The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-11
Hlabama in Its Relation tc tF)e Panama Canal

, illIons of willing hands are stretched out there only waiting to be given the burden of the toiltng and drudgery work of the world. The Eastern Pact fic must wait for the growth of tho n population; the Western Pacihc has the | population already. and with their won- derful Industrial capacity. we may ex- pect a developments Tn rapidity and in magnitude such as the world has never | seen.
 China and Japan.
 Japan is only an index and forerun- ner of an awakening ten fold great CT of China. From months of obser- vation inspecting the works Of the Chinese, l would estimate the earning capacity of the average Chinaman at from forty to fifty cents per day in the | worlds labor market. From access to pay-rolls in China, would estimate | the actual wages of the average Chinaman today at about five to six cents per day. This means that when a population of over four hundred mil lion. when opened yp to the world, will | increase their productiveness ten fold and in return for their products will de- mand the products of other lands to meet the requirements of higher | standard of life. Thus Japan In a few decades, has rapidly raised its standard | of living and 1t now has foreign conn | merce, grown from about nothing. 10 over three hundred million dollars year ly, the purchases from other lands ex- ceeding the sales to other lands by about twenty million dollars.
 At present the foreign trade of China Is over four hundred millions tho imports exceeding the exports by nearly one hundred 'millions. With China properly opened up. we can con- Ihdently expect her foreign commerce to increase ten fold In the present gen eration. adding about one-third to the total commerce of the world
 Mind cannot grasp the magnitude of the economic impulsion that this awakening will give to all the com lmercfal and industrial nations of the jearth. It is upon the United States, however, that the effect will be great est. for We lead the world In produc- ing the great world staples that China will demand. The most profound effect of all will be felt in the great staple of clothing. cotton. The Chinese wear practically no wool, relying upon cot ton in a multiple number of suits one. two, three. four, etc., pulled over each other according to the coldness of the climate. On the present low wage basis, the average Chinaman has scarcely one whole suit. On the high CT basis, each would have four or five or more suits, and there are about one hundred million more population to wear cotton in China than in all Flu rope and America combined
 Demand for Cotton.
 The great increase in the demand for cotton will cause a constant and con- tiruing rise in price of the raw sta- pie. For sometime 1t will cause a great increase in the demand for cot ton goods. particularly the coarser goods The bulk of the cotton goods now produced fin the South is already going straight to China. In the course of time, however, the adaptability of Chinese labor will cause the develop ment of cotton mills in China which will enhance the demand for raw cot- ton, but reduce the demand for the goods. Indeed, unless other lands should bring in Chinese labor for their mills, it would only be a question of time when the cotton mill industry of the world would be transplanted to China. This result would be the same for other industries, particularly man. ufacturing industries
 It is interesting to note the effect this economic force is sure to have upon the sociology of the world. As the availability of the Chinese for man. ufacturing labor becomes felt, white men will go to China and establish industries there, then the industries elsewhere will be compelled to import Chinese labor. Frontier barriers will be broken down and the Chinese race will be dispersed throughout the world.
 There is no occasion for alarm at this thought On the contrary, prop erly guarding against sudden shocks to other labor. great good will follow. Many forms of winning and manufac- turing labor suited to the Chinese, are harmful to the development and pro- gress of the white man. and with the Chinese doing all this work for the world, the white race would be un- hampered to move forward in swifter and higher progress along the lines of its peculiar adaptability. that of or- ganizing, directing, administering, gov erning. These weak points of the yell low and black man are the strong points of the white man, and he Is be- ing differentiated more and more for exercising them in ever rising degree.
 It seems as though in the course of human evolution. the past ages have produced different races with differen- tiated characteristics. each race adapt ed to take a particular part of the com plex work of the industrial era now dawning upon the world. It appears, too. by a benefcent provision. that the members of the various races, yellow, black. and white. are proportioned to the requirements of their respective parts of industrial life.
 During all the stages of its industrial and sociological evolution. China will then be the ever growing market for cotton. Her importation of cotton and cotton goods, though in its in- fancy already amounts to one hundred and twenty-five million annually Sim ilarly China will require, at least for a long time, till her own mines are developed, an increasing amount of iron and coal.
 What applies to China will apply. though in a reduced measure, to the other populous lands of Asia washed by the Pacific Ocean. The chief among these is Japan. with an awakened pop ulation of 45,000.0Oo already adding $500, ,000, 900 to the worlds yearly com merce. Japan now consumes over $50,- 900, 900 of cotton yearly. and the amount is steadily increasing. She has already reached the stage where the develop ment of cotton mills calls for the i'm portation of raw cotton. which com prises over three-quarters of the whole.
 After Japan, comes Korea. with a Ipopulation of about 12,0o0,0o0. and a foreign commerce of about ten millions