Morning journal and courier., 1880-11-30
S9ournal arlo Courier.
Tuesday Morning, Nov. 30, 1880.
THE CHINESE QUESTION AGAIN.

I ]. B.
 Tuesday Morning, Nov. 30, 1880. THE CHINESE QUESTION AGAIN. Prof. James A. Whitney is not one Of
 those who look upon Chinese immigration with indifference. On the contrary, he is
 much disturbed by it and thinks it high time
 that something was done about it. He gives
 his reasons for his opinions on this subject | in an able and interesting article in the No
 tioaa1 Quarterly ReUieao.
 Prof. Whitney asserts that Chinese immi- grafton has not reached it's limit, as some | suppose. Although many Chinese re- | turn each autumn to their own
 country still larger number make their advent in the spring, the annual sur | plus of immigrants over emigrants being
 from IS, 900 to 10000, which insures con-
 stant increase of the Chinese population. The Chinese in California now number about 15O, GOO, and only between 5000 and 5000 of these are women From these figures Prof. Whitney makes curious calculation.
 Each Chinaman is inspected before leaving with care equal to the inspection of volun-
 teers for active service in time of war. With
 out this they cannot be shipped. They are therefore healthy, active and enduring
 much so, probably, as the average military force of any country. As concerns the white community, the number of men fit to bear
 arms may be estimated by the rule that
 obtains in European countries, which is one
 in five of the total population. Therefore,
 of the 100000 whitesSin California, there
 l, .AaJ 10n
 tual service. From this it follows that in the number of men fit to bear arms in Cali fornia to-day, China is 20 per cent. stronger than the United States.
 A very strong reason for opposing Chinese immigration is found by Prof. Whitney in the change which has taken place in China.
 He considers the signs of Chinese aggression
 neither few nor obscure. Some of these
 signs he recounts, follows: The Chinese Steam Navigation Company is about to estab- fish steam line direct to Havana, which at once will control the Chinese trade with the Atlantic sea board and the Spanish main, and provide means for the easy transport of Chinese immigrants to the United States the West Indies and South America. One hun dred and forty thousand of these, it is stated on apparently good authority, have already found a place in Cuba. Within the past few weeks we have witnessed the inauguration, with the steamer Hochung of direct trade with Chinese steam vessels between Hong Kong and San Francisco. The opportunities offered by favorable public opinion and thoughtless governmental action, both in this 1 country and in Europe, have enabled China | to avail herself of the latest and most inn proved resources, whether for peaceful or warlike purposes. Hundreds of her best | young men have been educated in Caucasian l schools; the scientific works of Europe and 1 America have been translated into her Ian | guage for the use of her officials. Armories | have been established on Chinese soil for the | manufacture of improved firearms for Chi l nese troops. China has defeated the Russians l in Kashgar with muskets from the arsenals of | Europe and has mounted Krupp guns on the l earthworks that guard the inlets to the great I rivers. And within the past few years she has l equipped navy which, with the single ex- 1 ception of that of Great Britain carries heav- | fer and more effective ordnance than that of | any other nation in the world ''It is this | nation, hemmed in on all sides, save that of | the sea, and whose soil has already reached | the limit of productiveness for it's people; it | is this nation, whose sway has never perma- 1 nently receded from any region over which it | has once been held; it is this nation with | which we are now brought face to face, and l which we smite with one hand, while with the | other we open wide the gates to it's inflow | upon our territory"
 In order to escape what he considers this great danger, Prof. Whitney would have all sentimentality and all technicalities woven by diplomacy, or, rather, the lack of 1t, set aside and the most direct method adopted. 'sChinese immigration should be stopped with all the power of the government and the elimination of the Chinese from our borders should be secured with the least pos sible delay.' He would not mind anything about treaty obligations which might happen to exist. On this point he argues;
 The same paragraph of the Constitution which provides that treaties made in accord ance herewith shall be the supreme law of the land also declares that statutes made in accordance herewith shall be the supreme law of the land. A law of Congress, there fore, stands upon the same level and | has the same force treaty with foreign power. It has been Judlclally held that federal statute, contrary to pro vision of treaty, repealed the treaty itself. And this is sound law as well as sound com mon sense. In order to secure a change in the Constitution, the favorable action of Con gress and the consent of three-fourths of the separate Legislatures of the States are re- quired. When such care was exercised to prevent the nasty change of any of the pro- visions of the organic law, it cannot have been the intent of it's framers that treaty, entered into by a single plenipotentiary and ratified by the President and Senate, should | have power binding as that of the Consti- tuition itself and be capable of disturbing our industrial, social and political equilibrium. To say that the Senate and an envoy appoint ed by the President possess a power greater than that of both houses of Congress and | the President together, is to reverse the | principles and traditions that have controlled | the government and expressed the will of the | people from the beginning.
 Of course if the danger from Chinese i'm migration is really as great it seems to Professor Whitney and those who think with him the sooner it is stopped the bet {. But | there is much that can be said ne other side. The facts of the case f9 the only basis upon which action sh6a4d be taken. | These facts it seems to us, have not yet been fully collected or fairly it1dped