A CHINAMAN'S OPINIONS OF THE WAR.

A New York paper gives the world the benefit of the opinions held regarding the Chino-Japanese war by one Wong Chin Foo, described as 'probably the brightest and best educated Chinaman in America.' Wong Chin Foo, being a hardy North Chinaman himself, thinks it will be the hardy North Chinamen who will win the campaign for China. His opinion proceeds: — 'There can be no question of the outcome of a war between China and Japan, and that outcome will be the utter defeat and humiliation of the islanders. I say this in spite of the learned predictions of American newspaper writers, who say that Japan has profited by Western teachings, and is competent to handle effectually the modern engines of war of Western nations, while conservative China has failed to thoroughly adopt and learn the use of these advantages. Even if this were true, and it is not, China would eventually triumph by the more force and momentum of her bulk. She has the men and the money. I am glad to see this war. It is the beginning of the final and inevitable struggle between two masterful civilizations— that of the East and the West. Japan, to be sure, is an Oriental nation, but not a virile one, and she has succumbed to Western influence and become the entering wedge for the Western form of civilization into the East. The virility of Oriental civilization is found in China. China — and China singlehanded — must fight out the inevitable battle to a finish with the civilization of women and the West. She will fight it out, and the older, manlier, grander civilizations will triumph over the puny civilization of the woman-ruled races and effeminate creeds of the West. China has bulk — homogeneous, cohesive bulk — both in religion and race. The West is divided against itself. In religion it has a multitude of sects all ready to turn upon each other. In time of war, as in times of peace, the almighty dollar rules, and each nation, like each man, will turn a traitor for temporary gain. Honesty is an unknown quality of your Western peoples. 'Swindle your neighbour as he would swindle you' is truly your golden rule. Against these divided battling tribes of the West, divided also among themselves, China will some day cast her ponderous bulk, and the civilization that existed thousands of years before the twilight of Christianity will triumph. Japan, the traitorous emissary of Western civilization in the East, is but the first ; the balance of the world next. What are the advantages of your boasted Western civilization? Your civilization is borrowed, adapted, and shaped from our older, more virile form. China has a national history of at least 4,000 years, and had a printed history 3,500 years before a European discovered the art of type printing. In the course of her national existence the has passed through mythology, superstition, witchcraft, established religion, to philosophical religion. She has a population of 400,000,000 and not a single dollar of national debt. There are more dollars within her confines with which to purchase either the weapons of peace or war than in all the rest of the world. She is sufficient unto herself. When is comes to this final struggle between this manly, virile civilization of the East and your besotted, foppish, woman-ruled, debt-burdened and divided civilization of the West, where will the victory lie? The first gun in a struggle that it may take a century to settle has been fired. When the last has been fired there will be but one ruler, one triumphant, conquering race, and one religion in all this wide world."

South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1894,) http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article53660427