Evening star., 1927-10-09
EY BURTON X. WHEELER,


Bingham will be published next Sunday.
EY BURTON X. WHEELER.
United States Senator From Montana.
TT YOU are one of those sentimental
souls who believe the Chinese are
like so many Americans, with the
i same ideals, and that except for
the Interference of foreign gov
ernments they would have govern
ment patterned after our own, so
there
Or if YOU are one of those who be-
Iieve there is Bolshcvik behind every
sage bush and that the Third lnterna'
tionale at Moscow is responsible loi
all unrest in the world. you should
visit China. :,
During my visit to that country
came to the inevitable conclusion that
there at one time had dwelt great
people who had built a great nation.
Rut 7 found between 400. 100000 and
500 600. 900 people poverty stricken. dis
eased, miserable. most of them hVlnS
on less than 10 cents day.
How. | asked myself, Is 1t possible
,or (, nation that once boaSted the
highest civilization to sink TO the low
est degradation?
Greed of Chinese Leaders.
Was It the foreign imperialist who
exploited them. 1t couldn't nave
heen. because there were no foreigners
in China in the days of its glory.
Was it the Third Internationale, with
its preachings against imperialism!
No. beacuSe there was no Third In
ternationale in those byGone days.
Was It any other foreign intrigue?
No.
We'll. then, what was it? Simply
the selfishness and greed of the Chi
nese leaders, who exploited and are
exploiting their own people and who
have preached the doctrine so famlllar
to some of us in this country, that we
should worship at the shrine OF our
ancestors, believe what they believed,
and do the same things in the same
way.
FOREIGN employers of labor treat
their Chinese employees better than
the Chinese do pay them little more,
work them less.
But to those of you who think the
American business man in China is
there to help the Chinese l wish to
describe a conversation at luncheon
in Shanghai.
There were present representatives
of several American firms and the con-
ton. Some of them felt Washington
was not pursuing the proper course,
that the administration should take
firmer stand against the Nationalists.
Relates War Incident.
Wishing to learn what these men
thought of the Nationalist leaders, 1
INQUIRED about Chang Kai-Shek. one
man bitterly denounced him and all
the other Nationalist leaders. He SAID
that when they took Shanghai they
immediately called upon him ana IN
sisted he pay his men more, although
he was already paying them higher
than any one else in the same busl'
ness. l asked why the Nationalist
had singled him out.
II employ Cinnamon to work Tor
me-" he answered "and they in turn
buy boys to work for them. They fur
nish the boys chow and few clothes.
The Nationalists included these boys
among my employees"
asked him if he wasn't receiving
the benefit of the labor of these boys.
He admitted he was, but added: "They
would sell these boys to Cinnamon.
but they wouldn't sell them to me, al
though would treat them better"
do not believe this would-be slave
owner represents the spirit of many
American business men. 1t is an eX-
treme case. But nevertheless l am
convinced that many Americans IN
China lose their American ideallsm
and look upon the Chinese as an in
ferior race here, as slaves for those
of us fortunate enough to be white.
Throughout the Orient, and particu-
larly in the Philippines. when you
speak of educating the Oriental it is
~ oil m
peans and Americans say: ITO educate
them is to spoil them" l may be
termed sentinentalist or pink, but
/ can't believe that in the long run
any people can be spoiled by the right
kind of education.
In my judgment, what the Chinese
need more than anything is education,
not as doctors, lawyers or philoso-
pliers. but as skilled mechanics,
craftsmen, scientific farmers.
Effect of Education.
Every time you educate an Oriental
you raise his standard of living and
increase his wants. AS fast as they
become educated they want American
goods. We are producing more manu-
factured articles than we can con-
sumo. This Nation is bound to develop
greater industrial capacity, providing
we can find a market for our products.
The Orient will furnish it,
We must become interested in the
education and the welfare of these
people whether we want to or not
How can we help the Chinese and
at the same time the people of the
United States? Surely not by sending
to these Oriental countries either as
representatives of business interests
or of the Government men who have
a superiority complex and who treat
these Orientals as an inferior race.
You can't expect to do business with
the Oriental if the only time you will
speak to him is when you want a
favor.
learned from British officials and
from many Americans in China who
are more pro-British than the British
ahemselves that they think the only
way to deal with China is for Great
Britain. Japan, Italy and the United
States to join and send an armed force
in to set up the kind of government
this combination might think China
should have, collect all their revenues
and. ] presume. tell them what to
wear. how to wear it, and what to
drink.
These pro o-Britishers infer we could
then do business with the Chinese and
exploit them at will. Armed inter.
vention-that's what they want They
are like the fellow who says: Marry
'em young treat 'em rough and tell
'em nothing"
When we told them this didn't ac
cord with the American ideals and that
the American people wouldn't stand
for 1t. they replied: Nonsense. You
did it in Haiti, Nicaragua and through
out Central ..,:.11ica. Aren't our lives
and our property in China just as
precious?" You answer. I'D rather
change the conversation"
Strnnu Ar,,, Dnl;cy ks,:Is