The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-04-27
Coolie Labor.

some ot the papers take exception to
that part Of our platform which denounces
the importation Of coolie labor We would
like to inquire from them if they under
stand what they are advocating, when they
uphold this pernicious system of slavery
The Labor Reformers do not object to the
Chinese as emigrants, but they do object
to any system that perpetuates slavery In
its worst form. In order to be understood,
We will lay before our readers few facts
that are not generally known.
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company
have the monopoly Of the carrying between
San Francisco and China. Always having
full cargo from this country to that en-
plre, but seldom having (previous to the
cOolie traffic. a full cargo in return, they
hit upon the plan of bringing cargoes Of
human flesh to America, in order to swell
their Golfers and satisfy their greed for gain
The plan, as adopted and carried out by
this company, is as follows
Placards in the Chinese language are
displayed in all the provincial towns, set
ting forth the advantages to be derived by
going to America, and guaranteeing work
to all who may 90, at the rate of $50 per
month, III gold. Two cents day, in Chi
ma, is fair pay, and Of course the above ap-
pears to the Chlnaman as being munihcent,
and he imagines that a few years work will
provide him with competence for life, and
enable him to settle i'll his native land, and
live in happiness for the remainder Of his
life.
lmbued with this idea, he is at once anX-
lous to 60 to this land Of milk and honey
and by an arrangement that the company
have made with the authorities, he can
mortgage his family for the cost Of trans
pOrtation.
This is the plan A coohe desiring to
come here, goes to the Elder Of the town,
and asks the Elder to become his bonds
man, and if he gets leave to go, he signs a
bond mortgaging his whole family to the
Elder, who can sell each and every one Of
them into slavery, if necessary, in case the
Coole fails to pay his passage within a Ger
tam time. The CoOlie is then numbered,
and the Elder liable Thousands are Sc
cured in this way, the Coolies never dream
ing that they will fail to pay back the mo-
ney.
The Coolies are then brought to Ameri-
ca, and contractors in human flesh take
possession of them and bind them out to
such men as Sampson, Of North Adams, at
the rate Of S24 per month in greenbacks,
and Of course it Is impossible for them to
save the $500 in gold, demanded by the
Steamship Company for their passage, in
the required time. The Company at once
send word to China that such a number
has failed to pay, and the news is at once
transmitted from one official to the other
until it reaches the Elder Of the town, who
at once orders the family of the delinquent
Coolle to be sold on the auction block into
slavery, that he may not lose in the specu-
latiOn, and one after another are bid of
until the necessary amount is obtained
Statistics prove that only one IN three
of these poor Coolies ever pay back their
passage money, and surely no man can en-
dorse such a system, unless he be devoid of
all feeling, and is jouaneying through life
as the emissary Of the devil
But to those who understand the reli-
gious belief these poor creatures, this sys-
TEN IS even more revolving.
They believe in caste, and when one Of
them lose caste, hit soul is doomed to eter-
nal penury and want. When sold into
slavery, they lose caste, and Of course the
relatives and friends Of the family who suf-
fer under this diabolical system feel, in a
terrible way, the disgrace inflicted. This
is the system that is supported by such pa
pers as the Hartford ''Courant" and
Times, and by such men as Beecher,
Greeley and Sumner, on the one side, and
Belmont, Seymour and Wood on the other.
Workingmen, do not be deceived. You
can never expect justice from men whose
only ambition is to make money and grow
rich at the expense of the many. 1t makes
no difference as to what party they belong,
they consider the poor man machine, and
think it sufficient if he receives enough to
keep soul and body together. Capital il
always a unit on all questions affecting its
interest. Let workingmen, for once, be a
unit on questions affecting their interests.
a Hartfoed Labor Journal.