Our people have frequently
been slighted or ill-treated but we entertain no revengeful spirit,
and are willing to forget. We believe that in the end
right will conquer might. Innumerable as have been the disputes
between Chinese and foreigners it can at least be said,
without going into details, that we have not, in the first instance,
been the aggressors. Let me supply a local illustration showing how
our faults are always exaggerated. Western people are fond of horse-racing.
In Shanghai they have secured from the Chinese a large piece of ground
where they hold race meetings twice a year, but no Chinese are allowed
on the grand-stand during the race days. They are provided with
a separate entrance, and a separate enclosure, as though they were
the victims of some infectious disease. I have been told that a few years ago
a Chinese gentleman took some Chinese ladies into the grand-stand
and that they misbehaved; hence this discriminatory treatment of Chinese.
It is proper that steps should be taken to preserve order and decency
in public places, but is it fair to interdict the people of a nation
on account of the misconduct of two or three? Suppose it had been Germans
who had misbehaved themselves (which is not likely), would the race club
have dared to exclude Germans from sharing with other nations
the pleasures of the races?
In contrast with this, let us see what the Chinese have done.
Having learned the game of horse-racing from the foreigners in China,
and not being allowed to participate, they have formed their own race club,
and, with intention, have called it the "International Recreation Club".
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