New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-28
NEW PUBLICATION.
THE CHINESE QUESTION

York: Charles scribners Sons.
This ia n very timely book, coming as it does close
upon the heels OF the new treaty with China ana IN
the midst of the discussion Of the subject OF CHINESE
Immigration. No one can dispute Mr.. Sewards
ability to treat the subject intelligenty He lived
fourteen wears iu China as Consul General, and
afterward held the position OF United states MIN
later TO Pekin. In all that concerns the Chinese
side of the question such the habits ana inor"is
of the Chinese, their tendency to lmmierate' anu
the class of people that come TO our shores nc HAS
had abundant opportunities to become exception
ally we'll posted. The California side Oh Tue qucS,
ton he has given some personal Observation TO- an"
has collected OF pertinent facts IRON the rs
ports of committees Of Congress and the otate
Ieois,ature. He saws in his preface that he ap-
proached the subject with strong feeling that the
limited States ought not to interfere unnecessarily
with immigration because in so doing we would
depart from PRINCIPLES well established III our Ma
tonal life and because arbitrary interferences WIN
natural processes prove, as rule, unaVal'lng anu
injurious; and that as he proceeded with his WORK
he became satisfied that no necessity exists LOT sucn
action. 81 found" he continues, that the ChlheSe
have been of great service to the people OF the
Pacific Coast that they are still needed thete out
in less important measures that the objections
which have been urged against them are in the
main unwarranted; and that the minor evils incl
Gent to their presence may be readily abated under
existing treaties and within the ordinary lines Oh
legislation" The reader is thus given talr NOTICE at
The outset OF the conclusions the author seeks 10
Establish and will not be surprised to find III tho
Volume vigorous. well-connected argument iortl-
fled by O strong array of facts and opinions IN
favor OF treating the Chinese Immigrants just as
we treat those of other nations.
Mr. Seward thinks the number of Chinese IN the
limited States has been overestimated He places
the number in California at 10000, and i'll the
whole country at 100000. The conditions OF the
labor market on the Pacific Coast which brought
them IN large numbers to our shores, he thinks are
changing so as no longer TO attract leln as NTH
erto. As the population increases and the younger
generation comes forward, the demand for chinese
tabor diminishes. The proportion of tho Chinese to
the total population of California is shown to be
steadily decreasing He is confident that no great
wave of Chinese immigration is to be apprehended
In the future. The Chinese people are dor
msrt If they should be stirred into nc e life and
activity, and find their territory too limited for
their energies we shall have abundant warning of
any movement which may threaten our prosperity,
and can protect ourselves against it.
The advantages California has derived and is still
deriving from Chinese labor are discussed in sew
eIal interesting chapters devoted TO tho part the
Chinese take in railroad building. the reclamation
of swamp lands, working abandoned mines farm
service. Mr.. Seward denies that they have ruined
the labor market On the contrary. he asserts that
they have opened many channels of industry
which conld not be carried on without them, in
which they perform the simpler kinds of labor and
thus make places for Americans in the higher
forms. The average of manufacturing wages, he
says Is still higher than in the East and farm labor
still commands about double Eastern rates. He
therefore concludes that Chinese labor does not dis
Lob h1fc
That the Chinese in California are not vicious
people Mr.. Seward proves by statistics showing the
small percentage of their number who are confined
in the penal institutions of the Statea pretty con-
elusive form of evidence when we remember the
notorious unfrendliness of California uries toward
the Asiatics. An exceedingly interesting chapter
is devoted to the Chinese system of ethics, and
transatons are given OF the charts of COnfucan
morals which taught in the schools of China and
are synopsis of rules and precepts applying to ali
the relations of life. On the question of the in
fuence of this excellent code of morals upon the
Chinese who have come to the United States. the
author says:
1t may be asked what tho COnfucan classics and |
ethics have to do with the Chinese ia California.
answer at once that they have much to do with
them. The whole structure of government in |
China is permeatod by the principles Of which they
the eXpositors. The whole character OF family
life has been moulded by them. There is no China
in his native country, or IN ours whose concep-
tons OF fal duty have not been affected by the
sentiments which Confucius taught, and which
have come to be part OF the daily life OF the i'm
mense masses Of the empire. All the influence OF q
Government which is founded upon the patriarchal
idea and has devoted no small part of its efforts 10
the diffusion of education, and has considered edu-
cation as having for its more Immediate object the
diffusion of a system of morals suited TO the re-
Qurements OF the people and the stability oil the
Empire have been so directed as to give authority
to his teachings. The Emperor is the father of his
people. His officers take his place as such in the
administration Of affairs If the father or the
mother of any officer dies he must retire from duty
for period Of years TO mourn for the deceased one.
To wives or daughters who have shown eXtraOI
binary devotion, monuments Of impcrlshabie stone,
large, ornameDted, and engraven with legends de-
scribing the merits of the individual put by
Imperial decree and may be seen scattered at not
infrequent intervals along all the highways of the
Empire The worship of ancestors has grown out
of this system of ethics and OF the efforts made by
Government, and every Chinaman among us who
arrangcs in life that his bones shall be sent back to
his native land to rest with his ancestors bears un
conscious testimony to the influence OF the great
teacher.
It is idle to say. then, that the Chnaman who
reaches our shores. does no6 bear with him the hi-
pulses derived IRON the ethics OF his lace lie has
He has imbibed them from the attitude of respect
insensibly adopted by every member Of his family
toward the parents Of the family, and by every
member of his community toward the elders OF the
place. He knows no other pathway than that
which mas been tiOdden from time imnenoral by
the teeming millions of his countrymen on the pill
grimage of life AS he hopes for prosperity here, or
rest in the land beyond the grave he draws the
faith OF his ancestors to his heart 1t is always
present. overshadowing belief, which does not keep
him perfectly in the ways Of Iecttude, but what
faith is there of human or divine origin which &C
complishes perfectly that result And il there IS
failure and stern, let us still remember that
charity which recommended to as by our own sys-
TEN as the greatest of all our duties, and which
would lead us tc add not to his burdens, but to
cheer and encourage him by example and by deed.
mistake the generosity OF my country people, Try
faith in human nature is too cOnfding: If We are TO
take any other course. That great sentiment which
has enfranehised and raised mp whole nation OF
another race and hue which is providing for tho
sick and fathereSs among US by charitable nstitu-
aitsIIla