Trade, which lies at the foundation of international intercourse, has an eminently selfish origin.
It is a constant manoeuvre on the part of men to sell dear and buy cheap.
Since each party in a commercial transaction seeks only his own advantage, it was for a long time thought that one of them could gain only at the expense of the other.
Thus the “mercantile system,” which for centuries held
Europe spellbound, made gold-getting the end and aim of all commercial activities.
The promotion of friendly relations with the object of securing an exchange of benefits was not considered of even secondary importance.
Then came the navigation laws,
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which had for their avowed purpose the crippling of all rival shipping by laying a heavy tax upon the carrying-trade of foreigners.
Though such measures are no longer considered advisable in the commercial world, their baleful effects are still felt in the political thought of the present time.
Nations now enter into friendly relations with each other because it is believed that both sides are benefited by such relations.
Their transactions cannot be one-sided affairs, for the simple reason that it takes two to make a bargain.
If one party is dissatisfied with the arrangement, the other party will not long have an opportunity to enjoy its benefits.
Confucius was once asked for a single word which might serve as a guiding principle through life.
“Is not reciprocity such a word?”
answered the great sage.
“What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.”
This is the “Golden rule” which should govern the relations of man to man. It is the foundation of society.
It lies at the bottom of every system of morality, and every system of law. If it holds good with respect to individuals, it ought to hold good with respect to nations, which are but large aggregations of individuals.
Therefore, if permanent relations are to be established between two nations, reciprocity must be the key-note of every arrangement entered into between them.
Having recognized this great principle of international intercourse, how shall we apply it to the case of
China and the
United States in such a manner as to result in mutual helpfulness?
Assuredly, the first thing to do is to take a general survey of the situation and see what are the needs of each country.
Then we shall perceive clearly how each may help the other to a higher plane of material development and prosperity.
The
United States now has its industrial machinery perfectly adjusted to the production of wealth on a scale of unprecedented magnitude.
Of land, the first of the three agents of production enumerated by economists, the
United States is fortunately blessed with an almost unlimited amount.
Its territory stretches from ocean to ocean, and from the snows of the
Arctic Circle to the broiling sun of the tropics.
Within these limits are found all the products of soil, forest and mine that are useful to man. With respect to labor, the second agent of production, the
United States at first naturally suffered the disadvantage common to all new countries.
But here the genius of the people came into play to relieve the situation.
That necessity which is “the mother of invention” substituted the
sewing-machine for women's fingers, the reaper for farmhands, the cotton-gin for slaves.
The efficiency of labor was thereby multiplied, in many cases, a hundred-fold.
The ingenious manner in which capital, the third agent of production, is put to a profitable use is equally characteristic of
America.
It is well known that there is an enormous amount of capital in the country seeking investment.
Every one who has a little to invest wishes to obtain as large a return as possible.
Since competition reduces profits, the formation of industrial combinations, commonly called trusts, is for the capitalist the logical solution of the difficulty.
These enable the vast amount of capital in the country to secure the best results with the greatest economy.
Whether they secure “the greatest good to the greatest number” is another matter.
The development of the resources of the
United States by the use of machinery and by the combination of capital has now reached a point which may be termed critical.
The productive power of the country increases so much faster than its capacity for consumption that the demand of a population of 75,000,000 is no sooner felt than supplied.
There is constant danger of over-production, with all its attendant consequences.
Under these circumstances, it is imperative for the farmers and manufacturers of the
United States to seek an outlet for their products and goods in foreign markets.
But whither shall they turn?
At first sight,
Europe presents perhaps the most inviting field.
Both blood and association point in this direction.
But here the cottons of
Lowell would have to compete with the fabrics of
Manchester.
The silk manufacturers of
Paterson would stand small chance of supplanting the finished products of
Lyons.
The sugar of
Louisiana would encounter a formidable rival in the beet-sugar of
Germany.
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England could probably better afford to sell her coal and iron cheaper than
Pennsylvania, and
Russia could supply
European markets with wheat and petroleum as well as could
Ohio and
Indiana.
Competition would be keen and destructive.
Central and
South America have as yet too sparse a population for the immense territory they cover to meet the conditions of a market for American goods.
Some decades must elapse before American farmers and manufacturers can look to that quarter for relief.
But on the other side of the
Pacific lies the vast empire of
China, which in extent of territory and density of population exceeds the whole of
Europe.
To be more particular, the province of Szechuen can muster more able-bodied men than the
German Empire.
The province of Shantung can boast of as many native-born sons as
France.
Scatter all the inhabitants of
Costa Rica or
Nicaragua in
Canton, and they would be completely lost in that city's surging throngs.
Transport all the people of
Chile into
China and they would fill only a city of the first class.
Further comparisons are needless.
Suffice it to say that
China has her teeming millions to feed and to clothe.
Many of the supplies come from outside.
The share furnished by the
United States might be greatly increased.
According to the statistics published by the United States government,
China in 1899 took American goods to the value of $14,437,422, of which amount $9,844,565 was paid for cotton goods.
All the
European countries combined bought only $1,484,363 worth of American cotton manufactures during the same period.
The amount of similar purchases made by the
Central American states was $739,259; by all the South American countries $2,713,967. It thus appears that
China is the largest buyer of American cotton goods.
British America comes next in the list with purchases amounting to $2,759,164. Cotton cloth has a wide range of uses in all parts of the
Chinese Empire, and it is almost impossible for the supply to equal the demand.
Up to the year 1898 cotton goods and kerosene were the only articles imported from the
United States in large enough quantities to have a value of over $1,000,000. But I noticed in the statistics published by the United States government for the year 1899 that manufactures of iron and steel have also passed that mark.
This is due to the fact that
China has now begun in real earnest the work of building railroads.
The demand for construction materials is great.
The value of locomotives imported in 1899 from the
United States was $732,212.
Besides the articles mentioned, there are many others of American origin which do not figure in the customs returns as such.
These find their way into
China through adjacent countries, especially
Hong-Kong.
At least threefourths of the imports of
Hong-Kong, notably wheat, flour, and canned goods, are destined for consumption in the Chinese mainland.
Such is the present condition of trade between the
United States and
China.
That trade can be greatly extended.
Let the products of American farms, mills, and workshops once catch the Chinese fancy, and
America need look no farther for a market.
The present popularity of American kerosene illustrates the readiness of the Chinese to accept any article that fills a long-felt want.
They have recognized in kerosene a cheap and good illuminant, much superior to their own nut-oil, and it has consequently found its way into distant and outlying parts of the empire where the very name of
America is unknown.
Stores in the interior now send their agents to the treatyports for it. In the same way, foreignmade candles, because cheaper than those of home make, are selling easily in
China.
I would suggest that American farmers and manufacturers might find it to their advantage to study the wants and habits of the Chinese and the conditions of trade in
China.
Thus we see that
China can give the
United States a much-needed market.
What, on the other hand, can the
United States do for
China?
Let us consider
China's stock of the three requisites for the production of wealth-land, labor, and capital.
The
Chinese Empire embraces a continuous territory which stretches over sixty degrees of longitude and thirty-four degrees of latitude.
Nature has endowed this
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immense region with every variety of soil and climate, but has, however, scattered her bounties over it with an uneven hand.
That portion which comprises the eighteen provinces of
China proper, extending from the Great Wall to
 |
|
Gates of Peking, showing the Chinese Wall. |
the
China Sea, and from the
Tibetan plateau to the
Pacific Ocean, is more highly favored than the rest.
Whenever
China is mentioned, it is generally this particular portion of the empire that is meant.
On this land hundreds of generations of men have lived and died without exhausting its richness and fertility.
There remains for generations to come untold wealth of nature lying hidden within the bowels of the earth.
The mines of
Yunnan, though they have for centuries supplied the government mints with copper for the coining of those pieces of money commonly known as cash, only await the introduction of modern methods of extraction to yield an annual output as large as that of the famous
Calumet and
Hecla mines.
The sands of the Yangtsze, washed down from the highlands of Tibet, contain so much gold that that part of its course as it enters the province of Szechuen is called the
River of Golaen Sand.
Much more important than these, however, are the deposits of coal which underlie the surface formation of every province.
All varieties of coal are found, from the softest lignite to the hardest anthracite, and in such quantities that, according to the careful estimate of
Baron Richtofen, the famous German traveller and geologist, the province of Shansi alone can supply the whole world, at the present rate of consumption, for 3,000 years. In most cases beds of ironore lie in close proximity to those of coal, and can hence be easily worked and smelted.
In short, the natural resources of
China, both in variety and quantity, are so great that she stands second to no other nation in potential wealth.
To reduce this potentiality to actuality is for her the most important question of the hour.
For this purpose she has an almost unlimited supply of labor at her command.
Every village can count its thousands of laborers, every city its tens of thousands.
Experience proves that the Chinese as all-round laborers can easily distance all competitors.
They are
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industrious, intelligent, and orderly.
They can work under conditions that would kill a man of a less hardy race, in heat that would suit a salamander or in cold that would please a polar bear, sustaining their energies through long hours of unremitting toil with only a few bowls of rice.
But have the Chinese sufficient capital to carry on their industrial operations?
They are a nation of shopkeepers.
What capital they have is usually invested in small business ventures.
It is their instinct to avoid large enterprises.
Thus the capital in the country, though undoubtedly large, may be likened to a pile of sand on the beach.
It has great extent, but is so utterly lacking in cohesion that out of it no lofty structure can be built.
Before
China can be really on the high road to prosperity, it must find means of fully utilizing every economic advantage that it has. Modern methods are its greatest need.
Here is
America's opportunity.
The Yankee is never seen to better advantage than when experimenting with a new idea on a colossal scale.
To direct vast or novel enterprises is a perfectly new experience to the Chinaman.
Give him a junk and he will with ease ride out the fiercest typhoon that ever lashed the seas.
But give him an ocean leviathan of the present day, with its complicated engines, dynamos, compasses, and other modern appliances for navigating a ship, and he will be truly “all at sea” in knowing how to handle it, even in a dead calm.
Of all public works,
China has most pressing need of railroads.
Only a few years ago it would have been difficult to convince one man in ten of the immediate necessity for the introduction of railroads into all the provinces of the empire.
Today at least nine out of every ten believe that railroads ought to be built as fast as possible.
This complete change of public opinion within so short a time shows perhaps better than anything else how fast
China is getting into the swing of the world's forward movement.
There are at present only about 400 miles of railroad open to traffic throughout the whole country, and all the lines building and projected foot up to 5,000 or 6,000 miles more.
China proper covers about as many square miles as the States east of the
Mississippi.
Those States, with a population of 50,000,000, require 100,000 miles of railroad to do their business.
China, with a population eight times as large, would naturally be supposed to need at least about an equal mileage of roads for her purposes.
It would not be strange if the activity in railroad construction in the
United States soon after the
Civil War should find a parallel in
China in coming years.
The building of railroads in
China does not partake of the speculative character which attended the building of some of the
American roads.
There are no wild regions to be opened up for settlement, no new towns to be built along the route.
Here is a case of the railroad following the population, and not that of the population following the railroad.
A road built through populous cities and famous marts has not long to wait for traffic.
It would pay from the beginning.
The first railroad in
China was built for the transportation of coal from the Kaiping mines to the port of
Taku.
The line, though in an out-of-the-way corner of the empire, proved so profitable from the very start that it was soon extended to
Tientsin and
Peking in one direction, and to Shanhaikwan, the eastern terminus of the Great Wall, in the other.
Not long ago it was thought advisable to build a branch beyond Shanhaikwan to the treatyport of Newchwang.
The era of railroad building in
China may be said to have just dawned.
China desires nothing better than to have
Americans lend a hand in this great work.
It gave me great pleasure two years ago to obtain for an American company a concession to build a railroad between Hankow, the great distributing centre of
central China, and
Canton, the great distributing centre of
south China.
The line is to connect with the Lu-Han line on the north and with the
Kowloon line on the south, and throughout its whole length of more than 900 miles will run through opulent cities, fertile valleys, and cultivated plains.
The construction of such a line by
Americans through the heart of
China cannot fail to bring the people of the two countries into closer relations.
Besides railroads, there are other public works which
China must undertake sooner or later.
Among them are river
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and harbor improvements, city water supplies, street lighting, and street railways.
Owing to the traditional friendship between the two countries, our people are well disposed towards
Americans.
They are willing to follow their lead in these new enterprises, where they might spurn the assistance of other people with whom they have been on less friendly terms in the past.
Such being the economic interdependence of
China and the
United States, what policy should each country pursue towards the other in order to gain the greatest good from that relationship?
