Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1896-09-17
A CHINESE HUMBUG.
Baltimore Sun.


manship in some respects is of
narrow and limited order charac-
teristic to the semi-civilized an(
unprogressive nation to which ht
belongs. His criticism of the
Irish in his interview the Other
day was not only unjust but a BAG
diplomatic mistake. If he was as
well informed as to the affairs Of
this country as he should be, he
would know that an attack upor
so influential and so large an ele
ment of our population could not
aid in securing the privileges fol
hinese immigrants to the United
States which he desires. His re-
marks on this whole subject be-
tray an ignorance and misappre-
hension as to the genius of our in
situations and the character of our
people which could only be ex-
pected from a Chinese statesman.
~ say to you," he said to the re-
porters, ''that to shut out cheap
labor is unfair and against the
best interests of your country.
BY excluding the Chinese and
taking Irish you get inferior la
Dor and pay superior prices for it.
A Chinaman lives a nor simple
life than an Irishman, and the
Irish hate the Chinese because they
are the possessions of high virtues.
1t would possibly be difficult to
make Lii Hung Chang understand
that we believe in this country
hat it is only honest and just
to pay living prices for labor
wages that will enable working
people to live like civilized human
beings, not like beasts Of burden.
We don't want a tidal wave of
Chinese cheap labor because, if it
were permitted, our laborers
might i'll lime be reduced to the
pitiable plight of the average
Chinaman. The condition of
China does not present much
temptation to other countries to
follow its political or economic
practices. In spite of the natural
ingenuity and industry of its peo-
pie, it mas made comparatively
little progress for many centuries.
Chinese theories of government
have resulted in a nation of cheap
men who are unable to hold their
own with even the smaller nations
around them.
Cheapness is not everything,
Mr.. Ii Hung Chang, and we are
not anxious to initiate Chinese
models in this regard. Human be
ings may learn to live SO cheaply
that they can work for next to
nothing, but there is danger that
both humanity and national man
hood may lose greatly by the
process. 1t is not with the Irish
alone that the Chinese are unpop-
ular. No special affection is felt
for them by any nationalist. AS
to the Chinese being hated because
of their ''high virtues" Ii Hung
Chang must be perfectly aware
that he is talking the veriest rub
bish: Nobody dislikes them for
any such reason, 1t is the alb
sence Of ''high virtues in a large
proportion of those who have
come to this country that have ex-
cited popular prejudice quite as
much as cheap labor.
The Irish citizens of the United
States, we take it, will be greatly
ruf1ed by Ii Hung Chang's un-
comparison, They are
among the best and most reli-
able elements Of our population,
aud the country has reason to be
proud of them There is not a
page of it's history or a foot of
it's progress to which Irish pluck
and intelligence have not contri-
buted. To mention the Chinese
in the same breath with a race
which has distinguished itself in
every quarter of the globe by
its genius and it's valor would
not occur to any one but the
representatives of a system
which values men for their cheap
ness.
Such a criticism as that of Mr.
Chang is below resentment. We
are, nevertheless, glad to see
that members of the Washington
police force declined to perform
the mental Office Of carrying him
in his sedan chair from the train
to his carriage. The police are
not appointed to act as fukes to
pig tailed diplomats from the
Orient, and whether the %particu-
lar policemen who refused to
perform this service were IRISH
men or not, they were entirely
right in refusal.
No, Mr., Lii Hung Chang. wedo
not want the cheap labor you
have in China. You have ground
down Labor there till you crush
ed the manhood out of your peo-
pie. If you are ever to hold your
own with Japan or any other
country you will either have to
change your methods of govern
ment or employ the Irish and
other foreigners to fight your
battles for you.
We fear the Chinese diplomats
head has been SWelled bV the