New-York tribune., 1879-02-24
A DEFENCE OF THE BILL.

A DEFENCE OF THE BILL.
To the razor Of Tn, TribWnc
SIR: The reflections of Mr. Lloyd Garrison upon
the Senators who voted for the bill restricting Chr
nese immigration are made. think. without the
thorough examination which he usually brings to
the discussion of public questions. Permit me, with
planness OF speech aud yet with the sincere respect
Ientertdn f,r AIr. Garrison, to state the grounds
on winch cast NY vote for the measure.
NOr VOLUNTARY IMMIGRATION.
FIRST There has not been from the outset any i'm
migration of Chinese 20 the SENSE n which inu'i-
grafton comes 10 rs FROM Eur1pe. 1t has all been
under contract auG through agencies. and If not
in every respect of the cody type, tho entire I'M
miaration from China las had tho worst and most
Gemoralized features of coolYism. The Bulingame
Treaty "rcprolatcd any other rhan an entirely vol
uutar1 mm grafton and yet FROM ihe first China
man that came IN 1919, 20 the last one that landed
II san Francisco. Il is safe to say tHat not one IN
one hundred came IN an entirely voluntary man
rcr Cpto October I, 1876, the records Of the san
Francisco Custom House show that z33 136 Chinese
arrived IN tina, country and tnat "3.Z73 had re-
turned 10 China. Tho immigration since has bee"
large aud allowing for return, and deaths. the best
Starist,c, that can procure show that about lo'-
900 Chinese are in California and from 2o.poo 10
- 900 III tie adjacent Pacific states and Tern
torres.
DREADFUL PICrUE~.
Sound OF this large population fulJ nine-teath-
are adult males. The women have not IN All mum
bcrrd over 1000 and according 20 all accounts.
they ~ impure and lewd far beyond the Anglo
saxon conception of impprty and lcvdncss. One
of rhe best-iuformed CalItOrnan7 l ever mot sag,
that not one score of decent and pure women could
ever have been found in the whole Chinese immI-
grafton. II D, only in the imagined rather hope
the unimarrel feculeuce and fou'1c,s Of Nod'm
and GOmorrAh that any parallel can be found io
the atroCi0us uastluess e the Chinese quarter ot
san Francesca. I sneak Of this from a5"uutine
estimouy-lrIely from those who have bad per
soaal opp9rturtv to study the suhirc, I'D it, revolt
ing details, IN the entire Chinese population of The
Pacific Coast Oarc-lv one family j. TO he found
n. hea-thstoue Of comfort no fre,.de Of joy; no
tarncr nor mother, nor brother nor sister; uo
child reared by parents, no domestic and euuoOiing
influences: no ties OF affection. The relation II tt
Is degraded beyond all description. the females
holding and dlshoUuuuG tuat sacred name being
sold aud transferred from one man 20 another, with
out shame and without fear; one woman being az
flr same time thc wife TO several men. Many Of
these women came to san Francisco under written
contracts for prostitution. openly and shameless y
entered into. have myself read tie translation Of
some Of these abomiLab.e documents, II a~ q nation
ve have the r-ht to keep out Infectious disease Il
We have tie u-at TO exclude the cr.m-
nal classes from coming 10 Us, we surely
possess the night 20 exclude that immigration
which reok, with Impurty and which cannot come
10 us without pieutcously sowing the seeds Of
moral and physical disease destitutIou, ana death
not oNE STEP TOwAED ASSIMILATION.
Third The Chinese INN Cra,Ion to California
began with tho American Immigration IN 1915.
The two races have been side bv side for more than
thirty years nearly an eatr" general on, and Lot
one step toward assimilation has been taken. Tho
Chinese occupy their own peculiar quarter ~ the
city, adhere to their OVID dress, SPEAK their own
language. worship ia their own hcathen temples.
and inside the municipal law and independent ot
IT, administer a code among Themselves even
pronoupcIng the death penalty and executing 1t 30
criminal secrecy. II this were for year only, or
for two or five or even ten years. it might bc
claimed that more time was needed Tor domestica-
ton aud assimilation but this has been going Oh
for an entire generation. and the Chjnauan today
approaches no nearer to civilization Gan he dd
when the Golden Cato first received Alm. In sworn
testimony before an investigating committee OF
Congress Dr. Mear>, the Health Officer of san IRAN
cisco described a. " a careful and learned man
testified that the candtIOn Of the Chinese quarter
Is d" horrible ouccryablY horrible" he stated
that tie Chinese o. rule " live in large tenement
noIse large numbers crowded IatO individual
rooras without proper ventilation, with bad drain
~. and underground. with q great deal Of filth.
the odors from which are horrible lie described
their mode of TAX ng room ten feet high and put
ting flooring half way to the ceiling. both floors
being crowded at night with sleePers. In these
crowded dens cases Of smallpox were concealed
from the police They 1.-Two underground
IN hunks The topography of that portion
Of ChInadom Is such that you enter a house some
times and think that lJ Is one-,tOrJ house ana you
will find two or three stories DO below the side
Of the hill. where they live il great.
filth Another close and accurate observer. a
resident of California. SAYS the only wonder Ii
that desolatiug pcstiences have not ensucd. Small
pox has often been epidemic. and could Glwpy'.be
traced 10 Chinese origin. The ChInese quarter vas
once occupied by shops, churches and dwellings or
Americans. Now these are as thoroughly Aougoilan
Al, any part of Canton. All other races Zee from
the contact Dr. Mears further testified and gave
many revolving details IN proof nat the Chinese
are cruel and indifferent TO their sick he de-
s.rbeJ cases of Chinese epers at the city hospital:
Their feet dropped OF by dry gaugrcue. and ,hcT
hands we're wasted and attenUatcd. Their finger
nails dropped on" III saId the Chinese were grad
uallv working eastward and would by and by crowd
into Eastern cities. where the conditions under
winch they live in san Francisco would produce IN
the absence of It's climatic adyantagcs destructive
pe.tllences." Perhaps Chinese quarter IL BOSTON,
with 10000 MouColIans located Somr0 here De-
tween the south end and the north eud of the CITY
and .eparatlng the two. would give Mr. Garrison