The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1880-06-25
GENERAL BuTlER's SUGGESTION.

x@OS buG k9SNosA0A 1850 y -
at the Court of St. James rather than
in Peking that the most effective steps
can be taken to restrict Chinese I'M
migration. The suggestion is based
on tine fact that the Chinese seeking
this country all embark at the En-
glish port of Hongkong. There is
also some evidence that the lazar-
houses not only of that city, but per
haps also of Canton, are emptying
their miserable inmates on San Fran,
cisco. There is no other hypothesis
upon which the extraordinary mum.
ber of lepers which from time to
time have been discovered here can
be explained.
But matters have somewhat chang
ed of late in Hongkong. The Eng.
lish authorities have at length got
some inkling of the peculiar nature
of the social customs of the Chinese.
Until lately they had no knowledge
of the fact that boys and girls were
sold under their very noses, and that
system of slavery prevailed in an
English dependency, which differed
only in degree from that African
bondage which the civilization of the
nineteeth century has pretty nearly
destroyed. On recent occasion Sir
John Smale, the Chief Justice of the
island, gave it as his opinion that
there were not less than 10000 per-
sons held as slaves in the colony.
Both he and Governor Hennessey
have since been using all their power
TO extirpate the brutal traffic which
England has been the foremost ma
tion in breaking up.
IF scrvitude among the Chinese is
to be suppressed in Hongkong, it is
not likely that the business q. ship
ping slaves to other lands would be
regarded with more tolerance. There
ia not much doubt that the admins
tration at that place, if it is not able
to deal with the evil, will get all the
support of which it may stand in
need from such a ministry as that
over which w. E. Gladstone presides.
The English only control the matter
because the embarcation takes place
at one of their ports. But that can
not be regarded by any means as a
permanent factor in the business.
The Chinese capitalists who are en-
gagged in this new form of the slave
trade have means enough to ship di-
rectly from Canton. As matter oi
fact, since the Hongkong authorities
have been looking into Chinese sla-
very the former have been hiring or
buying steamers of their own which
they can dispatch from any port they
please. They recently had one of
their steamers running between Can.
ton and the Sandwich Islands.
1t is apparent from these facts that
the ultimate settlement of the ques.
tions involved rests with Peking. AT
the same time, some good might be
effected by carrying out the sugges.
ton of General Butler. A represen-
taiion on the part Of our Minister,
Mr.. Lowell, to Mr.. Gladstone, would
at least have the effect of strength
ening the hands of Governor Hem
nessey and Sir John Smale. They
will not allow Hongkong to be con-
verted into second Zanzibar. Know
ingly, that dependency of the British
crown will not be allowed to become
slave mart. Meanwhile there is
something for our Government to do
with regard to its own officials. The
rapacity and venality Of our Consuls
at the port in question have been eff.
ficient allies of the men-sellers of
Canton.
The examination which these Off
cials are required to make in the case
of every person embarking for this
country, with view to the suppress
sion of cooliesm, of late years has
degenerated into a mere form, in
which fees seems to be the objective
point. There is not any reason to
believe that the law of Congress
bearing on the subject would, under
the most efficient administration, be
an adequate remedy. Consul Nose
by, who has made the regulations in
regard to the practices of former
consuls, is presumptively discharging
with vigor his duties. But there is
no percptible decrease in Chinese en-
grafton TO this country. The most
earnest functionary would be certain
TO be baffied at many points by the
perjury in which Chinese are such
adopts. But if there is any way in
which his position could be rendered
more effective than it il, it ought to
be thought out and formulated. That,
however, is a part of the general