The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-11-03

A Chinese View.
t5lob ID mocrat.

IlOB ~ mOcrAt.
Although the Chinese question has been a
are or less prominent one in Americ IN pol
Mes any time in the past ten years, we have
sen SO much occupied with our own opin-
| +, Of the Chinese that we have not takens
| Ne trouble to ask what TIE Chinese think of
p. AS n matter of fact, however, therei
h better index or or iterionof nations ia
spgence ard position than its judgment of
|stber nat ions, and W. know the Chinese a
,reat des better after reading the very re-
|1arkable diary which An intelligent Chinese
| AMBASSADOR, Riu Tsjeu, kept during his re-
sent visit TO the civilization of Europe, and
vhich is translated in the October number
hi the Nineteenth Century. As member of
|he literary and ruling class of China, and an
oacM of high rank, ne must be taken as a
representative of the best intelligence and
|mIiyation toe empire can show, and his
orange opinions have enough intrinsic in
|pre:t to demand notice, even IT they We're
rOt as they are representative. Yet the
|inpressiol which his diary conveys is that
|is mind combines the ignorance of
|Il6hood with the decrepitude of old age.
Ire is not only ignorant but hopelessly ig-
|,orant and inveterate in preiudices which can
,ayer be removed, because his intellect Is iu-
|pcsssible to the truth. We do not blame
linn very much for objecting to the railroads
an the ground that "it railroads were laid
|lOwn in China the large class engaged in the
rspsport of men and goods carriers, boat
II ..Aa nd hntn
patton gone" This is II stupid opinion, but
His one which is shared in by so many occi--
dental conservatives that we hesitate TO con-
|lemn it too severely. Every now and then
one meets political economists who, after
twenty years experience Of the sewlng.ma-
|Aipe, seriously argue that it has taken the
occupation Of the sewing girl away, and who
|,ter forty yesrs' experience of the railroad,
|hleys that the locomotive has ruined the
|psns,er. We cannot severely blame the
|Chnaman for mistakes which he had no ex-
perience to correct, when the conservative
American refuses TO correct the same mistake
sAer experience has shown its fallacy. Our
objections to the Cbingman's logic is not
that he is mistaken in a single point but
that he is never right By any possibility; he
never blunders into sound reasoning. 1t
was not enough to say that railroad: would
destroy the occupations of transportation; he
goes on to draw picture of the results Of
RilrOsd building in China which is simply
ludicrous in its absurdity. He says that the
capital required for railroad enterprise is so
considerable that if high freight is not
charged financial failure will result; that
oily rich merchants could afford to use it,
Md he even urges that it is great deal bet.
Ter lvr each mai 70 stay III his own village
and mind his own business than to 90 travel
1g ahlu, through curiosity or rom pleasure.
And finally he cinches his obi ction With an
argument winch must be read
| TO be appreciated: "As | told
tho Interpreter WON Sir I. Wade
sent wish No u England, if foreigners press
their arguments in favor OF railways we
must tel thom outright that this is a matter
/ Of internal administration with which for
eiguers can have no right to NEEDLE, since
China is M independent stale Thus We
close their argument by bringing against
them an srgument of their own international
law and they can have nothing more to say"
Liu Ia jan visited the Times office, and ind
Ing only hall dozen men engagsdin stereo-
Rpiug aud .uuu,us Tho presses, saw 1T once
the evil effects of machinery, and srayely
proceeded to suggest n plan for improving
the kur}pa1n methods Of publication and
helping the condition Of workingmen: "It
seems to me that if no machinery were
used in printing the Times but hand labor
alone, there would DO no difficulty in turn
ing out the necessary number of copies.
Each. workman might be ordered to prepare
sapara.e type, and, as soon as the compo-
'itiOn of the paper was concluded, time
might be fixed by which each man should
produce 100 copies. If this plan were fol-
lowed $500 men would be employed to
produce the 100000 copies required; and il
the daily receipts-S4,375 (!-were divided
amongst these $500 men, each man woulC
get rather over 81 so day; and although
living is dear in England, this sum wOulC
suffice I support family of eight persons
and thus i population of more than 2O,OO'
souls would live by this industry alone
Why then use machinery and rob thes
10000 men of their means of existences