The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-22
THE ENGLISH MUST GO.
The Heather In Hong-Kong Monopoiizing.
the Foreign Business.

the Foreign Business.
Correspondence San Francisco Chronicle.
The initiative quality OF the Chinese extends
even to counterfeiting European and American
labels and trade marks. The knowledge of GER
tain small articles Of foreign make has created
desire for them in China, and effort to imi-
tate them. So we find at the small shops Chinese
made clocks and watches, and at the stands of
the street vender, combs, tooth brushes, shoe
horns, pocket cutlery and razors, which are
vastly inferior to the foreign goods. but as the
price is as low as the quality is poor. no
one can reasonably complain The knives
the brands of Sheffield firms, whose names are
household words wherever the English language
is spoken. These knives are sold for or
cents EACH while the razors Sheffield brand and
all, can be bought for 10 cents. The last imple
ments are roughly made, and to the thin-skinned
man torture to look at, but with the other
articles enumerated, they show to what an ex
tent Chinese manufactures can be carried, and
at what rates. defying competition, they can be
furnished to the consumers. The reasons why
the Chinese can made and sell SO cheaply as to
put competition entirely out of the question are
the contracted quarters in which they can do
business and the cheapness of their food and
clothing. Their economical. or more Justly,
their s0rbid habits, have been 80 often described
in the general discussion of the Chinese ques-
ton in America as to render all detail unneces-
sary in this place
To hasten their own discontinue. the English
coonists are educating the Chinese in their pub
lie schools and fitting them to hold the positions
of clerks, book keepers and other places that re-
quire intelligence and a certain amount OF edu-
cation. The result will be that speaking En-
glish huently, and easily acquiring the necessary
amount of commercial knowledge they will soon
fill the counting rooms of Hong Kong, as their
untaught countymen have filed the workshops,
city trades and retail avenues of city business.
The typesetting in the foreign job printing and
newspaper Offices in Hong-Kong, as we'll as else
ali kxrs ..tksw~
tors, with the exception of the hybrid emigrants
from Macao, by courtesy called Portuguese,
few of whom act as foremen and perhaps do
share of tho work. The type-setter is neces-
sar1ly above the ordinary artisan in intelligence.
The business of book binding, closely related to
that of printing, is all done by Chinese work
men, even when, rs is sometimes the case, the
establishment is the property of foreigners. But
most of the book binderies where all kinds of
blank books are made-and not few of the
printing Offices also-are owned and entirely
operated by Chinese, even when those doing the
work have the most slender knowledge of pidgin
English.
AS the Chinese have captured and absorbed
the trades and minor lines of business in Hong
kong. they will seventually capture and absorb
those that involve capital and are of greater
range and Importance. One OF these will be the
shipping business, now in the hands of foreign
firms or individuals They already furnish
large proportion of the engineers and pilots do
ing duty on the smaller steam craft that ply In
the harbors, and for short distances along the
coast They understand the making and work
ing of steam engines. They own numerous YES
sells propelled by steam, not to mention their
ships of war, which are entirely manned by ma
tives It is, therefore. foregone conclusion that
they will ere long do large proportion of the
steam carrying trade between the coast ports.
and some OF that to foreign countries. The
power of large and effective organization is yet
to be developed in the Chinese. The China
Merchants Steam Navigation Company may be
regarded as experiment. It attempted too
much, and was failure But just as the war
broke out another company was being organized
by wealthy Chinese to run line of steamships
to Brazil. The effort was abandoned
will soon be renewed, and may
also prove failure. This does not, however,
prevent the owning and operating of one or two
steamships by individual Cinnamon. who will be
able to take the freight and passenger traffic now
intrusted by Chinese to foreign merchantmen.
and portion of that of local European merchants.
This will seriously diminish the business now
done by foreign merchant ships between Shang
hal, Hong Kong, Annoy, Swallow and other coast
ports, and between several of these ports
and those of Formosa Hainan and Ton
quin. All this may take time, but it is sure to
come-at least to the extent of rendering tue
trade of portion Of the shipping firms un-
profitable. The insurance business is gradually
getting into the hands Of Chinese capitalists,
though ere they acquire complete control of it
they will not only have to prove their organizing
power. but that they are as honest as the west
ern nations. 1t is not difficult to see that even
if the Chinese cannot engross these more i'm
portant avenues of finance and commerce. they
can take such portion of patronage and go con-
fuse them that foreign capitalists will find little
profit in attempting to compete.