Better Side of the Chinese Character. Its Relation to a White Australia and the Development of our Tropical Territory

A benevolent plea to Australian readers for racial tolerance by eccentric Australian philanthropist and businessman Edward William Cole, owner of Cole's Book Arcade, a phenomenally successful bookstore located in the heart of Melbourne. Cole was born in humble circumstances in 1832 and owed his considerable success to a combination of hard work, goodwill and charitable deeds; he passed away in 1918, the same year that Better Side of the Chinese Character was published.

The book is a confident attempt to dispel notions of racial degeneracy common at the time, especially those applied to Asian peoples; Cole had previously published White Australia Impossible in 1903 and remained critical of contemporary government policy that restricted immigration by race. This defence of Chinese character draws on the experiences and words of respected men and experiences of the author, including a personal visit to Japan where he was warmly welcomed and impressed by the extent of progress and industry. Significantly the book champions the Chinese as perfect immigrants for Northern Australia, being conscientious, hard working and good moral citizens.

The Better Side of the Chinese Character is generously illustrated, including three pages of diagrams comparing the populations of India, Java, China, Japan and Australia against their respective land sizes. Cole's book is a refreshing change from the pervasive racism of the era, and includes a defence of the Australian Aborigines as the kindest of all peoples, reminding readers 'the Australian blacks wept tears of sympathy over the starved body of poor Burke, the explorer, at Cooper's Creek...'