The Shasta courier., 1860-04-07
Speech of Hon. John White,

Delivered in the Assembly on the 7th March,
lation tolChinese or Mongolians working in the
mines in this State.
Mr.. Speaker: As one of the members upon
this floor from mining county, deeply interested
in this question, | wish to state to the House
| briefly my views upon this subject. All are
aware that there have been complaints from
different parts of the State, but more especially
| from the mining counties, in relation to these
people for years past. There are now, according
| to the best estimate that can be made by those
most competen. to judge, not less that 10000
of these Chinese scattered in the different coun-
| ties of the State. And it is no matter of sur
| prise that this large number are fast depriving
our soil of its golden wealth. But few more
years, sir, must elapse, under our present sys-
| tenn, and our mines will be worthless Even
now, in localities where but a short period
since our white felow-citzens were able, from
| the sweat of their brows, to realize decent
competence for themselves and their families, it
is out of their power to make a living. And
| this state of things they attribute in a great
measure to the presence Of these Tartars in our
mines,and their being permitted to work upon
terms so nearly equal with our own citizens 1t
is a fact that these locusts clear the mines as
| they go. When they have once left district, it
| is fit neither for the habtation of man or beast
it is complete waste. And there are hun
dreds of places thus abandoned, and must be
worthless, at least for the generation to come
And where, Mr. Speaker, | ask, have these un-
told millions of gold, which have been wrong
| fully taken from our soil, gone? 1t is certainly
| not in our midst nor can you point to any great
works of a private public character as its re-
preventative. No, sir, it has all, with but a
triting exception, left our country and found its
way to the different cities of the Flowery King
dom; it has gone to swell the revenues of the
| Middle Kingdom, and taken its everlasting Hight
from our shores. Why, sir, we do not even feed
the Celestials in our State their masters do this
with provisions directly from China, because
they can do SO much cheaper than the honest
American merchant. And for all the riches that
have been filched from US we have literally no.
thing to show. We lose all and gain nothing
by the presence and society of one of the most
degraded and disgusting races which Gods sun
has ever shone upon. This IN my opinion is
not right. We should not lightly squander the
patrimony which it cost much blood and treasure
to acquire. but prize it more highly, and not
| grant the freedom of the Republic but to such as
we know to be worthy in all respects. We must
stop this waste of our estate, or the day is not
distant when we shall find ourselves poor and
pennlless in what was once the richest State in
mineral wealth upon the face of the globe. The
Ell Dorado sought by all The promised land of
the poor man. Let our laws remain unchanged,
and who shall say-what statesman so astute as
TO be able to tell the probable number of
Chinese in our midst at the expiration of the
next ten years? Historians tell US that in the
Chinese Empire proper there are not less than
four hundred millions of human beings And
4 we, Mr.. Speaker, are by our laws and policy in
Fiting immigration from this vast Asatic hive to
the equal enjoyment of our rich estate, and they
would be more than men if they could refuse
our invitation. At home they labor for from six
to ten cents per day, while here they have ac-
cess to all the fields of labor, and to one of the
richest mineral regions known to the history of
, the world, and to an equality in many respects
with eur citizens. And ali these immunites
they enjoy without any of the burthens which
rest upon the shoulders of our white citizens,
! save it be the payment of a small tax. They will
not bill the ranks of our ARMY. 1t is not a mat
ter of consequence with them whether the ex-
pertinent in republican freedom which we are
now making fails rot They owe us no allie
gance-their faith is not plighted to US, but to
the Brother of the Sun. The objects of their
love are not here, but may be found catching
fish along the banks of the Pearl river, or cut
ting wood in the gorges of the Nan Sing. In a
| word, they have nothing in common, and do not
belong to the same with the children of the
fowery flag. Then, sir, why keep those we have,
and encourage others to come among US. The
only reasonable answer which any man can
give is, because they pay into the State Treasu-
ry, annually, about one hundred thousand dol.
lars but, sir, do they not in lieu of this extract
| and carry off ten times this amount from our
golden soil. And, sir, is not the gold hid in the
bosom of our soil as much the wealth of the
State as if it was locked in the vaults of our
treasury Ifthis be so-and | think none will
I lony han, fttn An1,, g.
their retention fails, for upon what other ground
will their most enthusiastic advocates defend
| them Now sir, | state It as a general doc
trine, that in all well ordered communities each
member should give well as receive support
| In word, they should be a dependent whole
Each member should feel that an individual ag-
grandizement and thrift was not the only aim of
| life. There is axiom of political philosophy
| more generally received than this. Now, test
| these Mongoiians by this rule, and they will be
| found to fall far below the standard of the valu
able citizen and profitable members of the
State They have taken fabulous amount of
our gold to China, and in return what have they
! done for the material prosperity of the country
| or the happiness of our race? Nothing. Why,
sir, their clothing and nearly all their food
as before stated comes directly from their mas
ters in China, for such they arto all intents and
purposes. In framing our system of State Gov
4
our happiness and promote the general welfare,
to forever exclude the institution of African sla-
very from our borders and to consecrate the soil
| to free labor for all time to come. Thus deny
| ing, as our right, to our fellow citizens of
| fifteen States of this Union, the privilege of i'm
migrating and settling in our midst with their
peculiar property and enjoying unrivaled
| agricultural and mineral wealth, and our happy
geographical position in the worlds great track
to those rich Indian storehouses. These things
we have done to our own citizens, men who are
our equals in all things. We have done this to
the men who bore the stars and stripes aloft |
upon the fields of glory, when this country was
| won for the Republic. And yet, Mr.. Speaker, we
are allowing a species of slavery ten fold worse
to be introduced among us insidiousy, by these |
Chinese, directly in conflict with our fundamen-
tai laws upon this subject. For the proofs are |
abundant-they lay all around us-that nine out |