The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-07-20
CHARLES TON.
TUESDAY MORNING, JULY 20. 1869.
The Chinese Labor Movement.

Tho Chinese Labor Movement. ,-
Worn out as are the planters Of South
Carolina BY the uncertainty and costlineas
Of free negro labor, tits not surprising that
they should desire to avail themselves at
once Of the services Of the Chinese, who in
Cuba are paid but 81 month, and in China
bu. $50 8 year, And the Chinese do not
give Second Chop work for Second Chop
pay. Mem Of thsireWn rsce-Fye- Kim Orr
and Koopminsohssp-who were at the
Memphis Convention, say that they work
faithfully and are easily managed. being
patient, industrious, docile, tractable and
obedient. They are temperate in their
habits, whatever the Californians may say,
and Koopmanschaap, the great contractor,
is Of opinion that they can be had for five
years, at ten or1w elye dollars month. If
only half Of this be true, the Chinese will
be better and cheaper lsborsrs for our low
country than any that we now have, or can
obtain outside Of the Empires Of the East.
Economy and efficiency are knocking at our
doors, and we confess that our earnest wish
to open wide our gates is not tempered by
any anxiety lest the Asiatic should affect
iDjuriously our social or political system.
We all know that, 'ss one Of the conse-
quences Of the war, tens ofthousands Of fer
tile sores upon our seacoast lie idle, while
ever mark Of former cultivation is rap
idly hidden by rank vegetation. There is
not labor enough Of any kind to restore
these deserted plantations to their old ripe.
ness Of production. The':eolored people,
what with losses BY disease, migration to
the cities snd towns, and the withdrawal OF
the women from the fields, are not strong
enough otill properly the land now in cul-
tiyation.: Nor is 1t q rebel misrepresenta.
ton 70 say that the colored man does not
labor as lealously as he did before the war,
and that nothing but sotive competition
will drive him to keep faith with his EN-
ployer and work fully up to the terms Of
his bargain. The labor that. we need for
the low country cannot come from Europe.
The choice lies between :Asiatio labor sad
African labor; and seltinterest will natu.
rally incline our people to encourage the
introduction Of the former, which is uulim-
tied in quantity, is more intelligent, and
will be more profitable than free negro
labor. .S-:!" ". - ..
The Cinnamon have pigtails and almond
eyes, and Aattened faces and names studded
with Angs and EGGS. But these little Pc
culisrities will not set our people against
them; Tor on their side is thea cwer of
money, the force Of dollars and cents. As
they will come in but small numbers at first,
as they have SO far shown no disposition to
settle permanently in foreign land, and as
it would be many years before they could
take sides upon any political question, we
do not fear that they will infusnce unfa-
yorsbly our political position. And, so far
as their physical power goes, we have
enough faith in the white race to believe
that no number Of Cinnamon which we or
our children may see in South Carolina
will be able to drag down the white man
to their level, or fasten upon Western civili-
ration the superstitions Of the East. They
come to us to fill vacant place, and they
come in good time. They will make fertile
miles Of rich land which are now dresry
waste. They will make the State wealthy
and strong. They may drive out the negro;
but they can never drive out the white men
Of the South.
And, after all, this is no ethical question,
but matter Of bread and meat, Of living
or dying. All other considerations will fade
in the face Of these. We might wait to see
what the Chinese will do in Mississippi aud
Louisians; bat we have not moment to
loose in parleying and dreaming. The
problem is solving itself while we sit idly
here. Never did any movement take shape
and form as rapidly as that of Chinese i'm
migration to the South. In few weeks the
subject has assumed proportions go large as
10 give employment to hundreds of pens
and to enter into the calculations of subtle
politicians. The country was ripe There
,zoo ~ hone for tha low 1apda NJ tho South
but in the Chinese, and they are assuredly
coming. We say, let them come. We, at
all events, have no doubts, no fears, and
We hail the Chinese as the harbingers of
fortune and prosperity to the whole seacoast
of South Carolina
Behind the Times.