Novembor 23, 1917 
LAND & WATER 
Chinamen in France 
By Charles Watney 
13 
BEHIND the fight,ing line you rind men of innumer- 
able races and nationalities, employed not as com- 
batants but on purely labour duties. By far the most 
numerouf- are the Chinese. 
We were not the originator of the idea of employing Chinese 
•abour in France. The French were the pioneers. Eacouraged 
by their experience in utilising the services of men from tneir 
own Colonies, they proceeded to enrol them with the acquies- 
cence of the Chinese Government in Northern China, and it is 
also from the north that we ourselves draft them to France. 
The Chinaman does not mind long journeys and long periods 
of voluntary expatriation. He signs on for a three j'cars 
contract, whereas the South African native for domestic 
reasons limits his period of service to one year. This is a 
strong point in the former's favour. Another point in his 
favour is that he is a hardy traveller. 
It must be an interesting pilgrimage when some thousands 
of these men set out for Europe, and it must be a remarkable 
experience. In the first place they have been carefully 
selected, and ajiart from a few elderly individuals they are all 
of a fine physique. But at the same time in a long journey 
maladies are necessarily contracted or developed In that 
.case, the pilgrimage drops the sick people for hospital attend- 
ance on the way and when they have recovered they are 
attached to the next party passing through. Thus, some 
parties arrive less in strength than when they started, while 
others arrive considerably larger. These maladies are nearly 
always trKial ; an attack of mumps held a party up at one 
spot for quite a long time. I'p to the present, no mishap 
whatever has befallen any, and the mortality is trivial. One 
of these Chinese labourers who recently died in a British town 
was accorded a military funeral. 
One must pay a tribute to the buoyancy and the imper- 
turbability of these men. Thev have no break in their long 
journey, yet when I saw them— as I did the other day to the 
extent of some two or three thousand — they were all cheerful 
and well provided with tomtoms and other instruments 
of music. ?'ost European critics wonder whether their 
clothing is sufficiently thick to protect them against cold ; 
it seems to be standardised, for every man wore a long brown 
cloak over his usual Chinese dress, which apparently consists 
of both light summer and thick padded winter clothes worn 
simultaneously, the latter next to the skin. Their shoes seem 
the least suitable, but this makes no difference, for every man 
is supplied with a pair of boots just the same as those 
worn by the British soldier. 
This contingent of immigrants landed in France in the mid- 
afternoon ; late the same evening a train dropped them at 
a great Chinese depot miles and miles behind the fighting 
front and they passed the first night in bell tents. The next 
morning shewed them a type of camp with which many, 
having laboured in South Africa, are familiar. On one side 
of a wide road, evidently remodelled extensively by the 
mi.litary, since the spot lies well oti' the beaten track, has been 
built a large mixed camp, one-third of tents and two-thirds 
of permanent structures of the normal military type which 
the army caipenter is running up all over Northern France. 
This camp possesses features which aie not found in the 
other CJiinese camps in I*" ranee. It is the great clearing depot 
for all arrivals, and its administration is testimony of the 
thoroughness, rtire, and patience with which these immigrants 
are looked after. They spend but a short time in the depot, 
a few days at the most, and sometimes if the incoming num- 
bers are very large, as they occasionally are, on'y just sufficient 
time for record .and refitting purposes. In the morning after 
their arrival each man is individually submitted to a very 
minute medical examination, more especially for trachoma 
and to a lesser degree for pulmonary troubles. 
Naturally the one great object in a camp of this nature 
and in dealing with a race prone to certain diseases, is to 
fletect at the earliest possible moment the outbreak of even a 
single case, 'The medical attendance and supervision of the 
men, therefore, is notably thorough and ])erfect. Prior, 
however, to the medical examination each man has to be 
iflentified. The men have names, which are known to the 
authorities, but in view of their complexity and difficulty 
of pronunciation each is known, and for all practical purposes 
identified, by a number.' ; 
It appears that astute men having signed on in China for 
the Ciovernment terms have found it more profitable to stay at 
home and send a df puty, whom they undertake to pay at a 
rate which, needless to say, is very much under tiie standard of 
the British Government. This misplaced ingenuity must be 
ceasing to be popular, since it is always detected, and the 
substitute may, if fit, be kept on; but the original exploiter 
of cheap labour never benefits in the least. 
