New-York tribune., 1906-08-25

LETTERS TO A CHINESE OFFICIAL. Being a
lam Jennings Bryan. 16rno, pp viii 81 McCura
Phillips & Co.
When Mr.. G. L. Dickinson published anony-
mously some three years ago his Letters from
a Chinese Official the book attracted some at-
tention as clever and in some respects plaus-
lble commentary on our modern life. The rise
of Japan has of late years prepared many of US
to look for great things in the East. and not a
few individuals have developed an exaggerated
notion OF the limitations of the West Mr.. Dick
inson's piQuant little study, for example, has
been taken so seriously in some quarters that
cooler critics have been moved 70 smile. II
seems 20 have made excessively deep I'M
preston upon Mr.. Bryan and his reply TO it.
which has just been published, suggests the
breaking Of a butterfly upon a wheel. Writing
before he had learned, what every one now
knows. that the Chinese Official" is really an
English scholar, he argued with the supposititious
Oriental in most energetic mood. Nevertheless,
these pages are acceptable as embodying a kind
Of confession OF faith in admirable FORM
Mr.. Bryan is a lucid writer. He knows what
he wants to say and he goes straight to the
point. His argumentative powers come out well
upon this occasion. He has no difficulty in
showing where Mr.. Dickinson overrated Chi
nese civilization and underrated that Of the
West-there were, indeed, no great difficulties
10 De OVercOKnS-an0 the cIearnSSS and terSenSSS
OF his presentation Of the matter demand appre-
citation. Perhaps the best Of the eight chapters
in the book those which relate to the China
mans boasted policy OF isolation and to the
Importance Of labor saving machinery to the
best interests of mankind In the one case
Mr.. Bryan lays great stress on the fact that
what the world needs more than anything else
is sympathy-sympathy between man and man.,
sympathy between class and class, sympathy
between community and community sympathy
between nation and nation In commencing
the labor saving machinery to the East he ad-
vances his point after the following fashion:
If the invention of a labor saving machine is
hurtfu, then China has not only sinned. but has
boasted Of her SINS for she has puned herself upon
inventions. cLief among which may be mentioned
che printing press. What an army OF men might
each year and the magazines published each month
ana me ne%sPaPs9s % eacn 0ay' 9ut Tor @ the
argument is that the hooks magazines and papers
the Sa Prng 8t 10 Te umbeF of en Daf
gagged in transportation has been increased rather
than diminished by the utilization of steam But
why should the owner OF a sailboat object to the
saving machine, probably one of the first Who
gave the sailors permission to dispense with a null
snS t as f 81 ta iocomote WHAT mors rir
had he to enforce ldleaess upon a dozen men by
substituting cunniagy wrought wagon for their
nipresent China, Is petty thief. stealing oppor
tunity work from those who but for the inventor
might be bearing its burdens. And what shall We
say Of the pole, employed everywhere in the Orient
which enables q workman TO carry several buckets
or baskets when he might otherwise be making sew
eral trips with lighter burdens? If to minimize the
labor necessary for given task is sin. how can
your people hope TO escape ceTsufeE saw them
digging up the ground with implements of iron
which had been fashioned for the express purpose
OF supplementing the muscles of the Trainer; saw
them cutting grain with sIckles when more labor
might have been employed by breaking the straws
by hand and. that the blame may not rest entirely
upon those who toll outdoors. let remind you
that 'ooms az work. relentlessly robbinG those
who might have made ;loth by slower processes.
BY what logic do you prove that inventions were
good in so far they nave been employed in
China and bad when they go a step further? Or
do YOU censure all inventions alike and counsel
return the primitive form of life where men
and women live like animals wearing the gaTb that
nature gave them and scorning the use of tools?
The passage is characteristic. 1t contains
nothing new or brilliant, but it puts the point
in a sufficiently effective manner, taking the
obvious advantage OF the obvious openings
offered by Mr.. Dickinson. In other chapters Mr.
Bryan treats OF questions of government, OF
home life, OF international responsibilities and
of relig