The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-27 00:00:00

(From the Anglo-American Times.)
The war about the Celestials has commenced.
We have had thenegrostruggleendingso far in oceans
of blood, and the scene changes in America, the
woolly-headed African giving place to the yellow-
! faced, almond-eyed Chinese. Senator CASSERLY
has broken ground in a speech denouncing Chinese
_ immigration, wherein he utters no uncertain sound :
' "it is the duty of every class of men to unite to pre--
vent the introduction of the Chinese. If they come in
contact with the common labourers to- day, to-morrow
they will be in competition with the mason, the brick-
layer, the carpenter, and the machinist, for they are the
most frugal, industrious, and ingenious people on the face
of the earth. Look at the splendid granite building occu-
pied by Wells, Fargo, and Co., the stone of which was
cut in China, and was built by Chinamen. Men who can
do such work for less than half the price paid white me-
chanics were an injury to the State, and he would unite
with any party that would use energetic means to keep
them out of the country."
The policy of exeusion which he represents is by
some strenuously denied as being the sentiment pre-
vailing in California or in any other State ; but it is
truthfully remarked_ that it is in accordance with
the statutes relating to the Chinese in force on the
Pacific slope, and, it is asked, if that be not the
' public sentiment how could laws so unjust be passed.
In Memphis, Tennessee, a meeting has lately been
held, awl a Convention called for the 13th July, at
which KOOPMANstIOP, the principal labour importer
of San Fr inCi6co, will be- present, as well as dele-
gates from Georgi I, Alabama, Mississippi, Loui-
siana, Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee. At the
preliminary meeting, after asserting that the want
of labour was the barrier to Southern prosperity,
it was—

" Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting the
best interests of the South require that all inducements
shall be offered at once to encourage the emigration of
Chinese labourers, in large numbers, direct from Chins,
to supply the great demand now existing in the South
for steady and reliable labour."
This expresses the conclusion of the Southerners,
on which they will undoubtedly act, but there is a
strenuous opposition in the way, an Anti-Coolie
Association in behalf of white labour generally, tak-
ing high ground in the matter. They justify exclu-
sion by stating that there are 110,000 Chinese in
California, of whom 100,000 are slaves rented out
by the companies owning them, in gangs of from
50 to 5,000, their wages being paid to the com-
pany, who is responsible for the performance of
the work, and the return of the slaves to China
dead or alive. This employment displaces a like pro-
portion of white labour, especially injuring the ris-
ing generation ; about 20,000 boys and girls in San
Francisco, who would otherwise be employed in
learning trades, being brought up in idleness. Not
only are the boys and girls thus being prepared
for a vicious life, but the immigration of deserving
white people is retarded and will ultimately cease,
while many now in California must leave. The cigar-
makers are a case in point, 500 families being
driven out of that employment. It is then noticed
as a fact that the introduction of this cheap labour
has not cheapened a blanket, a cigar, or any article
of home manufacture. The money paid for Chinese
labouris exportedto Asia, and on the retirement of the
Chinese slaves, says this document, from their field
of labour, not a vestige of improvement will remain,
not even a bone of them will be left in the soil.
They have brought in a plague which has baffled
the skill of the medical men of San Francisco, and
introduced diseases almost unknown before in the
history of the Caucasian race.
" It has been objected to our association that it is an Irish
crusade against cheap labour; but, on the contrary, we
embody in our own ranks all classes, creeds, and political
parties, imbued not with hostility to the Chinese as a race,
but fully believing that all the vast resources of California
can be fully developed, and her railroads, canal's, and other
public works can Le as well and profitably completed by
free white labour as they have bqen in the eastern States,
and that the future greatness of California depends more
upon the general prosperity of her industrial classes than
upon the vast accumulations of a few capitalists."
We tic d not say more to prove how strong is the
opposition now organized against Chinese immi-
gration, mainly among the men who lay down plat-
forms, like the Irish Republican Convention at
Chicago, remarkably liberal till they come into
.2
contact with any competition in their own Lille,
when they quickly beanie b7goted Tories. How-
ever, the institutions of the Republic, the genius
of th-: people, are all dead against the policy of ex-
clusion, and even supposing that what the Anti-
-Coolie Association say were true, they would have
no light task to fight up against an infraction of
America!, principle so gross as to bar the Pacific
sea-board form the immigration of Asiatics. More-
over it is for the direct interest of capital that
the influx of these bard- working people should
be encouraged. Hence it will be almost impos-
sible to exclude them, and attention having been
drawn to the subject, on one point nearly all
Americans are agreed. The Chinese already in the
country have a right to demand equal laws and
ample justice ; they entered it as did other immi-
grants, and it is the duty of the Government to see
that they are fairly and lawfully dealt with. Inde-
pendently of the Civil Rights Act, it is more than
doubtful that the enactments of California against
the Chinese are illegal, as the State thereby nulli-
fies the Treaty signed between the Emperor of
China and the United States, which it has no power
to do. If the Chinese become American citizens,
the State Legislature has as little power to make laws
repugnant to the code of America to their detriment
as it has to do so while they remain subjects of the Em -
peror of China. The Alla California denies that the
Celestials are held in a state of peonage, and at the
same time contradicts most of the assertions of the
Anti- CcolieAssociation,strenuously upholding these
immigrants. The fact is that the Coolies have con-
tracted in China with such men as KOOPMANSEIOP
to be transported to California, their return dead or
alive being guaranteed, to work at $4 a month till
the period expires for which they are engaged, when
they are at liberty to remain and work for them-
selves or to demand their passage back. These contracts
require careful supervision, but the Chinese have an
Ambassador in ANSON BURLINGAME, who tho-
roughly understands the subject, and who will take
good care that the Administration at Washington
does not overlook its duty in this respect. There
was a meeting lately between the delegates of six
Chinese Emigration Companies and Senator CONK-
LING, together with the House Committee on Ways
and Means now at San Francisco. FLING-SANG spoke.
"\Ve feel," he said, " the want of protection to life and
property when Courts of Justicerefuse our testimony,
and thus leave us defenceless and unable to obtain
justice for ourselves, and often for others. If pro..
tected as are other inhabitants, the Chinese would
cultivate rice and cotton in the South, would raise
silk-worms and tea in California, would take a deep
interest in American business enterprises, and vastly
enlarge the trade with Asia, to the benefit both of
the United States and of China." The San Fran-
cisco Times thus highly estimates the Celestial
labour emploped on the Central Pacific:—
"The experience of this undertaking has proved that
the Chinaman is an admirable railroad builder. His labour
is cheap, his tempet is good, his disposition is docile, his
industry is unflagging, his strength and endurance are
s onderful, and his mechanical skill is remarkable."
An interesting account is given of the Japanese
settlement near Placerville. There are 600 acres

....._ .
fenced, a large orchard of seven-year-old trees,
50,000 bearing vines, a well-furnished brick house,
barn, and all the implements of a farm. A village
is there to be formed called Wakamatz ; each family
with a cottage and garden, to whom mulberry
trees and tea-plants are to be allotted. They will
feed their own worms, spin cocoons, and be paid
according to quality and quantity. In the same
way they will pick the tea, receiving payment at
the factory for what they cultivate and deliver, and
an extensive nursery will be formed to grow and
sell Japanese trees, chief among these being the
bamboo, which, together with its many mechanical
uses, is an admirable esculent, surpassing any Euro-
pean vegetables in nutriment and flavour. An-
other is the wax-tree, which yields the varnish
that has made Japan work so celebrated. From time
immemorial the Japanese have cultivated fish, and
their first act on their new farm was to lay out a
lake for pisciculture. These people seem peculiarly
acceptable to the Californians, as they interfere
with no home industry, but introduce new sources
of wealth, and occupy profitably land which would
otherwise be waste ; they adopt the Californian cos-
tume, they make permanent homes, taking nothing
from the country to which they bring so much.
Altogether they are likely to be the favourite Asiatics
ou the Pacific coast, and a close alliance will spring
up between them and the Golden State. A letter
from San Francisco has reached us since writing
this article, which our readers will find in another
column. It fatly confirms what we have said about
the Japanese; and will repay perusal.