Love of New Boots 
When the men leave the doctor— and the vast majority 
arrive in excellent health — they are taken in hand by the 
Quarter-master of the Stores, It is his job to fit them out 
with boots, vests and blankets, and his department keeps siich 
a minute record of each individual transaction that if at a 
later date any labourer suggests he has not been properly and 
adequately fitted out. his statement can be at once investigated. 
Occasionally one has heard reports that someof the men sutler 
from lack of boots. As a matter of fact, they may sufier 
in this way, but it is their own fault. The average China- 
man is by no means an innocent and unsophisticated child ol 
nature. He has been known to sell his boots for the sake oi 
the few dollars he may get on them, and he will then return 
and blandly ask' for another pair. He has too a weakness 
for new boots. Sometimes some of the boots have been stout 
secondhand ones, thoroughly repaired, but if one man knows 
that another has received a pair of new boots, his one object 
is to work back the old ones on the stores and try and per- 
suade them to give him a new pair. In fact, two mpn whose 
request to this end had been turned down, retired to the back- 
ground to take council, and presently one returned with two 
left-foot boots, remarking that a mistake had evidently been 
made in the issue. But the fraud failed. 
Having obtained his outfit, the man is ready for work, but 
normally, unless it be camp routine duty, he is not called 
upon to do anything for two or three days, until, so to speak, 
he has-" found his feet." He therefore devotes himself to 
getting his outfit in order, repairing own clothes, etc., etc. 
He soon finds that the Government has taken him thoroughly 
in hand, so that he has to worry about nothing. His rations 
are up t6 the standard of the soldier, and in ono or two respects 
even better. He is, if lie desires, allowed to prepare some of 
liis own food in his own way, this being especially the case in 
regard to the bread or bread Cakes which every Oriental 
likes. The bulk of the meals are, however, prepared by the 
authorities on European lines, but with Chinese cook-helpers, 
in the usual field kitchens. Whatever may have been 
their home diet, new arrivals speedily accustom themselves 
to solid European fare, which is probably infinitely bettet 
than that with which in peace time they are familiar. Nc 
scruples are urged in respect of any type of food. There is 
an Expeditionary Force Canteen on the premises, where they 
-can buy all the articles which the soldier usually purchases, 
and various forms of food popular in the East. 
Meantime, the authorities devote themselves to sorting 
out the new arrivals. There are always a number of men in 
a Chinese camp who have knowledge of a trade. Some are 
able to attend to machinery, others make good cobblers, or 
can successfully perform many of the little specialised duties 
which have always to be attended to in an army. They are 
set aside for special work as it arrives, while the rest — day 
labourers — are grouped in companies in anticipation of re- 
quisitions which may come down at any moment from any 
part of the British line. For this purpose local camps have to 
be built for these Chinese labourers veiy much on the lines 
of the depot camp. There are already nine in existence, and 
the number grows daily since, by the end of the year, there 
may be well 100.000 Chinese labourers in France. 
Even the rough type of labourer does well. The China- 
man makes a good show in landing or loading cargo. His 
champions claim that he holds the record for rapid work 
at sea-ports, and for road work he can challenge comparison 
with anv race. So, when the requisitions arrive at the depot, 
the meii are at once sent off, always under a British officer 
speaking their language, and, in addition, overseers of their 
own nationality, all of whom know some English, and many of 
whom a good deal. It is by no means uncommon to find 
Chinese who have served, for instance, in the old Wei Hai 
Wei Regiments, and who have a substantial acquaintance 
with military discipline, 
is the work popular ? You cannot go to France and come 
to any other conclusion. In the first place, the rate of pay is 
good. In addition to the free clothes, free food and free 
accommodation, each man receives a franc a day, while 
an allowance of ten Mexican dollars a month is 
