and straight glossy black hair;
but 72 per cent, of the population of Singapore is Chinese.

It is interesting to observe that John Chinaman seems to flourish
equally in the Tropics and in the Temperate Zone. Here in Singapore
under an equatorial sun, or in Canton on the edge of the Tropics, he
seems as energetic, as unfailing in industry, as he is in wintry
Mukden or northern Mongolia. For hours after sunset many of the
Chinese shops in Singapore present as busy an appearance as at
mid-day, and the pigtailed rickshaw men, with only a loin-cloth about
their bare bodies, seem to run as fast and as far as they would if
they were in Peking.

The Chinese are a wonderful people, and I am more and more impressed
with the thought of what a hand they are to have in the world's
affairs a hundred years hence when they get thoroughly "waked up."
They were first brought to Singapore, I understand, as common
laborers, but now their descendants are among the wealthiest men and
women in the place and ride around in automobiles, while descendants
of their one-time employers walk humbly on the adjacent sidewalks. It
is a tribute to the untiring industry, shrewdness, and business skill
of the Chinaman that nowadays when people {188} anywhere speak of
desiring Celestials as laborers, they add, "Provided they are under
contract to return to China when the work is finished, and do not
remain to absorb the trade and wealth of the country."

From Singapore we made a very interesting trip to Johore, a little
kingdom about the size of ten ordinary counties, and with a population
of about 350,000. The soil and climate along the route are well suited
to the cultivation of rubber trees, and considerable areas have
recently been cleared of the dense jungle growth and set to young
rubber plants. One of my friends who has a rubber plantation north of
Singapore says that while rubber is selling now at only $1.50 a pound
as compared with $3 a pound a few months ago, there are still enormous
profits in the business, as the rubber should not cost over 25 cents a
pound to produce. Some of the older plantations paid dividends of 150
per cent, last year, and probably set aside something for a rainy day
in addition.

Yet not even these facts would have justified the wild speculation in
rubber, the unreasoning inflation in values, which proved a veritable
"Mississippi Bubble" for so many investors in Europe and Asia last
year. Shares worth $5 or $10 wer