The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1876-04-08
The Cry is Still They Come

10 the local columns Of to-day's C5rgaIc's will
be found the following announcement;
The CRY Of Ps.5Hg, which arrived here I'm san
Franclsc0l on Wednesday, brought no less than
l.0I7 more Cinnamon - our hosp.;able shores.
l. d stated that the whole stcevaZe ~acc5ulWl1I-
tIon u ali tie steamers sailing from China lgT lhe
next six months has been contracted fox 5y tie
importers Of coolies.
This bit u news has an Omiuous AMI uiarmID-
sound. We have already III California a Cuincse
population Of over 100, 600 in q total population
ofIess than q million. Their presence IN such num-
bers Is known TO operate as a blight upon every
industry in which they have engaged, and to be a
terrible calamity TO the ~laboring and industrial
classes.
What does the arrival of these I,Ol7 Mongo-
lians mean? 1t means the displacement Of I or
white men and women from the employments in
which they are now engaged. For II has been
clearly demonstrated that white labor cannot
compete with Chinese labor. Il is fact estab-
lished beyond dispute that these Acknowledged
Tartars can work a great number Of hours at a
smaller cost Of food, clothing and lodging than
American mechanics or labOrers can. They can
work eighteen hours "a day alta rate Oi wages upon
which u natiye-born American would starye.
They can lodge, packed like sardines in close and
noisome quarters where white men would stiae.
They can cheerlully endure Pr~iyations which would
drive people Of our race to suicide. lfthey are sent
To our jails and penitentiarIes for violating the
laws they thrive IN Imprisonment, Tor they get bet
ter food and lodgings than they have been accus-
toned to, and are freed from the necessity of work.
1t is many years since the Chronicle sounded
the note Of alarm on this subject and predicted
that what was then scarcely felt a. an evil would
one day swell 10 such threatening proportions as
10 create general anxiety and distress. Our war
ming was little needed at the time. That was the
era of what Carl Schurz calls 80 sentimental poll
tics, and all good Republicans insisted on hail
ing the Asiatic stranger as "a man and a broth
err" But the truth of all We predicted is now
recognized by men Ofall parties in California. 1t
Is now apparent to every one having the slightest
practical knowledge of the subject that the condi-
tions upon which white labor is called upon to
compete with Chinese labor in this State are such
that the former can stand no chance except by
adopting modes of life which develope personal
and social degradation by reducing the labOrer to
the level of mere brute existence. Ages of priva-
ton and oppression in a country swarming with
a redundant population have made the struggle
for existence so keen as to generate habits of So
called " ~frugality and industry " impossible to be
initiated by a free people. The frugality consists
of an abstinence from everything not absolutely
necessary to sustain life, and the industry is that
Of a beast of burden that can be worked during
all the hours not required for sleeping or feeding.
The news item which furnishes the text of this
article suggests the most gloomy reflections. 1t
shows that the Asiatic influx, far from abating, is
on the increase. Already the invaders have
monopolized several important industries. They
Jostle us on the sidewalks, dispute the right of way
on crossings and crowd US In the street-cars. They
have taken almost exclusive possession of several
once prosperous and respectable sections of this
city. Washington and Clay streets are rapidly
being overrun, and the time does not seem to be
far distant when those streets above Kearny will
belong to the Chinese quarter.
One thousand and seventeen more of the inva-
ding host by n single steamer, and the entire
steerage accommodations Of all the steamers sail
ing from China for the next six months contrac-
ted for to bring other thousands! 1t is time for
action. California must lift her voice and speak
in tones so earnest that Congress will be forced to
California must devise some mode of helping her
self-for self-preseryation is : the first law of ma
ture. IS. F. Chronicle.