The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-04-30
CHEAP LARnR-

hourly, in receipt Of, the ADVOCATE
must have a goodly number of we'll
wishers. Before us lies choice selec-
ton, received within q few days, de-
precating the position We have taken
on the Chinese question, and urging us
10 retract our pleLlctions.
One subscriber from West Casco,
Mich, after assuring us that he has
Just finished reading the ADVOCATE,
says: i feel too much interest and
anxiety in It's influence and success to
be able to 60 to sleep until | write you
a brief note regar ing the false posi-
ton you have taken. For Gods sake
let us have one paper of influence,
which will not injure its position by
indiscreet denunciation, &c"
Another from Portland, Me-, writes
" / much regret that you have taken
the stand you have on the importation,
as you arc pleased to term it, Of Chi
uese labor, because | consider it un-
tenable. Nothing is clearer to my
mind that under the Burlingame treaty
and Fifteenth Amendment the Chinese
have not only the right to come, but
the right to vote, &c "
Again a venerable gentleman in
Chicago, whose opinions we have al
ways heretofore respected, pronounces
the predictions Of the ADVOCATE as
worthy the crOakiugs of the planter in
the palmiest days Of slavery" Now,
gentlemen, one and all, while we are
certainly very glad to hear from you, we
claim the same privilege that we cheer,
fully cOncede to others-that of think
ing and acting for ourselves. We are
opposed - amaltera6ly opposed - under
any and all circumstances, to the i'm
PortatioH-and that's the proper and
the only term to use--of hostile
Asiatic barbarians for the sole and
only purpose of cheapening the labor
of those, who are obeying the Divine de-
cree of " eating bread in the sweat o,
their own faces" We declare, fearless
of successful contradiction, that this il
the reason, and the only reason that ha5
been or can be urged in favor Of thil
villainous scheme; aud the plea tina
philanthropic or humanitarian motivei
control the action Of those who even
now rob their own race Of their dail}
bread, is too absurd to deserve cor
sideration; hence all such pettifoggins
is the sheerest demagoguery, stealing
the livery Of heaven to serve TIE devil
in.
Moreover, we insist there is an im|
portant principle underlying this whole
question, in the solution of which
every American citizen is directly int
terested. The importation of these
hordes can ultimately have but onA
result--the permanent colonization o.
a scribe race an issue in direct conhIct
with the cardinal features Of 4
democratic government, because,
whether practiced or repudiated, By
the action of our legislators, oU3r
institutions are based on the mtellI
gence, the patriotism, and the ind4
pendence Of the people. Even were
the claims Of our Portland friend al
mitted-and he is certainly not aloIie
in his conclusions-the evil would only
be aggravated, for two reasons "ldt
Because by nature ard education, th9y
have and can have no sympathy wifi
or appreciation of our institutions, aid
Cd, because, were the franchise exdr
cised tomorrow, the expression Ob
tanned would simply be the EXPRESSIONS
Of their masters, all private and
personal considerations being SUR,
rendered ut their dictation. Nor is
this an idle assertion; it is the teski
mony Of one thoroughly versed fr
Chinese character, whose practical ok.
perience among and control of thdm
has been second to that of no living
man.
Under these circumstances we inAst
the only wise course is u secure dht
passage and enforcement of natiOha
law prohibiting importation and w
shall soon put a stop to the social lee
voluntary emigration schemes which
purpose. Such course has been q c
cessfully adopted in the Austral al
colonies, whose people are certaibly
as soundly republican, enlightene ed
patriotic, and enterprising as thosel o
the United States.
Again, it is passing strange TIA
those who ridicule the statement tha
the colonization of this race is frau h
with danger, or that such prohibition
would be anti-republican, insist on th'
determination Of the Indian tribes, wh Os,
right to the soil is at least equal t.
our own, and whose hostility has / eer
incurred by the rascaiity of our agents
on the grounds that experience ha
shown the two races cannot live 10
gether inharmony, and that the interest
ofhumanity demand their determination
Consistency, thou art jewel. Fl
for all such Feeje philanthropy. w
believe in calling things by their 5igt