The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-01-08
THE C0OLIF QUESTION.

falutln has been induIged, Is OuI Par'
of deep laid scheme to degrade the
labor of the American mechanic, and
virtually re enslave that race from
which the schackles of slavery, have SO
recently been stricken.
In spite of the milk and water sPolo-
gies of the designing or the ranting OF
our pseudo philanthroPists, the I'M
answerable truth remains that dollar
and cent argument is the strongest
which has yet been brought to bear in
its favor, and this too notwithstanding
the overwhelming testimony which has
been adduced of the curses sure to fol-
low in its train.
Were we to frame our opinion, how
ever, of the character or worth of the
Chinese laborers from the fifty cent leo
lures of every humbug or vice Consul,
who has paid a flying visit to Hong
Kong, we should not be able to recog-
nize them-in the ignorant degraded
wretches which now curse our country
with their presence, and which, we
have every reason to believe are but
fair samples Of the class, which our
would-b importers intend to use as a
means to secure our degradation.
But even to meet its advocates on
their own vantage ground--on the cry
of cheap labOr-the plea is destroyed
by the testimony of those who have
had a long practical experience Of
the value of their services. Said Mr..
Corning the superintendent Of the Cen
trail Pacific to friend. investigating the
question "Why sir, the greatest fall
lacy of the age is the belief that Chi
nese labor-is cheap labor it is the
dearest labor which can be employed I;
one white man will do the work Of three
Cinnamon and do it better too. | have
watched the thing pretty closely, and
know whereof l speak" Said a Sec
ton foreman: "A great deal of the
work they do is very poorly done-in
fact it is the dearest labor we have, and
l can do more with a gang Of Irishmen
or Germans in one day, than l can do
with sn equal number Of these fellows
in three. Besides at heavy work they
amt worth a d--n." We have also the
evidence of many Of those who for
months superintended their operations,
which but coroborates the foregoing.
If we regard their advent from a
moral or social standpoint, the objec
ton i still more valid. Filthy, beasti-
81, idolatrous, in all their associations,
they have failed to develop any sympa-
thy with or appreciation of the princi
Piles of our government, or in any man.
ner assimilated to our people or institu-
tons. On the contrary-they regard
themselves as .lere soiourners in a
strange land, as the chattels of those
who traffic in human blood, without
will or voice Of their own, their only
duty being to drain the country of her
precious metasl, for it is fact not gen
orally known that every dollars worth
Of gold that finds its way to y China
mans clutches, is as sure to leave the
country, as his remains. So alarming
indeed has this evil become that unless
some ways and means are taken to pre-
vent it-goId will become as scarce a
commodity on the Pacific as it already
is on the Atlantic slope.
His social habits are also of the most
degrading character. Filthy and shame
less-packed as closely as behring's in
barrel, on the earthern floor Of their
lodging houses-without shelter or COW
ering, the visitor to San Francisco may
walk over their bodies without causing
twinge or exclamation of surprise.
Yet stranger still is the sad fact that
every Chinese t0onaGn to be found in the
Golden State is an open avowed pros
titute, and their number is being increas-
ed every week by the noble efforts of
the Pacific Mail Steamship Company,
whose vessels come laden with these
reeking Monaghan harlots. An East
ern writer in referring to this subject
says:
The demand for Chinese women for base pur-
poses in California is reproducing in China some
Of the worst horrors Of the OH African slave
trade. recent writer says; with the last
tao years kidnapping has heen going on at 8
Irightful extent in the T1nquin Empire-the
loWes' tim'ta Is 20,OOn In one missionary
district in the TIE Tonqlin territory. during the
last year, goo women h I'VE disappeared no one
say where they have gone. Many Of these
girls taken by Chinese coolie SC mps to
Hong Kong. 4ii export Ds them tn CtlifOr
mia
Such in short is the character of the
chattels, the enemies of the working
classes, are seeking to import to Amer
lean soil When it is taken into con-
sideration that there are hundreds of
thousands Of our own kith and kin in
our own country-our equals socially.
morally and intellectually-out of en-
ployment, and glad to obtain it on al
most any terms, the rascality Of those
directly interested in the nefarious
scheme of coOhe inapOrtGtion-may be
To argue the case seems
a waste of time, and we almost sigh
for the temperance of the season
when Jedder justice fiourished-viz: