The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-05-15
TRADE FOLLOWS
CHRISTIANITY
advertiser Correspondence, Copyright
by Frederic ]. Haskin.)

TOXIC, April 23.-In any open port
of the East one will find the Occi-
dental society divided like ancient
Gaul-into three parts. There are the
commercial, the official, and the mis-
sionary circles, and the dealings be-
tween them are at arms length. The
missionary is more distinctly apart,
but at the same time the other Sec
tions of Occidental society in the
East recognize him as the potent fac
tor in the development of the Orient.
The late Charles DENLY, long the
American minister at Picking, de-
| clared that every dollar spent by
| American church people in support
Of Oriental missions was worth ten
dollars in actual returns to the COM
merce of the United States. While
the missionary is not drummer"
| and while extension Of trade is the
last thing he thinks of, the history
of the Orient shows that trade always
follows the cross.
The direct relation between the adj
vance work of the missionaries and
the concrete commercial profit which
In some instances. however, the ben
eft is direct. The government of ia
pan in furtherance of it's South Man.
churian Railway scheme went into
the English money market and bor-
rowed 100000. When the British
found out that this money. borrowed
in London, had been spent in the
United States for railroad supplies,
| they kicked up a pretty row in the
House of Commons. But there was
nothing to be done about it, so the
question was dropped. The reason
why the Japanese Government spent
English money in the United States
was due solely to the fact that the
Japanese engineers in charge of the
work had been educated in the Unit
ed States at the expense Of the Amer
lean missionaries, and had there i'm
bibed Yankee notions which made it
impossible for them to build a railroad
along any other than American lines.
Therefore at one fell swoop American
commerce reaped a direct return O.
s5O,OOO,0OO from missionary effort.
The missionary outposts are the
skirmish lines of the advancing army
Of civilizat ion. That their mere pres
ence means opening new territory to
foreign influence, and hence new
market for foreign goods, no one can
deny. 1t is interesting to study the
methods by which these results are
accomplished. For instance, one mis-
sionary came to Japan twenty-five
years ago and went to live in a re-
and his family could not buy the
simplest articles for household use,
as no European had ever lived in that
section. The people came in to see
the foreign house and its furniture
just as they might crowd into mu-
scum. They examined the queer for
eign clothes with their curious but
tons. They were filled with admira-
ton when they gaZed upon the metal
washbasin in which the foreign bar
barians washed their faces and hands.
The first knowledge that came to the
missionary that he was drummer"
in disguise was when a delegation of
prominent citizens waited upon him
and requested him to send to one of
the open ports and buy them some
metal washbasins.
Then followed the demand for I'M
derclothing with buttons-which is
one feature of Occidental dress quite
generally adopted now, even in rural
Japan. The hardness of a pocket
knife finally struck the Japanese, so
that the missionary imported a sup
ply of them. Within two years there
was such a demand for foreign goods
that he persuaded japanese mer-
chant to open foreign store. stock
was purchased at one of the ports and
the store was opened. From that lit
tie beginning grew up one of the great
trading companies of inland Japan, |
handling many thousands of dollars
worth of goods annually. Not all of
this trade now goes abroad, for the
company has two factories, one of
which makes metal washbasins and
such utensils, and the other spins and .
knits cotton underwear.
The conservatism of the Chinese is
proverbial, but even they sometimes
take kindly to an innovation. A mis-
sionary family in the interior man
aged to keep provided with a stock
of condensed milk, brought in large
quantities once or twice a year from
the distant open port. Although the
use of milk was unknown to the Chi
nese, the servants soon spread tales
of its wonderful qualities. From time
to time the missionary gave away
some of the cans to his Chinese neigh
bors. The result was that a local
merchant put in a stock of condensed
milk, the first time in the history of
the place that any foreign goods had
been offered for sale. The business
was good from the start, and in the
course of time a, big trading concern
sent a man up to investigate the ;
strange orders for condensed milk
which came from a town hitherto I'M I
known on commercial maps. The re-
suit was the establishment of reg
ular business in many lines of for I
eign wares, notwithstanding the al s
most insuperable difficulties of dis {
lance and transportation. L
In Japan the missionary has been
4 successful furniture drummer with
1ut knowing it. The advantage of l
sitting on chair appeals to the Jap
lnese mind, although the sitting
posture tires him dreadfully. But it {
IS fact that into whatever towns
the missionaries went, the demand
Tor chairs and tables was created. 1t
has now reached the stage that wher- ;
aver there is a Christian cornmunity-l