The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1869-11-12


the substance of the contracts undel
which coolie labor is to be introduced
into the Southern States, which is as
follows:
Eirst--We agree to work on plantation or dc
any other kind of work that may be assigned t.
us by employer for the period of fve years,
beginning at ths time We commence 10 work, for
which We are to be paid by him, ia geld, at the
rate of nine dollars per month of twenty-Six days
--one-half 1T the end Of each mouth and tho bal
at the end of the year, the said employer re-
serving or holding in his hands twenty-five dollars
Of the earnings OF each year as guarantee to
him Of the faithful performance Of this contract,
but to be paid TO the undersigned on its being full
ly carried out not otherwise.
Seeand-our passage TO the United States and
all advances, amounting TO (Whatever they may
bel in guild, aud pad by our employer, here
by ohiigate ourselves to pay out of cur first wages
or earnings, together with any other advances
that he may hereafter make To us.
Third-We are to be furnished by our employer
With comfortable quarters and rations of FIVE
pounds of pork or its equivalent in bacon beef
fourteen pounds of rice one-fourth pound tea per
week also a small quantity of ground for garden
Rpots Ii Is agreed that during the time arc
working 70 pay the advances made to Us are to
be furnished IN cash one dollar and q half per
month and ten dollars per year for clothing, &c,
aud which sums, if received. we are to return.
Eosrfk-We agree 20 work from daylight till
dark, with an iutermiSsion Of one hour each for
breakfast and dinner. and during sugar. making
to take watch at night, usual on sugar plapta-
tions; but are to be paid by employer of
half the night thirty-hve cents in specie for each
night, at the end of the month but labor is to
be required of US Sundays, except whcP neees.
sary to save the crop, feed the stock aud protect
the plantation generally. We reserve the right
during the summer months 20 take two hours for
dinner, provided We are at work by sunrise and
take our breakfast before We 90 cut.
The above stipulations show what
cheap ldbO,. is and they show what the
men who now earn 81 80 to 81 per day
IN Oregon may expect from the intro
duction of Chinese immigrants. From
daylight till dark for 81 cents per dag
and wait five years for one-fourth of
that and one year for another fourth.
To this is added the laborer's food
which is to consist of FIVE pounds of
pork or its equivalent, fourteen
pounds of rice and one, fomth of "A
pound of tea-the whole costing per-
haps 20 cents per day. And this IS
what cheap labor means. Surely it is
an inviting prospect! If there is u
man in Oregon who is rcconciIed to
work with reservation of only one
hour of daylight, for these wages-and
feed upon fourteen pounds of rice and
five pounds of pork per week, that
man is of course Republican-he
wants the 18th amendmen adopted
he believes In an enormous tariff to
make manufacturers rich, and he would
shrink from proposition to tax bond
holders as he would from the presence
of the plague. 1t IS hard to properly
estimate the virtue of such a man
who can accept with gratitude the
miserable condition of serf from
the hands of a party. These coolies
can work and live just as cheaply in
Oregon as anywhere in the United
States. Every steamer and every sail
ship from China is principally loaded
with this class of persons. They come
to plant and to reap-to fill every de-
partment of labor, to crowd out and
keep back every man who will not or
cannot live on few ounces of pork
and two pounds of rice per day.
These stipulations show the impor-
tance of Chinese citizens as consumers.
We earnestly invite our tariff friends
to this view OF the question Since
We are to have no foreign trade We
must rely upon home market for our
products and instead of feeding the
thousands of Irish, Germans and
Swedes who must shortly be induced
to come into this field of labor, we
furnish citizen John with lbs. of
pork week-or, an average hog each
year. Instead OF buying his food here
of the American producer, he goes to
China for it. As a consumer, he is a
failure. AS a worker, he only de-
grades the pursuits that he adopts
As a citizen he contributes nothing to
the strength or civilization of the
State, but, as a Republican pet-the
prop of tottering Radicalism, the hope
of politicians and the assurance of fu-
ture victories at the polls, citizen John
is as much an idol of our Republican
friends as the stone images in a Joss
house are idols of his.