•
February 9, 1901.]
trial institution should have had the checkered career it has had, but it has now got over most of the difficulties it had to contend with. Its yarn production is being readily bought up by the Chinese, and as the demand for that is now more regular, its future certainly looks full of promise.
CORRESPONDENCE.
ESA.
[We do not hold ourselves responsible for the
opinions expressed by our correspondents.]
EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES IN
HONGKONG.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRESS.
Hongkong, 31st January. SIR,-It is with feelings of regret and disgust that I read in your issue of yesterday the speech made by the Bishop of Victoria at the recent prize distribution in the Diocesan School, in which he voiced his opinion on the mixing of European and Chinese children at school.
As one who takes a great interest in missionary enterprise in China, I am astonished that the leader of the missionary body, and the head (so to speak) of Christianity in this dark corner of the sphere, should so forget himself as to give utterance to the terms used. Did the Bishop give his opinion from a Christian point of view, when he said he did not think they mixed? Surely the gulf between the Chinaman as a Chinaman and an Englishman as An Englishman' could be only the one thing- the space that separates the dark depths of heathenism with one from the enlightened heights of Christianity with the other. Can it be then that the Bishop has no desice to see that gulf removed? I cannot comprehend why he did not think it was a good thing for English boys to be educated side by side with Chinese boys. He felt it was not a good thing for Chinese boys to be educated side by side with English boys. From this, it would seem that it was not from a moral standpoint. Where, then, is the motivo for separating them, and, as a Christian, why does he desire to make some distinction between the two races?
If Chinamen are to be trained up to be Chinamen, I do not think it is necessary for Englishmen to do it. What have missionaries come to China for? Havo they not come to preach the gospel truth and to reform its people? Have they not come to lay before the Chinese that which has made Englishmen what they are to-day? If this is not so, and Chinamen are to remain China 1 en in the full sense of the word, than a ssionaries might just as well stay at home.
But again, what has prompted our worthy Bishop to criticise the pr nciples of he Govern. ment? Does not the Queen's Collego offer every facility for an excellent education? It does, and, proud to say, he authorities are Christian enough not to make any distinction between Luropeans and Chinese
Both races enjoy the same rivileges, and so far nothing, I believe, has bappened to point out the advisability of separating them.
Referring to "A Pa ent's" letter in your issue of to-day, I would suggest that, if Hong- kong schools are not good enough for 's children, he had better waste his time no longer among a people with whom he does not wish his children to associate, but take them home and have them educated.
Thanking you in anticipation for the inser- tion of this letter, I am, yours, &c..
INTERESTED.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRESS." Hongkong, 4th February. SIR, The speech made by the Bishop in the Diocesan Home has created quite a com- motion, as will be seen from the correspondence column of the paper. I, being a born subject of Hongkong, naturally feel myself interested in any question pertaining to the welfare of my own people and that of people of other races; and therefore feel myself under obliga- tion to express my opinions, however meagre and puerile they may seem to others, in regard to this all-absorbing topic-for all educational questions are important.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
It is a latent desire implanted in the heart of an animal that he should preserve himself in the struggle for existence which, however, in the case of man, is under the Law of Love. Now it is quite natural for the Bishop to say, without premeditation probably, that he did not believe it was a good thing to put the two races side by side in the school." Had I been in the Bishop's place I would have spoken the same thing per- haps as the Bishop had spoken Auyhow I believe unwaveringly that the Bishop was ac tuated by pure motives in proposing such a thing; but pure motives do not necessarily make a thing right. Pure motives must be substantiated by facts and sound philosophy. It is not enough to have pure motives while facts and principles are all disregarded; and if both of thess are against them, it is time for us to put away the question.
The Utilitarian philosophy of Bentham can help us greatly in this question: whether the good accruing from excluding Asiatics in certain schools can counterbalance the evil resulted therefrom. If so I am exceedingly glad to see this carried out to perfection for the sake of mankind at large, even at the expense of my own people; if not, I hope the Bishop and those who have followed in his wako and hailed “tho Bishop as a leader in this absolutely essential reform" will reconsider the matter again.
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The first point to be noted is the race element involved in this discussion. A glance at the history of the world will convince any one that the so many wars are only the manifestations of hatred between one race and another; and that the obliteration of distinction between races is the one great progress of the world. The Chi- nese were, as every one knows, quite anti- foreign, and not until late years have they been led to extirpate that idea. It must be erary one's desire to see the Chinese living in friendly terms with for igners; and in order to effect that there must be some way to neutralise this race feeling and school. I believe, is the great factor to accomplish this, where, when the minds of children are passive and plastic, they may be educated together and then very soon they may forget the race element existing in their hearts. It seems to me that it is the duty of the Government to look more seriously into this important matter and give every facility to that end. Now to exclude Chinese from certain schools means to go against the law of nature and to aggravate the hatred between Chinese and foreigners, and hence in tercourse between them will become more dif- ficult and mutual misunderstandings will be very soon precipitated. The chief work that Christianity has done and is still doing is that of extinguishing out the race element feeling and of consolidating the different races under one Faith, one Feeling, one Sympathy. When I was at school one thing struck me very much and gave me the greatest pain, and this thing was that the line between Chinose and foreign- ers was too plainly and sharply drawn; and it was my great desire then to find some means to put a stop to this Therefore the Bishop. if he knows this, will instead of advocating such so-called reform. lend a helping hand to fuse the ro races together and blend their dif. ferences in feeling into mutual sympathy.
