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Show I NO MIDDLE CLASS ifJ CHINA Display of Only Most Expensive and Cheapest Merchandise in 8torea Proves the Fact An observant traveler In China will not fall to hottce when purchasing articles ar-ticles of dally necessity, thnt thero nre only two classes of articles thn most expensive and elaborate and the cheapest cheap-est and crudest. This Is but n proof of tho nbsenco of a middle class, says East and West News. A fox fur gown worth a thousand dollars or a giant herb valued nt n hundred dollars Is not at all uncommon uncom-mon In China, but practical and well-made well-made articles that would be welcomed wel-comed by middle-class men are hardly obtainable. Those who admire Chinese Chi-nese handicrafts as achievements beyond be-yond the power of Japanese artisans do so because they have only seen articles ar-ticles Intended for upper-class customers custom-ers willing to spcmlcountless dollars upon luxuries. Those, on tho other Iinnd, who drclnro Chinese artisans hopelessly crude, nro men who have seen only (ho cheap articles Intended for the tnn.sxcK. Jnpaneso who Judge tho ancient arts and Industries of China by tho best productions of the flan, Tang, Sung, Yuan, Ming and Chlng dynasties that have been preserved here, forget that crude articles of common use have never crossed the sea of Japan and that only articles of tho best kind came here as merchandise during the many centuries of commercial Intercourse Inter-course between the two countries. |