Vol. XXI, No. 12 WASHINGTON December, 1910 



TME 



©(SMAFIfflll© 







RACE PREJUDICE IN THE FAR EAST 



By Melville E. Stone 



General Manager of the Associated Press 



A LTHOUGH whole libraries have 

 /\ been written concerning Asia and 

 y % the Asians, there is a widespread 

 belief that, because of the differences in 

 our mentalities, it is not possible for us 

 ever to understand them, or they us. 

 Kipling says that "East is East, and 

 West is West, and never the twain shall 

 meet." The "oldest inhabitant" in India 

 or China or Japan is sure to tell you 

 that the Oriental mind is unfathomable. 

 I have not the temerity to challenge these 

 opinions. And yet I venture to suggest 

 that there is an older authority holding 

 a different view, and that I still have 

 some respect for Cicero's idea that there 

 is a "common bond'' uniting all of the 

 children of men. 



And whatever our ignorance of, or 

 indifference for, the Orientals in the 

 past, it is well to note that conditions, 

 both for us and for them, have entirely 

 changed within the last decade. There 

 is a new United States and a new Asia. 

 The Spanish War created the one ; the 

 Russo-Japanese War the other. When 

 we acquired the Philippine Islands we 

 assumed the government of eight millions 

 of Orientals and touched elbow with all 

 Asia. When Japan defeated Russia, the 

 Oriental learned his power. For untold 

 centuries he had respected power. His 



native sovereign was an autocrat, who 

 enslaved him, beat him, killed l im, if 

 need be. Then came the European, with 

 powder and guns and warships ; and 

 thereafter the white man behind the gun 

 represented power. A handful of British 

 with cannon could enforce obedience 

 from hundreds of millions of people. 

 Suddenly the little Empire of Japan, one 

 of the least among the Asiatic powers, 

 challenged, fought, and defeated the 

 great European Colossus, Russia. 



The Asian discovered then that it was 

 not the white man, but the gun that did 

 the business ; he learned that a yellow 

 man behind the gun was quite as effect- 

 ive as a white man, and he found that 

 the Christian soldier alone was afraid of 

 death. Then followed in travail the 

 birth of the new Asia. There were 

 actual revolutions in Turkey and Persia, 

 a startling recrudescence of unrest in 

 India and Ceylon, and, at this moment, 

 China is in a state of revolutionary fer- 

 ment. 



What is to be the outcome? What 

 does all this mean for the future of the 

 world? Let us view the problem from 

 the political, the commercial, and the 

 moral aspects. How long will the 6.000 

 soldiers we have in the Philippines be 

 able to keep our flag afloat among 8,000,- 



