The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-06-21

CONAN DlOOu over tnObe OF al Jne lahnluoS VI
man among us.
The perception of this possibility cannot
but awaken in the mind of the true American
the gravest thoughts The social, political,
and Astrological questions involved are of
transcendent importance.
The question of the prohibition or the
heavy taxation of Chinese immigration is
almost sure TO be one of the earliest and most
bitterly fought political issues of the Far
West. The hostility to the Chinese of the
white laborers, especially of the Irish, is
already beginning TO show itself openly in
the most violent acts of intimidation. But il
is not difficult to foresee that any legislation,
which has for its object the suppression of
any social element or force that has once
shown itself to be q necessity in rapidly car
rying forward the system of internal improve
ments on which large part of our material
industry rests, must ultimately fail.
We may therefoSp assume that the recogni-
tion of the necessity of Chinese labor in the
Far West insures an influx of Chinese pro-
portionate at least to the extent of the great
system of public works which will be needful
for the growth of the Western States and
Territories. We shall see, further on, that
these Asatics are obtaining strong foothold in
almost all other branches of labor, because
they answer the requirements better than any
other class of people. 1t is therefore not inn
probable that they will find their way, in large
numbers, to this side of the Rocky Mountains
Is it probable that the party warfare of the
country will leave this enormous quantity of
possible political force in the latent condition
pertaining to aliens?
Gaining the right to vote means gaining
citizenship, the removal of disquaiications,
and the protection of their distinctive inte-
rests and customs to a degree proportionate
to the number of their votes Having OBJ
toiOaH thoca tbo Chinese t,,,;n L.,
come, beyond doubt, a permanent citizen
With this prospect before us, it may not be
uninteresting to glance at the characteristics
OF this race, both in countries to which they
have emigrated, and in their own home.
Twenty years of contact between the two
races in California have done little towards
removing the prejudice against the Chinese
They have poured steadily into and out of
the country, but, surrounded by barriers,
they have been forced to form o world of
their own. Within this some fifty thousand
men have been thriving, while many of them
have amassed large fortunes Many an enter
prise, too, has swamped in failure, which
would have given brilliant returns but for the
tyranny of white worlmen who prevented the
employment of cheap Chinese labor. This
tyranny is met with at every step: from the
courtroom, where the Chinaman is denied
the right of giving evidence in mixed cases,
to the gold diggings, where white rowdies,
acting as self-appointed collectors, levy the
mining tax, which is never assessed upon
Americans Recently, however, various
manufacturers, farmers, and others, Drawing
that wild beast, the Irish mob, have begun
to employ Chinese labor, and with such sue
cess that capitalists see in it the snew and
muscle of the Far West.
A writer in the Ooerland 4HonttIy, March.
1869, says of the Chinamen:-
"What they want is employment and such pay as
Will support them and leave something over to send
BACK TO the father and mother to the wife and the
children, left at home SO accustomed have they
always been to give full and honest days labor to
those who have hired them that they expect to give
their employer the service of their muscle and their
skill during all the hours of the day. only asking a
reasonable time for meals together with the stipu-
lated wages when their work is done"
The owners of woollen factories praise them
as the best of worllmen. The officers and
foremen of the Central Pacific Railroad-on
which some ten thousand Chinamen are said
to be at worll-speak no less highly of them
Their work is full and honest, no tagging and
storytelling, no whisky drinking, and few
fights. Overseers declare that they can drill
more rock and move more dirt with China
men than with an equal number of men who
claim this kind of occupation as their spe-
cialty What they lack in bodily vigor is
made up in persistency and steadiness.
Indeed, California is just beginning to feel
tiOh nulNluul uSI COuIS6 IOWhTuS ASldUlC LABOR
has been, and she is finding that her material
prosperity is increasing apace with the inno-
vation upon that policy The Chinese are
found now in woollen, paper, and powder
mills; in the borax works; in the hop planta-
tions, fruit orchards, and vineyards; following
the reaping machines on farms, and working
the salt-pits on the coast; doing almost uni
versally the cooking, and engaged in hundreds
OF branches of industry that would be impos-
sible without their cheap laSor.
The sure result of this will be that, in few
years. the small savings of these workmen
will, by accumulation, transform the coolie of
to-day into the capitalist, contracting to build
railroads, owning large farms or factories and
lines of ships, and making great commercial
combinations. This is certain, for no people
on the face of the earth advance so unswerv-
lngly in the accumulation of capital; and in
its investment from childhood upward they
combine the shrewdness of the Jews with the
of the Yankee. What the
Jews have been in banking, the Chinese may
easily become in general commerce and in
dustry on the Pacific coast
The Rioerside Magazine for July presents
an interesting variety of reading matter for
young people, including one of Hans Chris
tian Andersens delightful sketches The
present number is finely illustrated and is
fully up to the usual standard of excellence