerce, Science, Lit
erature md Christianity. II was in the elucida-
ton Of the latter subdivision Of his subject-to
which more time was devoted than to either Of the
other three-that a portion at least Of the audience
could not agree with the speaker. We refer, Of
course. 10 his discussion Of the . . Chinese Cues
ton, which to the Hawaiians is rapidly assum-
ing the PROPORTIONS Of a question Of life and
death.
The speaker inquired, towards the close Of the
discourse. - Would not the perpetuity Of Hawaii
an rule be more secure with a few thousands Of
immigrants from China, coming with their simple
habits and agricultural prOpensities and obedience
10 law, inherited from a remote antiquity, and no
political aslirations. rather than with an equal
number coming from the opposite shores with
their reckless habits and desires for speedy for
tunes2' Without pausing here to comment on
the inyidious comparison made between the char
acter Of American citizens-the Reverend gen.
ueman's own eountrymen-and that Of Chinese
coolies. we may remark, that in point of fact
I - - ~ AN w HADDaBAlllJ ludb z
Will ever be thousands Of the former immigrating
to these Islands to jeopardise the perpetuity Of
Hawaiian rule lat experience and common
sense do teach US that unless preventive measures
are soon adopted, many thousands of Chinese
will in u few years swarm over these Islands; and
once in the majority, Hawaiian rule and the
Hawaiian race itself will speedily disappear.
Once having a numerical superiority in the
country, the C~hinaman. " with his simple habits
and agricultural propensities, - will soon convince
his quondam friends and apOlogists that he is suf-
fciently astute to comprehend that he is mas
ter of the situation.
We are told that " Our Island Kingdom occu-
pies a most advantageous outpost for carrying for
ward this noble undertaking of a world eyangel-
~ization." We apprehend that what is meant by
this sentence is, not that we are to send mission
aries from these Islands to China, but that by the
Chinese coming here we shall have the opportu-
nifty of converting them to Christianity. And here,
with all due Difference to the opinions Of those
of our readers who expect great things from
the lately organized Chinese Christian Church
of Honolulu, and alter summOning all the
:" Heaven-born charity " that is vouchsafed US
we have to confess that our belief in the re-
atty of Chinese conversions is very shaky. We
will qualify the last remark by saying that we
think the sincere converts are few and far be-
tween. We are reminded Of the remark of q re-
turned missionary from China, as reported re-
Gently in an English newspaper, who on being
asked IT the work of converting the Chinese was
successful, replied" Sir, you can have as
many Chinese converts as you will pay for" In
fact. they are a nation of unbehevers, without
oupacfaucaa In this connection Wa Ouofa frnm
a recent issue of the S. f. Call.
Those who have even a passing acquaintance
with Chinese character, know that u Chinaman is
troubled very little about conscience. In fact.
there seems with the entire Chinese race. no high
moral power, to which they acknowledge II res
possibility. This has time and again been OBJ
served in our Courts OF Justice. Ii a suit is on
trial, in which the plaintiff and defendant are
rivals, belonging TO separate companies. and hity
witnesses give testimony on each side, in every in
stance there will be a conflict. Each man will testi-
y according to his personal interest, without re-
gard 10 the truth. This knowledge prepares ne to
believe what the correspondent OF a New York
paper. writing from Marking, China, says about
the Chinese, whose habits he has studied at their
home. The following are his remarks
No people, 1t has been said. has ever been found
which did not profess some kind of religion. The
must savage and the most civilized are alike found
searching out the same essential facts connected
with their origin and destiny. The Chinese have
their Drities also but it would be more difficult
than most people imagine to say in just what their
religion consists. The teachings of COniucius
form the basis VI their national Jurisprudence; but
il can hardly be called Il religion. since it does not
inculcate the worship OF any God. Their TaOuist
faith Is essentially an undeveloped species Of
ratiOnalism. Buddhism is evidently the religion
of the masses in the interior Provinces; but the
generally low character Of its priesthood. and The
dilapidated condition Of its temples. tell an i'm
pressive story Of the growing indifference OF the
educated and influential classes"
A writer in the Friend for the present month,
ovar tho gignafure of a. N n - makes the fol-
lowing pertinent inquiries
&c Now comes the question, what is to be the
liedect OF such a large influx of heathenism on these
Islands. where Christianity has been so recently
established? Which way is the tide Of influence
to turn ? II Christians here can bring the power
of religion to bear upon Them so as to influence
them in the right direction. all will be we'll. IL
not, what is To become Of our Sabbath and our
religious Institutions ?"
What, indeed This writer, however, in
another part Of his communication displays a re-
markable ignorance of the real character OF the
large majority of the Chinese who come here as
immigrants. lie says " Having been brought
up IN their own country under the parental
restraints taught by Coniucius, they have COD
tinued to be from age to age n moral people,
The fact is that the common people of China
know as much about Confucius and his teachings
as do the Zulus Of Africa. Such studies are con-
fined to the ~literati, who constitute the aristocracy
and who are the actual rulers Of China. As to
their morality-"H ii. D." must have lived in a
very circumscribed sphere not to have known that
the influence of the Chinese upon the Hawaiian
people has generally been of a most demOralizing
character.
Returning briefly to tie consideration of the
sermon-we find this remark " Not a few, even
among good Christian citizens, follow in the wake
of q demagogue who has uttered the party cry
and watchword, The Chinese must CO." For
ourselves we may say that we have a hearty dis
gust for both Kearney and his party cries. We
have never, in a single instance, advocated
any such absurd and impracticable policy as
the sending back of those Chinese who are
already here. What we have advocated
and shall continue to advocate while we occu-