The Washington herald., 1910-07-24
THE INFERIOR RACEsg

Every Old Nation Has Its Standards
and Opinions as TO Superiority
From the Hartford Times.
It begins TO look as though the outcome
Of that prize fight had struck great
blow on behalf OF the first seIf-evident
truth Of The Declaration OF Independence.
The pictures OF It are TO be excluded from
the Philippines by our government there,
just as the Declaration is excluded from
the islands, and for just about the same
reasons-fnhammatory effect upon the
inferior" race-springfieid Republican.
But what is an inferior race? Every
race secretly believes that most others
are inferior to It. China Is quite as well
convinced that Americans are an in
ferior race as Americans in general are
that China IS Inferior The standards are
absolutely different and that is about ali
that can be said. In many ways Japan
Is more highly civilized than the United
States. but the average citizen Of this
country has no such idea.
What is the test for an inferior race?
Whose standards are 10 determine?
When some blatant demagogue from the
west coast whose only knowledge OF Tie
Chinese is that the coolies he sees work
Tor less pay than Americans and mske
money at #. declare, that the Chinese
are an inferior race. what does he know
about IL? He knows nothing OF the CHI
nese except through one lower order. He
tells you they are treacherous and cruel
and. addicted to opium. What does lie
think Of his own heelers who are drunken
and brutal, treacherous alsog Is life or
property much safer in the United States
than elsewhere? We risk our lives in
one way; some other nation risks theirs
IN another
Theoretically. we place more value on
life than some other races, but what
with its commercial destruction and the
private shootings and the Iynehings the
balance Is not so clearly in our favor.
We protect property by law, deliberately
and suffieiently in the main, but we toll
crate gigantic plumber under forms OF
law. or under evasions Of Law, that until
very recently escaped punishment. Buy
ing protection from law IS no more I'M
known here than in China. Tweed was
as fearless and successful for years as
any high official in China. and il was
only the grossness and audacity Of his
plumber that put an end TO his career,
and that at private. not Official. initia-
tive.
It would be easy to multiply iIlustra-
lions. but this should be enough. though
he Is not the only man who has made
millions in the same fashion, but more
cautiously.
Our point is simply this. that every one
OF the older nations has developed its
own system OF life on its own standard.
and that II that system of life differs
widely from ours it is not necessarily in
ferior in the place and the conditions.
We may believe our method the best;
they generally have the same feeling
about their own. The revolution in the
system Of transportation and communi-
cation has brought the world together in
little more than half century In a way
before inconceivable. Every country has
learned something OF the ways and pur-
poses OF every other. Those who know
most OF others are least likely to believe
that a difference means national inferior
ity. and this we take 10 be suggested at
least in the form Of the Springfield Re-
publican's comment placed at the head
OF this article.