In my judgment, true reciprocity is impossible unless each country has perfect confidence in the other, and displays on all occasions a desire for fair-play and honest dealing.
Now, reciprocity demands the “open door.”
China long ago adopted that policy in her foreign intercourse.
She has treaty relations with all the
European powers, together with the
United States,
Brazil,
Peru,
Mexico,
Japan, and
Korea.
All these are equally “favored nations” in every sense of the term.
The
Swede and the Dane enjoy the same rights, privileges, immunities, and exemptions, with respect to commerce, navigation, travel, and residence throughout the length and breadth of the empire as are accorded to the
Russian or the Englishman.
Any favor that may be granted to
Japan, for instance, at once inures to the benefit of the
United States.
Indeed,
China, in her treatment of strangers within her gates, has in a great many respects gone even beyond what is required of international usage.
According to the usual practice of nations, no country is expected to accord to foreigners rights which are not enjoyed by its own subjects or citizens.
But
China has been so long accustomed to indemnify foreigners who have fallen victims to mob violence that she is looked upon in a sense as an insurer of the lives and property of all foreigners residing within her borders.
To such an extent is this idea current among foreigners in
China that some years ago an American missionary in the province of Shantung, who happened to have some articles stolen from his house in the night, estimated his loss at $60, and actually sent the bill through the
American minister at
Peking to the Foreign Office for payment.
The
Chinese tariff also favors foreigners resident in
China much more than it does the Chinese themselves.
Most articles imported for the use of foreigners are on the free-list.
Such is the treatment which
Americans, in common with the subjects and citizens of other foreign powers receive in
China.
Justice would seem to demand equal consideration for the Chinese on the part of the
United States.
China does not ask for special favors.
All she wants is enjoyment of the same privileges accorded other nationalities.
Instead, she is singled out for discrimination and made the subject of hostile legislation.
Her door is wide open to the people of the
United States, but their door is slammed in the face of her people.
I am not so biased as to advocate any policy that might be detrimental to the best interests of the people of the
United States.
If they think it desirable to keep out the objectionable class of
Chinese, by all means let them do so. Let them make their immigration laws as strict as possible, but let them be applicable to all foreigners.
Would it not be fairer to exclude the illiterate and degenerate classes of all nations rather than to make an arbitrary ruling against the Chinese alone?
Would it not be wiser to set up some specific test of fitness, such as ability to read intelligently the
American Constitution?
That would give the Chinese a chance along with the rest of the world, and yet effectually restrict their immigration.
Such a law would be practically prohibitory as far as all except the best-educated
Chinese are concerned, for the reason that the written language of the Chinese is so entirely different from the spoken tongue that few of the immigrants would be able to read with intelligence such a work as the
American Constitution.
Nevertheless, a law of that kind would be just in spirit and could not rouse resentment in the Chinese breast.
Since the law and the treaty forbid the coming of
Chinese laborers, I must do all I can to restrict their immigration.
I should, however, like to call attention to the fact that the
Chinese Exclusion Act, as enforced, scarcely accomplishes
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the purpose for which it was passed.
It aimed to provide for the exclusion of
Chinese laborers only, while freely admitting all others.
As a matter of fact, the respectable merchant, who would be an irreproachable addition to the population of any country, has been frequently turned back, whereas the Chinese highbinders, the riffraff and scum of the nation, fugitives from justice and adventurers of all types have too often effected an entrance without much difficulty.
This is because the
American officials at the entrance ports are ignorant of
Chinese character and dialects and cannot always discriminate between the worthy and the unworthy.
Rascals succeed in deceiving them, while the respectable but guileless
Chinese are often unjustly suspected, inconveniently detained, or even sent back to
China.
A number of such cases have been brought to my attention.
It must not be supposed, however, that I blame any official.
In view of their limited knowledge of
Chinese affairs, it is not strange that the officials sometimes make mistakes.
The
Americans judge us wrongly, just as we often misjudge them.
This unpleasant state of things is to be deplored, and I would suggest that difficulties might be avoided, if the regular officials, in passing on immigrant Chinamen, could have the assistance of
Chinese consuls, or people fitted by training and experience in
China for the discharge of such duties.
Great misunderstanding exists in the
United States in regard to
Chinese questions.
There is a current fear that if all restrictions on
Chinese immigration were removed, the
United States would be flooded with my countrymen.
