The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-09-29
THERE IS A CHINESE SECTION IN EVERY TOWN.

their holdings II the Dutch would allow
them to buy.
| THE MIDDLEMEN OF JAVA.
! The Chinese hold about the same position
here that they do in the Philippines. They
are the midd1emen of the country. the
, medium of communication between the ma
tives and foreigners. They go about over
the island and buy up the crops and they
F.. engage in every business which furnishes
considerable profit.
, The Chinese quarters are set aside for
/, them by the Dutch officials. The law pro-
vides that they must live in such sections
and prohibits them from doing business
=. outside them without permission Of the
officials. The other day the Standard OIL
Company of Batavia wanted to employ a
! Chinese as night Waterman. but they could
not do so until the Government gave him
permission to leave the Chinese quarter.
In BuitenZorE. the Chinese section, is one
of the best parts of the city. It Is fully a
mile long. and is lined with one-story build
'nEs heavily rooted. Each building has a
Chinese sign at its side. and the merchants
within are Chinese. 1t IS the same in Ban
dong. Soerbaya and in every J%avanese city.
TO PROTECT THE NATIVES.
LIZ isI- = TtLS IL III T.
their own quarters in order to protect the
natives. for the Chinese are much better
business men than the Javanese. They are
called the Jews of the Far East. and they
are everywhere money lenders and money
makers. II Java was thrown open to them
to-day and the natives allowed to sell their
lands they would mcnorolize the country
and enslave the people. and It is only by
-. raf,,, roctrir.io, .Jot tIov orA olIrucd N
remain here and do business. In a talk
with one of the resident Governors. a man
who has many thousands Of Chinese Under
him. ! was told that 1t would not do at all
to allow Chinese immigration without GER
tain restrictions. and that In this mans
opinion. We had done right in excluding
them from the Philippines. Here the CHI
nese pay twice as much taxes as any one
else. and they are clossed in other ways.
They are subject to police duty and must
take their turns as night watchmen on the
roads.
MARRY JAvANEsE WOMEN.
The Chinese here intermarry with the nA-
tives. They seldom bring their wives with
them. and a ommon sight Is a Cinnamon
dressed In European clothes. with his queue
tucked inside his coat. riding along In a car.
riage beside a brown Javanese girl gor-
geously dressed. They treat their wives
we'll and are as fond OF their half-cast chill
dren as their ancestral fathers were fond of
them. Many Chinese marry half-caste girls
and half-caste children swarm everywhere
in the Chinese quarters.
PAWSBRUKE m OF JAVA.
There are some businesses here which are
monopolized by Chinese. Among the chief
ones are the pawntroking establishments
which are found by the score in every ma
tive city. They are licensed by the Govern
ment, and the licenses are sold at auction,
being bought in by Chinese.
The natives are very improvident. They
live from hand to mouth ard will pawn the
very clothes of their backs. have visited
many OF the pawn shops looking out for bits
of antique silver and gold, and have found
in every case Chinese clerks behind the
counters. .u.
They keep regular books and do an enor-
nous amount OF small business at high
rates OF interest. They charge 6 per cent
a month on all loans. or 2 per cent for
every ten days. II at the end of three
months the goods pawned are not redeemed |
they are sold at auction. and the surplus |
goes to the owner.
FRANK g.. CARPENTER
copyrighted. 1901. by Frank C. Carpenter.)