Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-05-06
TEE RATIFICATION CT THE CHINESE
TREATIES.

peen making headWay at the East since
the Commission was sent out by the last
Administration. The actual results OF the
passenger treaty may quite probably prove
less important than has been anticipated,
hut it must be reflected that it represents
the adoption by the United States of an
entirely new foreign policy, and that
larger consequences may be expected to
spring from this modest beginning as pop
ular comprehension of the issue becomes
more general. It ought not to be- neces-
sary to point out, in answer to the argu-
ments Of the class represented by Senator
Hoar of Massachusetts,, that policy which
suited the exigencies of a young, feeble and
struggling Government, is by no means
necessarily adapted to the wants of great
nation of fifty millions. The so-called
"fatherhood of God and brotherhood of
"Man" doctrine, which Mr.. Hoar has just
been expounding, is purely sentimental
and thoroughly impractical hypothesis. No
race or nation has ever acted upon it in
its broadcast sense, and no race or nation
could so act upon it without endangeripg
its future. Whether or not the Chinese
are inclined to migrate in large numbers is
a question which has been discussed large
| ly of late, but after all it is not a question
of the first importance in this connection.
The most vital consideration here is
whether the American people believe in
the necessity of maintaining an Anglo
Saxon civilization, or whether it is a mat
ter of indifference to them how many
exotic civilizations are grated upon the
parent stem.
Experience has shown that the Chinese
do not asslmilate with us at all, 10 matter
how long they have been with US. 1t
would be unreasonable to expect that they
should do so, viewing the question from
their standpoint, for they belong to a much
older civilization than ours, and one which
they believe to be much higher. OF
course we regard this belief of theirs as
fond delusion, but We cannot eradicate it,
and the fact involves the necessity of re-
garding the presence of the Chinese among
us from purely economic aspect. 1t will
not do to eonfound these positions, either.
We cannot form rational judgment on a
question of this kind from purely economic
considerations. We cannot safely con-
clude because the Cinnamon is thrifty,
temperate, industrious, steady, that there
fore it will be prudent to welcome him
without any limit as to numbers. We
are all engaged in the making of nation,
and as partakers in the government we are
all accountable for the character OF the ma.
American soil ought, in accordance with
republican principles, to be a freeman po-
litically. There should be no Pariah class
Such class Will, from the very nature of
the case, be abused, since the tendency of
power is always toward tyranny, and since
nothing but the equitable distribution Of
it can protect the individual or the class.
1t is the belief of many careful thinkers
that this republic has already been endan-
gered by the too lavish admission of for
eign elements, and that even when there
is in these elements an assimilative capa-
city not found in the Chinese, this rapid
absorption produces such accessions of po-
litical ignorance as to seriously weaken the
aggregate intelligence at critical iunctures,
and to seriously strengthen the power of
demagogues and false leaders. The ratif.
cation OF the Chinese treaties therefore is
an indirect bat none the less positive step
towards the recognition OF these apprehen-
sions, for it is in effect an admission that
the nation is warranted in taking precau.
tions against the corruption OF its blood by
imprudent recourse to TRANSMISSION. Hith-
erto the doctrine Of Senator Hoar has been
brought forward whenever it was suggested
that we might be running grave risks by
cheapeniug American citizenship too much,
and the sentimentalists have declared that
it was somehow our mission to serve as a
Cave of Adulam to the world, and to vel.
come to our arms the disconnected and the
embarrassed of all nations. Scriptural
readers should remember that when David
had once obtained power he discarded the
devices by which he had gained adherents
during his adversely, and the parallel will
apply with force to national affairs.
We believe that the ratification OF these
treaties marks the adoption of a much
higher, more patriotic and enlightened
policy than has obtained hitherto, and we
hope that it indicates the practical aban-
donment Of the sentimental nonsense
which has played so conspicuous part in
national action on cognate subjects in the
past 1t is not necessary to demand
. America for the Americans, for ouch
| shiJboleth, in view of the composite char
acter of this nation, would be absurd.
But it is not absurd to propose that Amer
lea should be kept for those who are
willing and able to grasp and accept the
civilization which has been set up here,
and that those who are unwilling or inca.
pable should be excluded. There is no
possible danger henceforth of lack of
citizens. Ii immigration should finally
cease tomorrow the continent would be
peopled quite as rapidly as is safe or desir-
able. We do not need the Chinese in an
industrial sense, and we cannot afford to
have them here in a political sense. That
is what the treaty means, and it is well
that the Senate has at last recognized the
truth and acted upon it.