The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-07-21

he explained the plans of the company which he
is TO be agent for, and the quallncRuOub Vi tnes3
Chinese laborers.
WHO HE is,
Mr.. Koopmanschap is Hollander by birth,
and when quite young emigrated to San Fran
cisco. He travelled to the East Indies as ship
ping merchant for some time, and as early as
1850 directed his attention to the labor question:
which was exciting considerable interest then
in California. His knowledge of the manner in
which the East Irdies were then supplied led
him to Develop Chinese emigration.
now HE DID BUSINESS.
He established house in Hong Kong and
shipped from there large numbers of Cinnamon
to San Francisco, his house in China agreeing
to pay their wages promptly on the perform
ance of stipulated services. The scrupulous
honesty with which he conducted this business,
and the fathfulness with which he discharged
his promises to the emigrants, secured to him
the confidence of the natives. In 1860 many of
the Cinnamon who had come out to California TO
do service ten years before returned with large
savings, and their reports of the wealth of this
"barbarous land" led others to forsake their gods
and the laws of Confucius and seek to enrich
themselves For the past ten years Mr.. Koop-
manschap has employed large number of
brokers in China gathering shiploads of laborers
which he has assigned to wealthy planters, and
he intends to introduce them wherever he can
find market for them.
THE INT ERvGEw.
The following is an account of the converse
tion which occurred between Mr.. koopmanschap
and our reporter
Reporter-Are these Cinnamon whom you
seek to introduce here skilled or unskilled
laboTers?
Mr. Koopmanschap-W have both we intend
to put men at the furnace, anvil loom and the
bench. We have now n hundred men in the
wool manufactures in San Francisco. There
are many in the pickle and preserve business.
Some are making cigars. There are 10000 or
70.0 eco in Cuba on sugar and coffee plantations.
In Peru there are about $4,000 on the planta-
tiOns. In the manufactures of San Francisco
there are 10000, and in the whole State of Cali
fornia about 10000, all engaged in pursuits of
every description.
RCp.-What is their character or disposition
as servants
MIR. K-Thev are quiet, obedient, and most
easy to deal with in the world. They are very
apt at trade learning quickly and thoroughly.
They trusty and faithful.
Rep.-What wages would they require?
Mr.. K.-From IS to S12 n month as servants.
They receive IS month in Peru, and those who
worked on the Pacific Railroad were paid S35
per month. | would have to hire them in China,
to receive them at low rate, and would have
to make contract with them, or they would
not remain. | can furnish cheap, reliable labor
to levee the rivers and water-courses, open
mines and marble quarries in the hills and
mountains, to plant and cultivate fruit trees and
| vines, and do that kind of work for So per
month.
Rep.-How did the people receive you in the
South
Mr.. K.-The intelligent people welcomed me.
| They said they wanted good, trustworthy
| laborers servants in the household, and since
| they could not get them from Europe they
| wanted to take them from Asia, where there were
| thousands eager to come and ready to work.
| The poorer and more uneducated classes thought
| was initiating a movement hostile to their
| interests.
| Rep.-Wel sir, had they not good reason to
think so? Would it not be to the disadvantage
OF the laborers South were you to introduce
| these Chinese laborers
| Mr.. K.-No, sir. l believe in and recognize
the rights of all classes and conditions of men to
contest with me honestly and fairly for the fruits
| of legitimate labor and toll. If he is n Cauca-
sian, Mongolian, or African, if by either physi-
| cal or mental industry he can accomplish fairly
| for himself more than | can, he has a right to,
| and to the earnings accruing therefrom. Their
| labor only amcliOrates mankind; it contributes
| to the benefit of society. If Chnaman is en-
| plOyed to build our houses and make our clothes,
we do not do it to injure the negro. 1t is simply
n business matter. My profits are larger by en-
| ploying the ChiDaman.
| Rep.-Then you think the South would be
benefited by the introduction of coolie labor?
Mr.. K.-Certainly. Let the Mississippi Valley
| produce her ten million bales of cotton, as she
| has done, and have her five million common
| laborers as she had before the war; and there
VIII be no complaint about the absence of skilled
mechanics and artisans in her cities. If she ac-
| ceptCd the labor of men who long to work on
| which her climate fosters. The South only needs
common labor and an abundance of it.
Rep.-ls there nothing to fear from the social
and religious views of these Cinnamon?
| Mr.. K.-No. That is point made by great
many. People think there will be deluge of
| idolatry in our land that the tloodgates of
| heathenism will be opened when the yellow
| man steps on our shores. This is all fol-de-rol.
| Ours is superior race; our God is the true God.
| Buddha is myth, and so long we are wor-
| shippers of the Supreme, we have nothing to
| fear from the incursions of heather, especially
! when they come as servants
| Rep.-Where would you employ the Cinnamon
| in the South, and at what labor?
Mr. K.-We want them in every calling.
| There are swamps and uplands, forests and
| mines, and each will adapt himself to that which
| he is fit for. European laborers are not going
! INTO the swamp. The character of the soil is not
friendly to the race. But it is that soil which is
most fertile and prolific, and it is no inhumanity
to put the Chinaman there. 1t does not hurt
| him.
Rep.-Will not the introduction of these yell
low men make Otheos of the blacks? What
| will become of their occupation?
| Mr. K.-Well, we cannot let our interests
perish for the negro. We cannot commit sui
eide for him. Thstles and thorns will grow up
in our idle fields if we rely on the help of ne
him if he will do it,.
Rep.-Is there any danger of amalgamatiOn?
Mr.. K-NO; the Chinese are peculiar race;
seldom intermarry with other people. Besides,
there is no danger of our women taking fancy
| to them.
Rep.-Do you think Chinese labor the only
labor which will bring back the Southern States
| to their prosperity before the war?
Mr. K-I really do Nothing but cOerced labor
will bring about prosperity. The products of
tropical climates or semi-tropical are brought
forward by great attention and care The ne
| grOes gave the staple product that attention he