Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-09-26
H CHiNAMAN.
What He is--His Value to the South.

Editors Appeal: The laws Of the
United States forbid the Introduction
of coolies Or any other cOnViCts who
are sent from their homes for crimes
and misdemeanOrs; but there is no
word on the statute book to prevent
an honest Chinese emigrant from Wis
ting our shores and making a home,
any more than there is to preclude a
German or an ITishman. As an EVIL
dence of the truth of the assertion, we
find $4,000 or more Chinese inhabi-
tants i'm the State OF California, where
the Legislature, labOring under a
wrong impression that they were a
great detriment to the white labOrer.
iChO IS q COter, has passed numerous
oppressive and unequal laws for the
express purpose of discOuraging fur
ther immigration, and drive out those
already there. This, coupled with a
violent public opinion which has
forced the Chinaman to labor only az
ter the better part of the rich ores
have been extracted by white men,
has not had the desired effect. The
Chinaman still comes; and, pursuing
his Observation-Disclosures at mining,
railroad building, gardening, ditching,
.t- ~
washing or cooking invariably
thrives and betters his condition. Ac-
custOmed to despOtiC oppression from
infancy, he pays four dollars per month
for the privilege of washing for gold
in the real of his hetters, and does not
call upon the courts to annul the I'M
constitutional law. Used to be pa
tent and enduring, ne makes the best
cook and house servant, neve de
manding above half the wages COM
monty paid to white servants for sim
liar service. LabOriOus, strong and
steady, he is not to be beaten asa farm
labOrer, ditcher or railroad hand. All
these things | assert, not from hear
say, but from personal knowledge.
All and much more have l seen with
my own eyes, during a residence i'm
California. Some years since, III look
ing I'VE the printed reports of Off
GERS made to the Legislature of that
State, my eye fell upon the report of
the Warden of the State prison, and
l was astonished to find that not more
than II Chinaman for thirty white
men was confined in that institution,
whilst the Chinese composed about
Ogie-SLrth of the male adult population
of the State. ] am quoting from
memory, but | am satisfied that ] am
not far from right. Now when we
consider that he had less %considera-
ton in the courts than would have
been awarded to a handsome pointer,
if it were possible for the dog tOspeRl..
L think this goes far to establish his
claim for the possession of as much
honesty as other people have. If the
Chinainan will not work, who is it
produces the food to fill the mouths of
the vast population of China, with
enough surplus to send a little rice as
far away even as to Memphis2 Yes,
the India rice sold all over this cOnti-
nent, is the product of Chinese labor!
Who produces and prepares the great
CargOe5 of teas; who fabTicates the
beautiful porcelain, and Weaves the
rich silks and shaWls, but Chinamen?
Who has built the numerous great
of that Empire, constructed ca
mails, built roads and made the faoili-
ties of trade easy, but an industrious,
labOriOus population? Read the ac-
counts given is by intelligent travel
ers who everywhere note thrift, wealth
and economy, and tell me whether
such a population would not be pre-
to the one we are at pres
emit nursing through a mental disOr-
Is the Chinaman so constituted
physically, az to be adapted to our
climate? is the next question TO look
into. She Empire Of China extends
south of the trOpic of Capricorn, and
produces all the staples the-SOuth is
% nnnI for rim "a Urn have n1rD,1- I
mentioned, in quantity sufficient to
California and Australia de
pend upon China principally for sugar.
indigo, cotton and tobacco are like
wise produced to some extent. Rice
md sugar, however, are the great pro-
iuots of the lower countries. Rice, as
very well know, is grown under a
vertical sun, ON low lands, OCCASION
lilly inundated. This, we also know,
s sufficient to make an intensely mi
lsmatiO and insalubTiOus climate.
Notwithstanding this, We see that the {
jhinaman has persevered in its cul- I
iure for centuries, and now helps to I
eed the world with it. Now ] hold {
hat all climates producing rice and s
are alike, and that any race so |
constituted as to withstand the I'M ,
lealthful influences of such a climate
n n locality, can do 1t in another. ]
n other words, the men who are now /,
'ultivating rice along the marshy !
ranks of the Canton river, would not {
If transferred to the neighbOr- ,
rood of Georgetown, Savannah or /
New Orleans. And further; any race /
Who car successfully brave the malaria
If the rice field, would prove efficient
IS to health in the higher lands where
.OttQn is grown,
we VIII now consider the probable !
,Ost of introducing Chinese labor. {
trOm the great distance to be tra-I I
'ersed by sea, anything but sailing
'essels would be out of the question. 5
Thanks to Northern skill and enter C
rise, the great American clipper ship c
PRESENTS the very vehicle to be de- L
ired. A two thOusand-ton clipper r
will have legal accommodations for I
me thousand passengers. Such a ship q
would demand $4,000 for the run p
rom Hong Kong, Canton or Shang- 1
to one of our Southern ports, il
With passengers, which would be ex- a
lusiye of provisions, fuel, water and q
.tting up temporary berths, etc. The n