The Hawaiian gazette., 1869-12-08
The California Chinese.

l nIted states Even MI hOOpnianScnap
who has been for many years engaged in
bringing in the Chinese. assures the peo-
pie Of the Eastern States that he can in-
troduee them there in conformity with the
laws. in the same way by which they are
introduced into California Yet, he pro-
poses to pay the passage and outfit OF the
immigrants, and intends TO secure himself
for this By the wages of the labOrers, earn
ed after their being placed on their new
field Of labor. This is eoolieisn. or at
least all the coolieism that we have on
these islands.
The whole controversy, in California and
the East. will soon be narrowed down to
this point in what manner, and by what
laws, shall the immigrant be compelled TO
adhere to the terms Of his agreement,
made in his own country to be fulfilled in
another
1t will not avail the opponents of the Chi
nese, TO depend upOn the slogan eoolieism,
as that tern, now an indefinite one, will have
to be defined. to mean something offensive
and really Objectionable, in order to have
influence upon the immigration.
DR.. Todd says assuredy, that =" the Chi
nese are coming as certainly as the waves
roll in upon the Pacific shores-coming
to the depOpulated fields of the South;
to the great cities and villages of the
East" This means, that the people of
the Eastern States want them, and if so,
public opinion will soon devise a way to
make the methods of immigration and the
laws consonant.
Why Callfornians call theirs free i'm
migration, and therefore cOnsOnant with
the present laws of the United States,
for even in the Senate Chamber, their
Senators repealed the imputation that their
Chinese were coolies, or aught else than
free men, is the fact that the immigrants
are, as general rule, brought in by Chi
nese companies, which rely upon a knowl-
edge of their eountrymen and their power
over them. to make them fulfil their agree
ments, instead of relying on the laws of
the United States for that purpose.
The rude labor of California requires
the Chinese immigrant. and the employer
is content with hiring from the Chinese
company, making them responsible for the
good faith of the laborer, and paying to
these middle men higher rate of wages
for that very reason, than if they agreed
with the laborer in China, and brought
him in at their own expense and risk
The Southern planter, at the Memphis
Convention, was distinctly informed that
the Chinese could be engaged in China for
four dollars per month, yet the middle man
requires from twelve to fifteen dollars per
month, as the price Of work from the en-
ployer.
As matter of cheapness to the en-
plOyer, as well as security to the laborer,
it does seem that immigration, through
private individuals or companies, can not
be compared, favorably, with that in which
the government assumes the responsibility.
What the character of the immigration
to California is, and how it differs from
that in vogue here, we may observe from
the following extracts from the Sacramento
Reporter. 1t has cramp over the iney-
table Chinamau, and hopes to dlsplaee
him by superior immigration from Europe.
Doubtless, the latter is more desirable, but
even CalIfOrniaus find it impossible to get
a superior laborer to match an inferior
paid labor-agricultural labor:
1t is not to our credit that in this State,
with millions of acres capable of supporting
in comfort and competence people Of our own
race, the only organizations which are doing
anything to populate California are the Chi
nese. Six companies in San Francisco, and
Two OF lnTee IN don5kOngs canton aud other
Celestial ports, are steadily engaged in aiding
Cinnamon to California, and we are doing
nothing. 1t Is true, we have talked Of en-
eouraging immigration; and now there Is 4
spirited effort to establish a California Immi-
grafton Bureau on a sound footing, with State
aid. The Chinese are, however, beforehand
with Us, and are Introducing one thousand
pagzns 8 month, and will have
ten thousand or twelve thousand more in the
country before We eau get the first batch of
European emigrants here II there were no
other advantages in white immigration but to
set of and counteraet the poison Of the Chi
nese eOolie system, I've thought coolies could
not be imported into the United States1 il
would be sufficient reason for our Legislature
taking up the work and organizing n white
Immigration Bureau
The Chinese companies spend from $40 to
500 on every immigrant they bring over--Or
rather, they receive that sum or more from
each eOolie out Of his earnings after he lands
here We cannot, with = free people and con-
stitutional government, compete with these
people BY working on their system We can
not pick up the Il-requifed l&b0rer N the over
crowded cities Of the Eastern States, or cut Of
the doEn-trodden population Of European ns-
tons, give him outfit and passage, and
make handsome profit on the expenditure By
making him bond-slaFe for the next Eve or
ten years Of his life. A California company
souid not purchase . German, Irish, or Eng
ishmzn's services for = term Of years and