The Red Cloud chief., 1883-11-09

L rsssn0A. owns IN ectr az BAH az
land. 2be Land k,gh; by ,he
grandfh 1rr Of the prrS9M bead and
never inen .utriivslcd since no ado
Ia. H6 grows about seventy bushels
| rice add thigty-hyc Of wheat and -,
| vegetables and cotton besides, woI
| altogether in money abou, h:ty deil1 /
tie has iwo ncphews who uork o1f(
md bring home something 90 help. -
in that N, 'h.y grt sIosS. but II
are very poor. lie pays Goy-rn1eM
land tax y, the extent q! On. doilaGDed
fifty rents a year. He aai -
peighbpr. wear native blue eiothI1yon
and woye in the family b. the nen
from cotton grown by ihsmselyA He
never wore foreign cotton IL esas
d. hal On "a wriI-worn affair 10 bern
made two years previously. and J 'sDuid
last two year more. IL -crfcl linn NJ
night n a coreriet ~ vel n ~ BY
day.
Another family owned four G5sT odd.
only part ii which ~as saiia5)B Or rice
| culture. Their income was ah1 elghfy
bushels of wheat and one hGstfcd and
fifty 81 rice. about a fourt6A which
they could usually sell Ito pad
something over three dollaD . year q =
Government land tax. ThG also grew
more cotton than they coil hse. and
sold every wear about ten dDl srs worth.
They were better OF than D0e nj their
neighbour. but never save asy mon~y.
They had fifteen mouths D feed.
The foregoing eases arsg'ven because
they represent fairy tba svrrage con-
dition To be found in rurn1 tAina- The
greater number Of cultsgs.ofs belong 10
the class Of tenants. S4mc say the
proportion II tenants topsAsant propri-
etors il A. seven Ia three Others put IL
rs three 10 two; but. Vhedher n or
proprietor. the cond doa of the cult
vator i. much the saIoe THAT Is, II rare
~ rises above what Is itpt enough for
the bare necesSaries efs life. Ny MI
observations nave bser mostly confined
TO this and adjoining provinces. and ]
exclude the c~ultiyatrS OF tea. silk and
opium. who. growing n commodity
more and more in Hdsmand and easily
transporiable. arcin = far better posi-
ton than the agdsSary, peasant; but
speaking for the 9fssser pan Of China.
! believe ] am not 0vcrstssing the ease
in saying that FOG The working a2ficuit-
ural masses il y x4laily hand-to-hand
struggle with wsnS In n succession Of
good years theynv very comfortable,
they have enolHhSto eat and to wear.
and they haya few other wants; but
population is ev1 increasing up 70 the
food limit, and when o bad year or two
comes they de o. by hundreds Of thou
sands.
Two or thsc@ causes may readily be
named as having mainly conduced 10
generally 70 ~ found among Asiatic
races. The rale prohibiting the devolu-
ton Of prOperty by will. and making
division compulsory among NIL male
children, tcnis readily To reduce all
holdings toS minimum-that Is. To the
very lowest Quantity out Of which it's
possible f. fmake \ living. Here, AS
cvcrywipre else, energy aud good luck
raise indiviGuals to a position Of wealth.
who may. u they choose, become large
land-ownsS e; but in the course Of n few
gencratic1s this universal equalizer.
aiieI by the apathy Of the Ordirnary
Chipcse .rhen in comfortable circum-
stances, will have reduced things Z o the
formtf Head level. Another equally
potcdt factor Is the habit Of too early
MARRIAGES. Parents deem il q religious
duty 10 provide matches for their chill
drea rs Don As they are Of manageable
years ind the young people 60 Ia the
altar in much the same way rs they go
Ia scAbol in Europe. Ii never occurs to
them 10 ask first whether they have the
means>to marry or whether there will
be cnol3p to hll the mouths that may
come Itkrwari. The evil is further
agSce1 tted by the joint family system,
wfsAA takes the responsibility of ones
own ars and puts it jointly on
that Of haifNS4olep Others. When a
man knows that he win .st agssequal
share Of what is going. whether he eas4as
il or no. and that the benefit Of his DENY
ing himself any particular indulgence
Will accrue To others a. well rs himself.
a great motive for thrift is Withdrawn.
In one respect the Chinese peasant is
in a better position than the Indian
ryot; he j. not i'm deb. to moncy-lenderS.
But | do not know that that is a virtue !
for which he is entitled To much credit,
for there is no class of money-lendcrs |
to whom he could get in debt. Indeed.
/ am not sure that he i not thereby i'm
a less advantageous position. for when
hard years com, he has no means of
plcdging his property. which, if he
could, might save him from sheer
starvation.
II is n melancholy thought. hut it
81 ms inevitable. both in the ease Of the |
Chinese and Indian peasant. that the
great bulk should necessarily De in n
state Of constant poverty. The food
production Is limited. A good. stable |
Government may remove many natural
checks IN the latter. with the Object If
improving the condition Of the people:
but it is doubtful il that j. any real
Kindness. II only postpones the incv-
liable, and drives them ON to another ,
check all the more terrible because de- !
laycd. Emigration and self-resiraint,
the only true remedies. are hopeless i'm
dealing with an ignorant population
counted by hundreds of millions
Cor. London Times.