Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-04-14
TIL E G H N E s E
AND THE
CHIN A GU ESTION.

n" Chinese Problem Il question of NliLra-
ton of Races Character and Tendencies
! ot the Chinese must l". dcIucrd from
! the past Early "riLiu of CHINESE h>in-
! rY- The arts III taiia different from
those OF any other country.
The Chinese problem is not mere
! Is question of tcmOrarv lis urhance
to a single community. 1t i one of
/ the migration OF Faces; OF the over
tow of redundant populations upon
comparatively unsettled regions. In
it's political, social, ndu trial and
= commercial bear ngs upon the future
i of our country 1t Is of brua,ier i'm
port than any other that has ever
engaged the attention of the Ameri-
can people. Its proper consldera-
/ ton calls for the laborious examina-
ton of many facts, and for a care
| full investigation of their numerous
AMI complex relations. And it re-
uuIres that Investigations be made
and that deductions be drawn, with
the calmne,s of Judicial impartiality.
! In tn $, as in every other matter of
| broad international cOnce n, the
narrow pathway Of truth is that
which lead, to safety, and truth is
gained only by taking facts without
disguise and treating them without
pref JUDGE. My own studies lave
convinced me that Chinese immigra-
ton is full Of danger to our country,
to our institutions, and to our peO-
pie. My reasons for this will be
given in the course of this Article,
and it will be seen that they are
based, not upon unreilecting hostili-
~ to any race, but upon proofs that
we have opened to Il colossal people
The opportunity for limltless az
reimbursement ut our expense, aud
that we have done this with Il reck-
lessness that could only he equalled
by one who, dwelling on lands below
the level of the IA. should break
down the dykes that hold the im-
pending waves. Aud if it shall
seem that | lay too much stress upon
the historical development of China,
her laws, her customs. and the char
actel of her people, remember that
in the subject so wide and so deep,
we shall be most content with our
conclusions if we deduce them, not
from merely proxima data, but
from those that are original and I'M
denfable, even if remote.
For it is only through the study
of the past of China that one may
form Il clear conception of the pres
ent character and tendencies of her
people. And this conception, when
gained, must constitute the basis of
all accurate perception OF her future
relation with the outside world. A
population comprising one thrd of
the human race, OF mental, moral
and physical type Indigenous to tue
soil, unmoditied by external infu-
ences and intensified by isolation
and successive repetition through
/ tens of centuries, must, III the IA
ture of things, possess an inertia
peculiarly its own. The future di-
rectiOn of this can only be foreseen
from Il knowledge of it's line of move
, ment in former times. The slow
but progressive development OF
Cnina has produced a civilization in
which the low level of moral and
physical life incident to debased and
enslaved races is strangely combined
with an intellectual vigor that, in
all the requirements aud vicissitudes
of scomplex social and political sys-
TEN, has proved itself equal to the
promotion of learning and the ex-
: tension of arts, and to the elabora-
ton of methods and traditions of
state-craft not inferior to those that
have controlled the policy of Euro
pean countries and of our own. To
. understand this, and the logical out
come thereof, is manitestly the first
step to proper appreciation OF the
conditions of the conflict, peaceful
or otherwise, impending between
the Turanian and the Aryan races
And such an understanding Is best
gained by the laborious but fruitful
process of tracing the development
OF China through its salient causes
and more noticeable results from the
time when off. shoots of unlettered
: tribes crspt downward from the
Altalc mountains to find homes Oh
the marshy border of the HoaDg Ho
China IS, for the most part, fer
tile plain or basin, bounded on the
K east by the Pacific, ON ali other sides
: by elevated and comparatively bar.
rem plateaus and ranges OF lofty
mountains. 1t Is watered 10y two
great rivers, the Yellow or Hoang.
1 He, and the Blue or Yang ste X mag
b and their tributaries. 1t WAS upon
Z the banks of these rivers that the
Scythlan proSenItors OF the present
, population formed their earliest set
Elements. The date is lost III the
s mists of legendary and mythical ira
s ditions, but it is known that nearly
q twenty three centuries before the
Christian era the Chinese possessed
written language; and as this was
original and not derived from any
t external source, there must have
3 been many ages before this stage OF
comparative progress was attained.
The Yellow River is dyked along Its
lcngth to prevent its floods from
overwhelming the adjoining lands,
$ and its bed Is thirty feet above the
level of the surrounding country
this elevation having been caused by
the gradual deposition OF earthly ma.
> terlal from the heavily-laden waters
Assuming, although in the nature OF
e things it can be only an assumption
5 that this deposit is IN the same ratio
a as that laid upon the valley OF Egypt
by the foundations of the Nile oul
E inches IN u ccntury-it is easy tC
e infer how long period may have
: elapsed since the artificial banks
were first raised by a sedcntary PEG