The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-01-29

manufacture, etc, etc, scarcely q /
European Is to be found. Indeed F.
much further. The Cinnamon are |
now pushing to the wall that pro
duct of two civilizations, the Euro |
pean merchant. the nabob of the
Orient.
1t is thus seen, making all allow
ance for demagOguery, for the preju
dlces of the ignorant and the I'M
thinking, that the cOncensus of Opin-
ion is against the unrestricted immi-
grafton of the Chinese. The cause
is obvious. The Chinaman can IN
der-live Us. He can do cheaper
work, simply because his standard of
living is far below ours He not
only eats less-he thinks less-he
feels Leslie LIVES less. In any
competition with the European race,
of which he is capable, he will come
out first. In the 3 struggle for exis-
tence" in fair field, he, as [ believe,
has no competitor.
1t is not claimed that, in any de-
paItment Of effort, he is as capable
as the European. [ believe that the
average European, from hoeing cane
to any mechanical pursuit, can do
more work and better work than the
average Chinaman. But can the
European do work enough to bal
ance the difference in cost of living?
In other words, does not the cost of
| living to the European bear a greater
ratio to the product of his labor than
| that of the Chinaman? UnquestiOn-
ably. In Honolulu, where every
thing is dear, a Chinaman can live,
in his way, for perhaps six or seven
dollars per month-at any rate for
twenty-five cents day. Now what
would this sum amount to in the liv
ing expenses OF an Englishman or
an American? Well, perhaps in
kind of brutal, animal way, he could
| live on five or six times this sum.
| Suppose then that in amount Of work
| and point of finish, three white men
will equal five Cinnamon. Again
suppose the white men be paid twice
the wages of the Cinnamon. Say for
argument, we pay the white men
| two dollars, and the Cinnamon one
dollar each per day. Now counting
! the lowest cost of living to each one
in his accustomed way, the Celestial
will live, thrive, rear family and
save money, while the white mans
family, if he have one, will show
signs of poverty and squalOr. Thus
may do more and better work than
the Chinaman, there is not enough
difference, considering the two modes
of life, to make the industrial con-
test an equal one. Our civil
cation is costly C Gre Our
food is costly, our clothing costly,
our schools, churches, literature, etc,
all cost money. Even our cleanli-
ness and decency are costly, thus
making the fruit and flower of life
! our naoraIs-cOstly.
But" it may be said, "if the
Chinese can beat us in the struggle
| for existence, is it not an evidence
that he is the better man? ," By no
means? If we attach any moral sig
nifcance to the word "better." Turn
the thoroughbred horse and the don
| key out together on equal terms, and
see which will survive; and yet we
do not for a moment call the donkey
"better" than the horse. For most
purposes for which we wish either,
the horse is infinitely the superior.
The " survival Of the fttest," there
fore, in a biological. or scientific sense
is a colorless scientific phrase, with
out any moral significance whatever;
and it Is in this sense used when
speaking Of the Chinese ''surviving"
in an industrial struggle with the
!! European.
Then the question may arise, if
the Chinaman is thus superior in
this industrial sense abroad, when
competing with the European, what
may he become at home provided he
adopts our methods in the arts and
industries of life. May he not be
able to deluge the world with the
products of cheap labor, and thus
ruinOusly undersell all competitors?
If the conditions be closely scrutin-
lied, think this will prove an idle
fear. We must remember that the
environment of the Chinaman abroad
is very different from that of his own
home Abroad he has the use Of our
tools and inventions for the abrIdge-
ment of labor At home he is at a
hand to hand contest with nature,
and is likely to remain thus.
was never so impressed with the
power of a tool, SO clumsy even as a
wheel barrow, to facilitate the IN
aided exertions of man to do work,
as when I saw both Chinese and Jap
anese removing material from rail
way cuts. A mat about two feet
square, with rope attached to each
corner, was spread on the ground,
with a man ahold of each rope. A
fifth man slowly shoveled, or rather
hoed the mat full, and the four men
trotted slowly off and deposited
something like a half -wheelbarrOw-
full. One Irishman with a shovel
and wheelbarrOw would have done
twice the work of the five Orientals
it took to manage the mat. 1t Will
readily be seen that however indus
trious and economical he Is, so long
as he remains at home, Europeans
need not fear him.
AS to his adopting our civilization
and becoming ike Us, think there
is no likelihood. | do not believe it
possible for the donkey, admirable