Smyrna times., 1870-07-20
M IIUW eOuS.
Chinese immigration.

the r1rpSt Mt
all foreigners to be met in this Atlantic coun
try. A few were encountered at the morris 90
caSlonally, arrived as cooks and stewards on
ships from Canton and Hong Kong a few har
6ored In New \ 0rk. and there were a few in
New Orleans. Now California rcckons tens Of
thousands, and the strange faces are met in in
terror territories and Oregon and Lower Cali
lorna. a cargo of three hundred have landed
at New Orleans. and another is DUE The ar
rivals at San Francisco since January number
Si4z Ihere are some hundred or more in
North Adams, Massachusetts. A cargo have
been landed IN Carolina, and agents from Mem
phlS, including the famous koopmanschan. are
negotiating further supply for Texas and
tennessee. They can be landed bv steamer
IN California at almost freight rates in thirty
days and In fifteen more be dumcsticated at any
point in the country.
1he questions accompanying and resulting
from this novel hcgira have forced the tonic
INTO Congress, INTO politics. into the press. and
lhto almost every office of life so that it NAV.
perhaps De ialry rated with the prominent
subjects OF the day. As 1t is in its very essence
continuing, 1t commands attention; and as il
has direct bearing on the relations of labor and
capital, on the productive industry of the
country, ON popular education, race, morals
religion and politics, it bids fair to retain it's
slgnlhcance for some time. Shall it be encour
aged, or tolerated? The Constitution giyes
power to answer definitely. 1t saws: "The
migration or importation Of such persons as anv
OF the states now existing shall think proper to
admit shall not be prohibited by the Congress
prior to the year lSOS. Granting that this
referred to the importation of African slaves,
still this exception conceded the general mower
to prohibit immigration.
Tins brings us to the expedicncy Of prohibi-
ton or restriction in the case at hand. Our
poilcy has been to favor immigration from all
quarters As result, We have a population
now OF over 4O,OOU,OO against the 30. .OUO. .OOO
we should have had if our increase since l77G
had been limited to natural increase. Pro
c1cdIIg apon the c ii nate that every immigrant
brings sos caplta, the productive capital,
Drought by European IN migrants since 1890 is
estimated at more than $500, 900 600. But
tins ca l.a;iOn d res not extend to the Asiatics
without serious restii .tions. They bring little
money with them. They do not come to re-
man. They do not wish to learn our manners,
our laws, language, Or anything that we have,
beyond what Is necessary to accumulate money
w hen they have accumulated enough to con
sutute independence at home, they return: or.
II dying before that point is reached, their
WEI til and their ashes are shippcd back To
their relatives III China. Thus our argument
IN favor oil European immigration fails when
Ter cOntTG-there is but ono.thirteenth Of
our soil under cultivation. What is wanted
Tor the reclamation and transfer to use of the
Twelve thlrteenths now untitled primarily is
labor-not necessarily uneducated labor hnt
that which paves the way Tor it. Our mines
our factories and our yards are similarly
deficient, and owing, in part to this deficiency.
every consumer pays more for his cotton
cloth as wei! as for his sugar; for his shoes
as for his rice And beyond this, the higher
rate of wages here disqualifies US to some
extent 1IOm competing with European coun-
tries in the world S markets with those ar
ticles we can produce at an advantage, and
that we should export to offset imports and
create wealth, were labor as abundant here as
it could be without injury to itself. For the
war first esscned the amount of our available
industry, and then further diminished it by
opening new avenues for its employment that
are not 20 be closed in our day. And yet, if
the Chinese come, We have to bear in mind
thai, working for little, they will pay small tax
es and 80 contribute but slightly to the direct
strength of u government they are never likely
to care for. So far as they remove white labor
they thus effect loss, unless the labor they
succeed resorts to more Independent and lucra-
tive pursuits, as some may while all cannot.
Two meetings were held to consider this sub
iect not long ago, one in New York, the other
in Cincinnati. The latter resolved that this
labor threatens to reduce wages and 20 iniure
all other labor, for the sole end of further en-
riching capital that the Chinese do not come
voluntarily, but are forced and decoyed; that
each, accustomed to but two dollars n month
at home, displaccs full paid American labor
er protested against the innovation, and call
cd for Congressional action, while threatening
to make the matter political issue. The for
mer went over the same ground, and asserted
that we have a superabundance of labor now
There was no objection to the Chinese coming
as the Irish and Germans do, but they muI
not be brought by companies not aid the
rich against the poor.
More than this, Native Americanism is rea
wakened to take part in the struggle. In Con
gress it was called up on an amendment offer
- ~. Ar InnL linIr IL III. Lnx .nl tur:H LII