Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-31
WHY IS CHINA POOR?
CAUSES OF THE POVERTY OF A
GREAT NATION.
Large Proportion Of People Of the
Flowery Kingdom Are Underfed
Missionaries Do Good.

which China labors as a nation is as simple
as It Is sad. An immense proportion of Its
population very rarely get a meal sufficient
either In quantity or in nutritive power.
Hundreds OF benevolent foreigners, both
OF the mercantile and missionary orders,
are constantly seeking in scattered spots
throughout the vast realm to mitigate the
chronic distress Of the poores. sections.
Especially has philanthropy been effective
in relieving the abnormal pressure conse-
quent on drouth and floods. Obviously. how
ever, external help can do next to nothing
to meet a normal condition Of insufficient
aliment extending over a very extensive
land and involving an enormous population
One OF the causes Of chronic and mas
sive indulgence in China throughout most
or the interior IL the utter stagnation for
ages OF civilization. The development of
this mighty race was long since arrested,
and though the nation is not decadent, its
conditions are stereotyped, and China is in
q state Of permanent childhood. Every lin
guist well understands that this accounts
for that colossal pathological curiosity. the
Chinese language. 1t has never got be-
yond the monosyllabic stage, and Is a mere
language Of overgrown babies. This con-
dition Of arrested development lies at the
root Of the appalling poverty Of the masses
in country which nature designed to be
intellectually wealthy. China is not. like
central Asia, a land Of savage, bowling
wastes 1t is one Of the most fertile and
aowery parts Of the earth's surface almost
throughout the entire area. And, more
over, its people are the most Industrious
agrtculturists in the world. and have been
so for many centuries. Fruit and vegeta-
bles are much more abundant and exist in
much greater variety than We are favored
with in our own country.
Primitive Agriculture.
Notwithstanding these magnificent nat
rro1 70 hot 10 he fofa of
things in the "fowery Kingdom" From
lack Of anything like scientific cultivation
the quality Of nearly all fruits is exceed
ingly poor. and only the splendid sunshine
and the atmospheric conditions compensate
for the lack Of skill. Apples, pears, april
cots, peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries,
grapes and persimmons are almost every
where grown in immense abundance. but
no native ever studies improvement In their
culture. Wheat, millet, maize, sorghum.
sweet potatoes. peanuts, indigo and great
with ease. while rice is. of course, almost
universally found in cultivation. But in
nearly every province the output. notwlth-
standing the indefatigable toll Of the peo-
pie, Is far short Of what might be attained
under better management, while the quail
ity Of the foodstuffs is deficient in nutri-
tive power.
Vast tracts of soil have been impover-
ished through centuries Of uninterrupted
production without any adequate compen-
sation. Enriching material is poor in quail
ity. Grazing is unknown, and in most of
the provinces the land never lies fallow,
the natives never having learned the secret
Of the rotation Of crops. Yet the land is
still forced to produce three crops in two
years without intermission.
Tenant Farmers.
The Chinese poverty problem is compli-
Gated. Its secondary causes are manifold,
but after all they are only exaggerations
and aggravations Of the main factor, the
agrarian stagnation. One Of my friends
residing for a time in the interior asked an
official how many beggars he was feeding.
He replied, $4,000. "These," he explained.
ARE all tenant farmers from the north.
Few people who entirely own their land
are so miserably poor Thus at every
point the agricultural question recurs. In
the province of Wuhu last year large re-
lief work was initiated by foreigners Here
also the starving sufferers were chiefly Of
that same large class in China, the tenant
farmers. Many Of them were from the i'm
mense estates Of the late Ii Hung Chang.
Where man gives half he raises to a land
lord he can, even in a good year, save little
or nothing, and poor year means famine.
Whether the great likin system Of inter-
Tor taxation can speedily be eXtirpated, az
some seem to expect it will now be, Is very
doubtful. One of the chief producing causes
Of distressing poverty lies just here. A COW
crossing the river at Nankin Is taxed 60
cents, a pig about IL per cent, chicken
215 per cent, etc. This is the climax, for
all along the road before nearing the great
city they have been taxed at various points,
and they will be taxed again when enter
ing the city gate. When boatman earns
g. fee for rowing people across a river he
must pay 10 per cent tax. Imagine what
an English workman would think and say
If compelled to pay in one tax 40 per cent
Of his wages! Some of the customs sta
lions on the great roads of travel and trade
are exceedingly lucrative, but the mis-
chief Of the system lies in the fact that
none Of the receipts go into the official
treasury, for, as rule, the collector has to
buy his position. He has to let the Off
Gals and their runners go through free.
The rest Is profit for himself