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London, Jack, 1876-1916

"Revolution, and Other Essays"

The ideas behind
the Boxer troubles and the outbreaks over the introduction of
railroad and other foreign devil machinations have emanated from the
minds of the literati, and been spread by their pamphlets and
propagandists.
Originality and enterprise have been suppressed in the Chinese for
scores of generations. Only has remained to him industry, and in
this has he found the supreme expression of his being. On the other
hand, his susceptibility to new ideas has been well demonstrated
wherever he has escaped beyond the restrictions imposed upon him by
his government. So far as the business man is concerned he has
grasped far more clearly the Western code of business, the Western
ethics of business, than has the Japanese. He has learned, as a
matter of course, to keep his word or his bond. As yet, the Japanese
business man has failed to understand this. When he has signed a
time contract and when changing conditions cause him to lose by it,
the Japanese merchant cannot understand why he should live up to his
contract.


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