The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1889-01-31

The possibilities Of the future of Asia and of
Europe were never more patent than just in
this year 1889 This wonderful Empire of
China viii undergo great change in the next
generation, aud the great questions of our eco
nomic future are to be fought cut on Asatic
soil. The day viii come when these 400,000,-
600 of pig-tailed, squint-eyed, Jersey
faced people will enter the manufactur-
ing markets of the world, and with their
power of doing as good work as the
best of our white-faced, straighteyed broth
ers will, on their own soil, be moro fermi-
dable competitors to American labor than the
cheap laborers of Europe have ever been. The
Caucasian can never live on from to 10 cents
day, and the Chinaman can save fortune on
what would be starvation to him. | do not be-
lieve that the difference in the natural skill
and in natural intelligence, or rather intellect
ual power, is much in our favor and no think
ing man can come to China and not be struck
with the imminent danger which the awaken
ing of this great race might bRing upon the
rest of the world. The Chinese who are sent
to America are not a fair type of the people
here They are the lowest of the low, and the
poorest of the poor. They come from the south
ern Provinces Of China, where the climate is
detrimental to manly growth, and If they have
alarmed the people of the United States, how
much more should these Chinese giants of the
north alarm them. There is as much differ
ence between the sections as between England
and Italy, or as between the Northern States
! and South America. The Chinese / see here
are entirely different from those | saw at San
/ Francisco. They are taller and stronger.
| Many of them are fully six feet high, and they
| are big boned and strong limbed. They show in
/ their faces different characteristics. They
1 have larger noses and straighter eyes. There
1 are many noble aud intellectual faces among
! them, and they have as many different types
1 of features as have our mixed people of the
United States.
What strong men they are!
Here at Tientsin, where all the goods for
North China come and are reshipped, | see as
busy scenes as along the busiest wharves of
! New York city or Liverpool. The work is all
| done by mans muscle, and these Cinnamon
| can carry loads which would break down an
| American, a German or an Englishman. Some
| of them / am told can easily carry 600 pounds,
and / see men with from 200 to 400 pounds on
their backs every time / go into the street.
They thrive with scanty clothing, but they do
not, as do the people Of South China live en-
! tirely on rice. 1t is said that he who drinks
beer thinks beer, and it is ! suppose the same
with the food man eats. The rice eating peo-
ple are said to not be as strong as the beef eat
ing and the wheat-eating. These men eat
meat; at least the markets are many, and | see
cook-shops everywhere sell soups aud bread of
| wheat, maize and millet.
There is no foolishness about the people of
| this part Of China. They know that life is to
be fought for, and they are up early and go to
bed late. There is none of the play-work Of
Japan or the laziness which described in Ko-
rea They make me think more of our busiest
people of America than any people / have ever
seen, and they impress me very strong
race.
As to their strength-look at their history.
They 90 back. according to their own tradi-
tions long before the Deluge, and their history
takes them to many centuries before Christ.
For ages they were the most advanced race on
the globe, and though within the past thousand
years they have in manner stood STILL they
have not deterorated in race power, and the
Cinnamon of to-day are rs strong thinkers and
workers as any people. They are not-defcient
in business ability, and when their natural
conceit, conquered by the invasion of the West
ern civilization, has allowed them to turn their
strong minds. trained by generations of stt,-
dents through hereditary descent, into the
new fields of invention and modern enterprise
it is hard to say what will not be the outcome
They produced some of the greatest inventions
Of the world in the past. Wake them up aAd
what may they not do in invention in fhe
future? Even, however, should they never
again show inventive power, they have an.
doubtedly bright enough minds to grasp the