Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1922-11-16
Bishop Mcconnell
Lectures on China

The first number of the Commun,
ity Lyceum Course to be enjoyed by
the people of Alma came last We'd
nesday evening in the form of lee
ture. 1t was delivered by Bishop
Francis j. Mcconnell who took as
his subject the Chinese situation.
Bishop Mcconnell drew for the
main part for his lecture from his
experiences while in China in connec-
ton with the China Education Com
mission. He illustrated his speech
very we'll with his own experiences
there, thus driving home his points.
The first impression foreigner
gets when entering China for the
first time, said Bishop Mcconnell, is
that there are so many Chinese.
There are four hundred millions of
people in the country, and all Of
them arc literally hanging on the
edge of things. Children die by the
thousands, yet the country is over
run with people. Every known dis
ease and plague on the earth is prev
alcnt in China, yet there is no let
up in human production. Five gen.
crations are produced where normal
ly there would only be four. About
oighty-five per cent Of the popula-
tion is connected with the land.
Much of the useful land in China
that might be used for growing rice,
is not used because it is held sacred.
Families have the custom of burying
their dead in the fields, and worship
ing at the grave. They are addicted
to ancestor worship.
While China has always been
friendly to the United States and
other countries, she is not as friend
ly now as she might be There are
about three reasons for this: the
morphine question, the exploitation
thru commercialization and indus
trialization by outside nations, and
tho fear of western imperialism.
was not very long ago that
drugs, such as morphine and opium
were barred in China. Seeing great
profit, other nations, principally the
United States and Great Britain,
started the manufacture Of NOR
phine and shipped it there in geat
amounts. Herbert Hoover denied
this, but he has been successfully
refuted since then. Morphine has
become a necessary thing to the
hard-living man in China. He lives
the hardest life imaginable, and
needs shot of morphine every day
or so, to cheer him up. Morphine is
the only thing that can do that. So
it is that the morphine question is
an acute one.
Only the presence Of guilds in
China have prevented the Chinese
from being exploited outright. Even
as it is, the situation is critical. The
exploitation of China thru CONNER
icialization and industrialization has
nearly ruined commerce and industry
rs far as China is concerned. This
has stirred the country, and especial
~ the Chinese students, who are pro-
testing most vigorously.
perialsm. However, in this case, her
fear is not we'll founded, because by
the principals Of sociology, she has
enough people to absorb any people
that might exploit her in that man
ner. No other race could exist
there, for it would not be many gen.
crations before they would have dis
appeared entirely. The greater peo-
pie always absorbs the weaker.
While we fast going Americans
hold our hands up in horror because
the average person in China
works sixteen hours per day the
Chinaman takes his time and does
not kill himself by any means. An
cight-hour day in an American fac
tory is no worse than a sixteen-hour
day in China. The Chinaman takes
his time in such manner that when
he gets to be an old man, he is look
cd up to as real man. In America,
it is quite the opposite. A man past
sixty, is usually Of no account any
more.
In closing, Bishop Mcconnell stat
cd that we must deal patiently and
kindly with the Chinese and not or
der them by force. To prove this he
cited the case of a German doctor
who built a great hospital in China
and ordered the Chinese to come to
1t, and the case of the English way
Of letting the Chinese choose between
their own way and the English way,
in the matter of hospitals. In the
latter method, the effect was
brought Out by contrast, and proved
successful; while the German hos
pitsl never had patient cross its
threshold.
The Chinaman is naturally a
peaceful man. He will not fight.
When there is an argument on hand,
he will argue. but never fight. China
has learned the secret of living. She
l:rows how to live. That is a thing