The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1882-08-19

Go sip about the Chinese.


BY AN AUSTRALIAN VISITOR AT SINGAPORE.
From a letter to the Sydney Morning Heraid)
The question of Chinese ascendency in
the East is one that is attracting some atten-
ton in the Settlements. and so far as [
could Judge they are rapidly becoming mas
tiers of the situation. At Penang and on the
Peninsula, as well as in Singapore. they
have secured the princip' i share of all the
business; while the steamers owned by
Chinese are doing the whole of the the local
carrying trade, and they have them now
running all over the Archipelago-and good
modern built vessels many of them are,
same of them in which | have sailed being
nearly 400 tons register. These vessels are
sailed by English captains and officers but
generally Scotch engineers, the whole of
whom receive liberal salaries. and seem we'll
content with their tres by the Chinese
owners /; and as each of them carries a
Chinese supercargo, the duties of the Cap
tains are merely to sail their vessels. l
rather think that in less than a thousand
years Master John will be competing for
the Australian trade, Notwithstanding the
Chinese Restriction Acts passed by the
various colonies for in the Singapore and
Straits Settlements I" John I" is a very differ
emf animal from John of Pekin. The
former is, in spite of our ~prejudices, an ex-
celleat co!Icniist ;;~heis conservative only in
the sense of Directing to violent changes,
the import of which he does not fully un
derstand but his k~neenness for trade and
large development of acquisitiveness soon
place himself in possession of property,
which he knows can only be protected by a
strong and secure Government he is, there
fore, a strong supporter of law and order.
He is very enterprising and always prepar-
ed to risk a fair speculation. whether it be
tin. tapioca, sugar. or ships, and it is no
exaggeration to say that, take the Chinese
away from the Straits Settlements. and they
would collapse like a punctured wind-bag.
the Government know this. and they wisely
deal tenderly with their peculiarities and
preiudi :es. AS to the future it would be
impossible to p~rophesy, but it may safely be
said that many years will not elapse before
China will knock at our doors and demand
that her people shall be treated on the same
terms as 9th r nations and whether we
look upon it as retribution or not, England
and America may rely upon it that the
sound Of their cannon has Weakened a COM
mercial Nemesis that will follow them into
every avenue of commerce, and unless the
whole commercial and social systems of the
A~nglo-Saxon race shall undergo such radi-
cal changes as that our people are enabled
to live Upon half their present profits, they
will find a yellow" commercial conquest
imperceptibly stealing upon them. John
does not come as a clustering conque'er-he
knows better he does not like fighting. and
prefers to come in a meek and submissive
manner. All he requires is to be left alone.
knowing full we'll that his baskets will soon
be laid aside for a stall, or nook, or corner
somewhere. on which to display his wares,
during which time he awakes no antagon-
ism or resentment from the European bust
ness men but as the sta 1 gradually de-
velops into a full-sized toxic, the merchant
begins to realise that All Coon is also a
merchant and a dangerous rival. for not
only do h W countrymen deal with him
as a matter of course, but it begins to be
generally acknowledged that you can pur-
chase for cash the very same goods about
25 per cent. cheaper from All Coon than
from Brown. Jones, and Co. The result is
that Brown. Jones. and Co. begin to lose
their European cash purchasers, or they
must submit to great reductions in their
prices and if the hard dollars go to one
store, Will, the soft promises to pay 60 to
the other, it is not difficult to say which
will cave in first. Tais form of conquest is
slower than by ri1ed cannon, but it is more
effective and more difficult to resist, for at
stage of the fight do you seem justified
in raising your hand. If John would buster
you could knock him down if he would
show fight you would have an excuse for
him out of the country-but he does
if he meets you he will wish you
good morning in fair English, and smiles as
he had made peace with man and
God. The Dutch realize this position of
affairs in Batavia and other large ports, and
the English feel it keenIy in Singapore and
while we IN the colonies are not
some little experience on the SUBJ
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