The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-06-19


abundantly supplied with labor than
China, and In no country in the world
does the laborer receive less compen-
sation. Chinese laborer will save
money on wages that would hardly be
SUFFICIENT to supply the absolute neces-
stiles OF an American laborer. This Is
made possible by the cheapness of the
vegetable diet on which the Chinese la
Dorer is content to live; the small cost
or house accommodations, for several
families will subdivide one room of a
house and live in contentment in it,
and the low price paid for clothing,
which Is made Of the coarsest cottons.
But the cheapness of labor in China
does not mean that the products of that
labor are inferior in quality. The
Japanese laborer, receiving higher
wages, Is more artistic in his work
his productions are more flnished in
dyes and blending of colors he is SUI
perior to his Chinese rival, but in sub
stantial and lasting quality the latter
is fully the equal, and in some instances
the superior.
There is in Chinese character con-
servatism which has discouraged all
progress in China. The principle, 'let
well enough alone" has been adhered
to under the mistaken idea that "well
enough" was the best; but in China this
adherence to custom, this opposition to
change, has filled the Empire with an
impoverished population, for a people
that use in their trade and business
a currency of so small a denomination
as one-tenth of a Mexican cent cannot
be said to have felt the quickening in
fluence of an enlarged and civilizing
commerce. The cheapness and small
denominations of Chinese currency and
the low price of the diet and clothing
of the Chinese laborer are evidences
Of nonprogressiveness, but it should not
be inferred from these that the capac-
lily for progress is absent from Chinese
character.
During the last fiscal year the value
of the aggregate trade relations be-
tween China and the United States was
estimated at $780, 900, with a balance
against the United States of $4,000, 900,
while in China, as in Japan, Great
Britain checks off large balances in her
favor, although more remote from
China by thousands of miles.
European nations are sustaining the
efforts of European merchants more
substantially than the American mer-
chant Is sustained. The latter, in the
competition, has to rely upon his own
skill and energy, while the merchants
of Europe are encouraged by the aid
givel to the great steamship lines
which carry their flags and pour the
productions of Europe into Asiatic
ports. At the port of Shanghai, the
great commercial and distributing CEN
ter of Asiatic trade, Great Britain,
France and Germany have direct mail
and commercial communication-the
steamers entering and leaving the port
every week, carrying the flags of their
respective nationalities, while no ship
carrying the American mail and flying
he Stars and Stripes touches at Shang..
aai at all.
From this standpoint the advantages
to American interest of the cutting of
he Nicaragua Canal would evidently be
great Should the United States cut the
.apal and say that vessels carrying the
flag of the United States should pass
toll free, or at very moderate tolls, for
/ certain period, would not the benefit
20 American shipping be almost meal
.ulable? Would it not create new life
the shipyards of the United States,
and soon restore our flag to its former
supremacy on the ocean?
In conclusion, we give the value of
Chinese labor, the rates of wages being
hose paid at Shanghai, and reduced to
American currency, by Consul Jerni-
gan, on September 30, 1895.
WAGES OF CHINESE ATSHANGHAI,
SEPT. go, 1895.
e.