Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-10-19
The Rural Masses in China.


A family, c. D., consisting of eight
persons, owns an acre and n half OF
land. The land was bought by the
grandfather of the present head and has
lever been subdivided since nor added
%. He grows about seventy bushels of
ice and thirty-iiye of wheat and some
,egetablcs and cotton besides, worth
altogether in money about fifty dollars.
tie has two nephews vino work outside
and bring home something to- help. and
n that way they get along, but they
are very poor He pays Government
land tax To- the extent of one dollar and
fifty cents year. He ald all his
neighbors wear native blue cloth, spun
and wove in the family by the women
from cotton grown by themselves. He
never wore foreign cotton. The coat
he had ON ca well-worn affair." had been
made two years previously, and il would
last two years more. IL served him at
night rs n covcrlct rs we'll rs coat 10y
day.
Another family owned four acres odd,
only part of which was suitable for rice
culture. Their income was about eighty
bushels of wheat and one hundred and
they could usually sell. They paid
something over three dollars a year as
Government land tax. They also grew
more cotton than they could Use, and
sold every year about ten dollars worth.
they were better off than some of their
neighbors, but never saved any money.
They had fifteen mouths to feed.
The foregoing cases are given because
they represent fairly the average con-
lition tO be found in rural China. The
greater number of cultivatOrs belong TO
the class of tenants. Some say the
proportion OF tenants to peasant propri-
rtOrs is aS seven To three; others put il
rs three 10 two; but, whether tenant or
proprietor, the condition Of the culti-
vatOr is much the same-that is, il rare
" rises above what is just enough for
the bare necessarics of life. NY own
observations have been mostly confined
to this and adjoining provinces, and
exclude the cultivatOrs of tea, silk and
opium. who, growing u commodity
more and more i'm demand and easily
transportable, are in n far better posi-
ton than the ordinary peasant; but
speaking for the greater part of China,
] believe | am not overstating the case
in saying that for the working agricult-
ural masses it is daily hand-to-hand
struggle with want. In succession OF
good years they are very comfortable,
they have enough to eat and To wear,
and they have few other wants; but
population is ever increasing up 20 the
food limit, and when bad year or two
comes they die off by hundreds of thou
sands.
Two or three causes may readily bc
named as having mainly conduced Il
this state of things-causcs which are
generally to be found among Asiatic
races. The rule prohibiting the devolu
ton of property by will, aud making
division compulsory among all male
children, tends readily TO reduce al
holdings to n minimum is, to the
very lowest quantity out of which it i.
possible To make living. Here, a:
everywhere else, energy and good lucl
raise individuals To a position of wealth
who may. if they choose, become larr,
, landowners; but i'm the course of few
generations this universal equalizer
aided by the apathy of the ordirnar,
chinese when in comfortable circum
stances, will have reduced things to the
former dead level. Another equal,
potent factor is the habit of too early
marriages. Parents deem it religion,
duty to provide matches for their chill
lrcn ~ soon rs they are of marriageabl,
years, and the young people 90 To tn,
altar In much the same way rs they g,
To- school in Europe. 1t never occurs Il
them to ask first whether they have lin,
means To marry or whether there will
be enough To ill tho mouths that ma,
come afterward, The evil is further
aggravated by the joint family system
which takes the responsibility off one:
own shoulders and puts it jointly OF
that Of half-a-doZen others. When 4;
man knows that he will get an equa
share Of what is going, whether ne earn
/ Il or no, and that the benefit of his DENY
Ing himself any particular indulgence,
/ will accrue to- others ~ we'll rs himself
great motive for thrift is Withdrawn
In one respect the Chinese peasant i
! IN better position than The lndiaI
| ryOt; he Is not i'm debt To mOney-lcnders
/ But | dO not know that that is a virtu
/ Tor which he is entitled to much credit
/ Tor there is no class of money-lender
/ To whom he could get In debt. Indeed
ann not sure that he is not thereby il
4 a less advantageous position, for whcr
hard years come he has no means q
pledging his property, which, if h
could, might save him from shoe
! starvation.
IL is melancholy thought, but i
seems inevitable, both in the case of tn
Chinese and Indian peasant, that tn
great bulk should necessarily be i'm
state OF constant poverty. The foo,
production is limited. A good, stabl
Government may remove many natura
checks on the latter. with the object d
improving the condition of the people
but II Is doubtful If that is any rea
Kindness. II only postpOncs the iney
table, and drives them on 10 annthe
check all the more terrible because dc
layed. Emigration and sclf-restraint
the only true remedies, are hopeless i
dealing with an ignorant populstio
counted by hundreds of millions
Cor. London Times.
| -
The Egyptian Army.
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