Yellow Peril." If there is a
Yellow Peril, it lies in the fact that our men are ready to labour
unceasingly for a wage on which most Europeans would starve, and
on that pittance they manage to save and become rich and
prosperous. They have gone into other lands wherever they have found
an opening, and some of the southern countries, like Singapore and
the Philippines, owe much of their commercial progress to our people.
They are honest and industrious, and until the foreigner began to feel
the pinch of competition, until he found that he must work all day and
not sleep the hours away if he would be in the race with the man from
the Eastern land, he had nothing to say about the character of the
man from China. But so soon as he felt the pressure of want because
of his sloth, he began to find that the "yellow man" was vicious, and
soon his depravity became a by-word. The Chinese were abused
because of their virtues rather than their vices, for things for which all
other nations are applauded-- love of work and economy. It is the
industry of our people that offends, because it competes with the
half-done work of the white man, who dissipates his time and money.

The men from this land have learned their ways of work at home,
where the struggle for existence is hard. Sunrise sees the carpenter
and the smith, the shoemaker and the beater of cotton at their labour,
and the mid-night cry of the watchman often finds them patiently
earning the rice for the morrow's meal. And they have not learned to
disobey when told to go to work. There are no strikes as in the foreign
countries. Our workmen are obedient, although it is said that they
lack in leadership, that nothing is originated within themselves; but
they can be taught, and all who employ Chinese labour testify to their
ability to follow a good master.

I think, from hearing the gossip from thy son's courtyard, that when
China is again peaceful, there will be more chance for the men within
her borders, who can then stay beside their fires and earn their food.
Our land is a land of fertile soil, of rich minerals, and great rivers. It is
said that there are millions and millions of acres on which food or
other products can be grown, and that a great part of China may be
made one vast garden. The German scientist who is trying to get a
coal mine concession from the government told my husband that
there were tens of millions of tons of coal of the best quality in China,
and th