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situations. Thus attitudes toward the lower orders were often ambivalent.
But a further reason should be advanced: working class Europeans were seen as lowering the prestige of the white man in the East. They were, by definition, poor; they lacked ton and breeding; too often they hobnobbed with—even lived with—Asians; they did not cultivate the unruffled ease and dignity of the Taipan. A journalist asserted: 'there is always an expensive necessity for maintaining foreign prestige. It makes for greater contentment and a good type of resident, and it is good for the Chinese in that it elevates economic standards by example'.33 The key words here are 'foreign prestige'. The European lower orders, it was thought, undermined this sought-after prestige and, by their presence in the East, helped weaken respect for the European merchant in Hong Kong and the Treaty Ports.
RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE CHINESE
H.E. Maude argues that in the South Seas beachcombers and castaways were emissaries of western culture and that 'the European came to be regarded for more practical reasons—as an economic and political asset';34 for example, he brought with him certain skills, such as the maintenance of small-arms and cannon, valued by the South Sea islander. In Hong Kong the situation differed: the beachcomber (there were no castaways) and other low status Europeans had little expertise to offer the Chinese; for the Cantonese, in particular, were skilled craftsmen in wood, metal, stone, ivory, and other materials. Working class Europeans could neither compete nor enter into competition with Chinese workers, artisans, and craftsmen. Hence, for this and other reasons, no true European proletariat ever established itself, apart from a class of mechanics employed in European-owned enterprises.
An obvious factor that inhibited interchange between Chinese and working class Europeans was the problem of language. Very few Europeans could speak colloquial Cantonese in the nineteenth century. This was true of most police, turnkeys, inspectors, and supervisors. Such communication as took place was through the medium of pidgin English, 'an extraordinary jargon', according to Samuel Couling, 'in use between native servants, shopmen, etc., on the one side, and foreigners who do not speak Chinese on the other
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situations. Thus attitudes toward the lower orders were often am- bivalent.
But a further reason should be advanced: working class Euro- peans were seen as lowering the prestige of the white man in the East. They were, by definition, poor; they lacked ton and breeding; too often they hobnobbed with-even lived with—Asians; they did not cultivate the unruffled ease and dignity of the Taipan. A jour- nalist asserted: there is always an expensive necessity for main- taining foreign prestige. It makes for greater contentment and a good type of resident, and it is good for the Chinese in that it elevates economic standards by example'.33 The key words here are 'foreign prestige'. The European lower orders, it was thought, un- dermined this sought-after prestige and, by their presence in the East, helped weaken respect for the European merchant in Hong Kong and the Treaty Ports.
RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE CHINESE
H.E. Maude argues that in the South Seas beachcombers and castaways were emissaries of western culture and that 'the European came to be regarded for more practical reasons—as an economic and political asset';34 for example, he brought with him certain skills, such as the maintenance of small-arms and cannon, valued by the South Sea islander. In Hong Kong the situation differed: the beachcomber (there were no castaways) and other low status Europeans had little expertise to offer the Chinese; for the Canto- nese, in particular, were skilled craftsmen in wood, metal, stone, ivory, and other materials. Working class Europeans could neither compete nor enter into competition with Chinese workers, artisans, and craftsmen. Hence, for this and other reasons, no true European proletariat ever established itself, apart from a class of mechanics employed in European-owned enterprises.
An obvious factor that inhibited interchange between Chinese and working class Europeans was the problem of language. Very few Europeans could speak colloquial Cantonese in the nineteenth century. This was true of most police, turnkeys, inspectors, and supervisors. Such communication as took place was through the medium of pidgin English, 'an extraordinary jargon', according to Samuel Couling, 'in use between native servants, shopmen, etc., on the one side, and foreigners who do not speak Chinese on the other
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