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method of thinking peculiar to the Chinese, while, at the same time, those Chinese who study English generally make an effort to im- itate anything European. t has been my great pride to see so many boys of my own coun try interested in sports at Queen's College, whereas five years ago, when I was there, scarcely could there be found a boy taking any interest in bodily exercises, much less in outdoor recreation and sport. This condition has been brought about by associating the Chinese with the Europeans, while I sincerely believe that the European boys will never be in the danger of falling into the slothfulness, sluggishness, and indifference to sports of the Chinesa. It may be urged that there will be danger to European boys to follow the pharisa- ical enstoms of the Celestials. Do you think that there is any European boy so foolish as to prostrate himself before his superiors? As to shut up his wife and daughters in a harem? As to bind up the feet of women? As to fetter himself with formalism Not at all.. This suggests another question as to how the Chinese might extirpate these bad customs. Certainly not by separating the Chinese from the Europeans, but by having them both edu- cated in the same school side by side. I am exceedingly glad to see that many English- speaking young men are gradually putting away their old, out-of-fashion, cruel customs; but I am very sorry to see that not a small number have picked up many indecent and bad customs of the Europeans, and in this-in this only-I believe what the Bishop wishes, "to train up the Chinaman to be a Chinaman and not half a Chinaman and half an Englishman."
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Few things more I should like to dwell upon. The first is to have a school especially for small children, it is not a good thing for small children to be educated side by side with old boys, and the lack of this Colony is such a school. If after all, many wish very earnestly to have a school particularly for Europeans, I think that the Government, being supposed to lo impartial and to look after only the welfare of its people, should not lend it: holp, but leave the whole matter in the hands of those who are interested in it. As the Gornment ought not to show any particular fax ar to one re- ligion to the exclusion of the ether and must do things with disregard of religion, so it ought not to show particular favour to one race to the exclusion of other races and must do things with disregard of race Religions Li- berty has been the cry of Europ. Race Liberty is the cry of the World. Proto tants can open schools for Protestants. Roma: Catholics for Roman Catholics, Mohamedan for Mohame. dans, but the Government should not endow any one of these; therefore th English can open schools for English, Indians for Indians, Japaness for Japanese, and Chineso for Chin ese, but the Government should not in this case ondow any of those schools. Government schools should be free from Religion and Race.
As Hongkong is the emporium of the Far East, it seems to me quite strange that it has not a Technical Academy, much less a Univer- sity, where Chinese and foreigners can go and have equal rights and an equal footing. I would like to suggest that Queen's Collage night bo changed into such if the Governor takes the matter into his hands, while funds for such an undertaking can easily be obtained from the merchants, both foreign and Chinese.
It has been in my mind that the courses of study given in Queen's College do not give quite a liberal education to many Chinese and foreigners. What a grand thing to have this carried out and make Hongkong the seat of learning of the Far East-Yours, etc.,
WANG HUNG-YU.
It is worth noticing that man always tends to lower himself down morally; and it is a fact that Chinese at the very beginning generally learn what is bad in foreigners, and rice versa, which condition is a deplorable thing. The Bishop and his followers might justly denounce such. and infer from it that Europeans should have separate schools, whereby they may not be con- taminated with the bad morals of the Chiness. But we must know that this deplorable condition is inevitable, but undoubtedly temporary; and to sacrifice a permanent good for a temporary one is a thing unrecommendable. To sacrifica the TO THE EDITOR OF THE "D ILY PRESS." happiness of the future world for that of the
Hongkong. 5th February, present is a great mistake; and for the mere fact SIR-I wish through your columns to thank that European boys might be infected with the the writer of the letter on th above subject bad morals of the Celestials, the great perman-which appeared in your issue of last Saturday ent good of extinguishing out the hatred re- sulting from difference of race, from combining the race elements together, may be sacrificed such thing, if actually done, is greatly to be lamented.
My experience goes to show that, as a rule, European boys in school generally depreciate things Chinese, and therefore there is no need to fear that European boys might learn any bad
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under the nom de plume of "Interested."
The Bishop's remarks, denunciatory of the presont system of mixed schools in Hongkong have been read with feelings of pain and in- dignation by the foreign-educatel Chinese here, and were more of them able to express their feelings in public print, the local papers would be overghelmed with "copy" for their corres- pondence columns for many days to come.
D