Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-04

long before the American people will con-
sent to a modification Of Chinese exclusion
as applied to the Philippines and that this
change of front will be brought about by a
more intimate knowledge and experience of
the Malayan character in the class which In
the tropics must be depended upon for man.
ual toll. A recent writer in the London
Times, who Is vouched for by that staid
journal as a man of wide colonial admins
trative experience, sums up his belief by
saying that Chinese immigrants should be
freely admitted, nay, encouraged in every
legitimate way, into all countries whose
circumstances render the Chinese race the
fittest to survive under the working of the
natural law; that they should be rgidly ex-
Guided from lands suitable to Europeans
where their competition would seriously in
jure the higher race; and, finally, that the
special conditions of the native population
Of South Africa render the exclusion Of
Chinese from that country matter of the
first Importance. The question Is one which
Is agitating the minds of thousands OF
Anglo-Saxons both in and beyond the Brit
ish empire today"
While this question Of Chinese exclusion
is an old one England confronts 1t today
for the first time as a part of important
national policy in the reconstruction of
great but war-devastated portion of her
empire. AS Is the English custom the ques-
ton Is approached slowly, circumspectly
and with a certain ponderosity which
makes all things seem very serious and i'm
portant and it Is rather difficult, in this
general air of seriousness over all things
to discover the relative importance of ques-
tons under discussion. The alien observer
is tempted at times, even when his respect
and admiration for the country and its peo-
pie are unqualified, to wish that some one
would dispel the gloom by making few
frivolous remarks or doing song and
dance at critical moment of deliberation.
The effect might be shocking. but possibly
not entirely without compensations.
Competition With the Kafir.
The English people are now overwrought
as to the future of South Africa. The Chi
naman is threatening descent upon that
land to compete with the Kaffir in the labor
Of the mines. hence the Chinese question.
With the usual British thoroughness the
local application is not considered enough
and the world is raked with a fine-tooth
comb to discover facts precedents and
opinions They are arriving daily In vast
array. The history Of the Chinese in their
own and every other country is at hand.
The opinion of every past. present or would
be administrator of colonial affairs is forth
coming, and as usual the employer and the
employed differ widely as to what should be
done, politicians following in the wake of
either party, as their interests dictate.
Some authorities believe the Kaffir is as
bad as the Malay. and should be allowed to
become extinct or retire to the bush from
whence he came. Others assert that he has
labored in a fairly satisfactory manner in
the past and can do even better in the
future if properly protected and guided. The
general opinion, however is adverse to adj
hitting Chinese labor to the African colo
Mes so 1t will probably be kept out There
Is absolute agreement, however, that Chi
nese labor will be required in the Philip
pines before that country can be developed,
and that all the education in the world will
not enable the indolent and feeble natives
to render days work for a days wages
with reasonable regularity, and there are
many Americans now engaged in the COM
merce of the Philippines who emphatically
agree with this conclusion. The exclu-
sion of the Chinese appears to be a recog-
nized worldwide principle of govern
ment among civilized nations, but one to be
administered according to local needs and
not necessarily following the flag
J. D. WHELPLEY,