The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-04-13

w. =.
What is the actual normal character
OF the Chinese people. considered with
reference to morals? In Mr.. Holcombe's
book this question is parrled. The i'm.
preston one gets by reading it is that,
considering all things, the Chinese is
really a pretty good sort Of fellow.
Henry Norman, on the other hand, in
his just-issued book, 1.-THE People and
Politics Of the Far East" as we learn
from an exhaustive review by Mr.. Ha-
zletine in the New York Sun, regards
the Chinaman as the incarnation Of
pretty nigh all that Is vicious and cor
rupt. Every Chinese official, except
ing possibly one in a thousand, is in
his judgment liar, thief and a
tyrant; and he opines that the people
who tolerate such officials are them
selves not much better Their beset-
ting vices, according to Mr.. Norman,
are dirt, falsehood, corruption and
cruelty. The first goes without saying.
The second and third are generally ad-
mitted, not even Mr.. Holcombe caring
to enter denial. AS for their cruelty,
both to dumb animals and to human
beings, Mr.. Norman cites abundant evil
dence. Hearing laughter in his stable.
a friend Of Mr.. Norman, living In Pek-
ing, investigated. He discovered that
two OF his Chinese servants had caught
big rat, nailed its fore paws to a
board, saturated 1t with Kerosene set
| iire to 1t and were watching It's frantic
movements. regarding them as exceed
ingly funny Professional kidnapers
steal the children Of white residents,
| take them to distant cities, blind them
and sell them into slavery. No matter
| what accident may happen to one of his
| countrymen, the typical Chinese will
| render no assistance until paid or
promised pay. For instance, steam
launch built at Hong Kong blew up on
| her trial trip, and, among others, the
wife Of the editor of Hong Kong
paper was thrown into the water. Some
| Chinese In sampan padded up, and
positively refused to take her on board
| until she had promised them fifty dol
| lars. Another member of the same
party had to promise five hundred dol
| lars before boatman would undertake
| to convey several of the survivors TO
Hong Kong. One of the latest news
papers received from China tells how
| boat, padded by two men, carrying
| rice from Shanghai to Pootung, cap
sized in the midst of number of fish
| ing boats. The fishermen Immediately
seized upon the rice and property be-
longing to the capsized boat, but took
not the slightest notice of the drowning
men.
Do Chinese practice infanticide to a
considerable extent? Mr.. Norman
maintains that they do; Mr. Holcombe.
that they do not. We shall present
| both sides. Among the proofs cited in
| Mr.. Norman's book are the following:
One man, who had been in the employ
! OF foreigner for two years, and had
| received good wages, put his little girl
| to death because, as he said. he could
| not afford to feed her. A woman. with
out solicitation, told one Of the foreign
| ladies that she had killed five children
in order to go out as a nurse, and that
her husband compelled her to do 1t. A
man who passed for a gentleman vol
unteered the information that he had
allowed two of his girls to die for want
| of care. 1t was. he explained, "only a
| We just Wldpptu
| up in bedclothes. and very soon they
were gone. 1 am poor man; girls are
a great expense and earn no money,
and as we already had two we con-
cluded We could not keep any more"
The testimony Of Chinese teacher is
as follows: "Infanticide Is very COM
mon among the poor. and even among
| people in pretty easy circumstances.
| There is hardly a family wherein at
least one child has not been destroyed,
| and in some families four or five are
disposed of. Nothing can be done. The
officials know it. but say 1t is something
| they cannot CONTROL Another man.
| who is now a member of the Christian
church. says that, in his village. there
is hardly family that has not des-
troyed two or three children. A wo-
man testified that "it was very common
| for poor people to go into rich families
as wet nurses. because they receive
| good wages, and, in fact, they often
destroyed their babies that they might
| do So" A lady contributor to the
| North China Daily News furnished the
| following statistics: II find that 100
| Chinese women, all over fifty years of
age, had borne 631 sons and 53S daugh-
ters. OF the sons, nearly sixty per
cent. had lived more than ten years.
while, of the daughters, only thirty
eight per cent. had lived thus long. The
| 100 women, according to their own
statement, had destroyed 1853 Of their
| daughters; but none had ever des-
troyed a boy. The probability Is that
| the number Of infanticides confessed
| to is considerably below the truth
Mr.. Holcombe, while not denying that
infanticide may occur in rare instances.
thinks that the prevalence of the belief
in its general occurrence arises from
misapprehension. He admits that
| hundreds of children die every day and
| are literally carted outside the city or
village limits, like garbage. to be thrown
| by the wagonfuls. into trenches or pits
and covered over with quicklime. But
| he contends that they are not deliber
| ately killed by their parents, but "are
| the victims of one of the most cruel and
| revolving superstitions that ever found
| lodgment in the human brain. When
| child sickens 1t has, according to the
| means and intelligence of the parents,
the same anxious care and medical at
tendance that would be given among
us; but If all remedies fail of effect, and
death is apparently near the situation
| changes at once. The little thing is
stripped naked and placed on the floor,
which is either of mud or brick, just in
side the outer door of the room The
parents leave 1t there and watch the
issue. If, which is seldom the case, it
survives the ordeal. II is a true child of
their own flesh and blood; If 1t dies then
A II A