Inasmuch as
China contains some 400,000,000 inhabitants, a wholesale emigration would certainly be a serious matter for the people of the country to which they removed.
But there is no danger of such a calamity befalling the
United States.
Those who view it with alarm only show how profoundly ignorant they are of
Chinese character.
One of the most striking features of the conservatism of the Chinese is their absolute horror of travel, especially by sea. They regard any necessity for it as an unmitigated evil.
They do not often visit neighboring towns, much less adjoining provinces or foreign countries.
So pronounced is their prejudice against travel that, until they could be educated into a different view,
Chinese railroads would for the first few years have to depend for their profits on freight rates rather than passenger fares.
To the
American or
Englishman, who proto go abroad as soon as he has accumulated a little money, their state of mind may seem incomprehensible, but it is nevertheless a fact that must be taken into account.
How, then, is the presence of so many
Chinese in
America explained?
By the fact that some forty years ago, when the Pacific Railway was building, there was great scarcity of laborers.
Agents went to
China and induced a considerable number of
Chinese to come to this country assist in the construction of the railroad.
After their work was done most of them returned home, taking their earnings with them.
They told their relatives of the exceptional opportunities for making money in this country, and they in turn decided to seek their fortunes here.
Were it not for this circumstance, there would be no more
Chinese in this country than there are in
Europe, where wages are also much higher than in
China.
As it is, all who are in the
United States are from the province of
Canton, and they come from two or three places only of that one province.
It has been said that the rules of international intercourse as observed by Western nations among themselves are not applicable to intercourse with Eastern nations.
True it is that the people of the
East speak different languages and have different customs, manners, religions, and ways of thinking from the people of the
West.
But the rule of contraries is by no means a safe guide through the intricacies of social observances.
By disregarding the common civilities of life, which are considered very important in
China, and by assuming a lofty air of superiority, foreigners frequently make themselves unpopular in
China.
Americans have the reputation there of being abrupt, English dictatorial.
In recent years competition in trade with people of other nationalities has reduced their profits and forced them, for the sake of
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obtaining custom, to be more suave in their manners.
Foreigners are sometimes guilty, also, of practising all sorts of tricks upon the unsuspecting natives.
It should be remembered that the Chinese standard of business honesty is very high.
The “yea, yea” of a Chinese merchant is as good as gold.
Not a scrap of paper is necessary to bind him to his word.
Friendly feeling between the people of
China and those of the
United States would be greatly promoted if the
Americans would always remember, in whatever dealings they may have with the Chinese, that “Honesty is the best policy.”
I believe that the
Western nations want to treat the people of the Orient fairly.
It is gratifying to see that
Japan has been able to revise her ex-territorial treaties, and it speaks well for the fairmindedness of
England and other countries that they have thrown no obstacles in her way. I hope that the day will soon come when
China may follow in her footsteps.
In the mean time,
China observes with interest that the planting of the Stars and Stripes in the
Philippine Islands will make the
United States her neighbor in the future, as she has been her friend in the past.
It is her earnest hope that the
United States will make no attempt to bar Asiatics from her new shores, but that she will seize this opportunity to strengthen friendly relations of mutual helpfulness between the two countries.
No other nation has a stronger claim to the confidence of
China than has the
United States.
The very first article of the first treaty concluded between the two nations provides that there shall be peace and friendship between them and between their people.
Through a half-century of intercourse, no untoward circumstance has interrupted those amicable relations.
More than once the United States government has used its good offices to promote
Chinese interests and welfare.
Nations, like individuals, appreciate favors, and, like them also, resent indignities.
The sentiment of good — will entertained by the government and people of
China towards the government and people of the
United States is strong and profound because of the long, unblemished past, but underneath it all there is, I am sorry to say, a natural feeling of disappointment and irritation that the people of the
United States deal less liberally with the Chinese than with the rest of the world.
If the best guarantee of friendship is self-interest, surely the friendship of a nation of 400,000,000 people ought to be worth cultivating.
China does not ask for much.
She has no thought of territorial aggrandizement, of self-glorification in any form.
All she wants is gentle peace, sweet friendship, helpful exchange of benefits, and the generous application of that
Golden Rule which people of all nations and all creeds should delight to follow.
See
Wu Ting-Fang. 
