RACE PREJUDICE IN THE FAR EAST 



977 



or in the shape or length of priestly 

 vestments, but in the attributes of correct 

 Christian living. Is frugahty a virtue? 

 Your Asian far exceeds us in frugality. 

 Is industry a merit ? No people on eartn 

 work as long, as persistently, and as con- 

 scientiously as they. Is integrity es- 

 teemed? It is the unchallenged judg- 

 ment of every European writer that the 

 word of an Asian was good until they 

 were corrupted by the inroads of West- 

 erners. Is politeness, which is but 

 another name for the golden rule, to be 

 •commended? Nowhere will you find 

 such scrupulous politeness as is daily and 

 hourly observed east of Suez. 



Is observance of law desirable? The 

 peaceable and orderly lives which the 

 great mass of the people of Asia have led 

 for centuries attest their habits of obedi- 

 ence. There are cities in India, Ja])an, 

 -and China with crowded populations 

 running from a hundred thousand into 

 the millions where there is scarcely the 

 semblance of police control, and where 

 -crime is hardly known. They are a 

 •calm, thoughtful people, to whom what 

 Mr Arthur Benson has so well called 

 *'the gospel of push," and what our own 

 vigorous Roosevelt calls a "strenuous 

 life," is unknown. But I am not at all 

 sure that this is an unmixed evil, for 

 there are no *'brain-storms" there, and 

 neurasthenia is provided for nowhere. 

 In the light of the fact that the number 

 of inmates in the insane hospitals of our 

 country doubled in six years, according 

 to the latest available statistics, I cannot 

 but feel that we need less strenuosity 

 rather than more. Compared with West- 

 ern civilization, theirs will not suffer 

 perhaps as much as you would imagine ; 

 and perhaps you will agree that the chief 

 characteristics of our civilization are 

 push and extravagance, and that in this 

 respect they have the better of us. 



All this brings me to my topic. And I 

 must say that, paraphrasing \lv Lin- 

 coln's words at Gettysburg, in large 

 measure it is not for us to educate, but 

 to be educated. We shall never meet the 

 problems growing out of our relation 

 with the Far East unless we absolutely 



and once for all put away race preju- 

 dice. I believe the European snob in 

 Asia is distinctly the enemy of the civil- 

 ized West. And his coadjutor in this 

 country is a fitting criminal yoke-fellow. 

 Let me give you some illustrations of 

 what I mean — cases which came under 

 my personal observation. From Bom- 

 bay to Yokohama there is not a social 

 club at any port or treaty point where a 

 native, whatever his culture or refine- 

 ment, will be admitted. 



At the Bengal Club at Calcutta last 

 year a member in perfectly good stand- 

 ing innocently invited a Eurasian gen- 

 tleman — that is, one who is half native 

 and half European — to dine with him. 

 It became known that the invitation had 

 been extended, and a storm of opposi- 

 tion broke among the members. The 

 matter was finally adjusted by setting 

 aside the ladies' department of the club, 

 and there the oft'ending member and his 

 unfortunate guest dined alone. The next 

 day the member was called before the 

 board of governors and notified that 

 another like breach of the rules would 

 result in his expulsion. 



The beating of native servants and 

 workmen in India is a daily and hourly 

 occurrence. It formerly was so at Hong- 

 kong and Shanghai, but Mr Sprague, 

 the representative of the Standard Oil 

 Company at Shanghai, told me that since 

 the Russo-Japanese war the natives 

 would not stand it, and that all beating 

 of them by Europeans in that city had 

 ceased. 



While in Calcutta I attended a ball at 

 Government House, and noted that while 

 one or two native princesses were on the 

 floor dancing w^ith white men, there were 

 twenty or more native gentlemen stand- 

 ing about as 'Vail flowers." I called the 

 attention of Lady Minto to the fact, and 

 she explained that no white woman 

 would think of dancing with a native; it 

 would certainly result in ostracism. 



The son of a maharaja goes to Eng- 

 land, is educated at Oxford or Cam- 

 bridge, is lionized in the West End of 

 London — mayhap he is honored with an 



