, 1882-04-01
The Chinese Bill Passes the House.

Of allowing Chinese labor and Chinese civil
intion to have unrestricted sway. 0ppc-
nents Of the measure pointed to the fact
that there were 100, 600 Cinnamon on the
Pacific cuAst, but he pointed to the other
fact that all dangers had small beginnings,
and hs claimed that the continuance Of
this immigration would bring abont the
greatest OF all dangers-dcgrsdation OF
labor. He eon.ended there Was no ana
logy between immigration from Europe
and that from China, and charged that
the attempts Of gentlemen 10 show the
Contrary were misleading and consistent.
1t was the par, Of wisdom no, to de!rade
labur, but to briug labor sui capital IN
! accord.
George, Of Oregon, favored the bill on
the broad assumption and sound PROPOSE
ton that In this great nation, founded on
the idea of self-government and depend
snt for success on the virtue and inteili-
gence of each and every citizen, there WAS
! no recognized principle tha, the ignorant,
savaae, barbarous, brutal, servile, dan
gsrous or refused element of any foreign
nation was entitled to the right to enter
our body polite and become part and par
col of our government. This being SO, 1t
became pertinent and important ques-
! ton whether the Chinese element was
safe and proper one for indiscriminate
admission. Pure, genuine immigration
was never eastward always westward.
The people who had made America what
abe il to-day, had all come from the east,
and none from fossilized Asia The i'm
portation Of Chinese possessed none Of
the characteristics which should be
possessed by citizens of the United States
They would not be citizens of the United
States They would not assimilate with
the people of this country. They did not
come to seek homes, and SO firm was
their adherence TO their pagan gods and
to their country, that when their needs
were satisfied, they invariably returned,
if they lived, or if dead their bones We're
sent to the old country by the six COM
panies. If Chinese immigration We're
allowed to be UNRESTRICTED, one of two re-
sults would follow Cinnamon must
either be held in slavery or must become
part of our body polite. Which could 1t
be, serf or citizenl The vest WIS only
asking for what the east hal had for
years, protection of American labor.
Before Mopgolian cheap labor free
American labor must re,ue OF stdrye. Re
meribering the past and locking 70 the
future, he announced his firm conviction
that there was al irrepressible conf CT,
which would continue until one system
OF the other prevailed Pagauism with
cheap labor, or civilization with free labor,
which should it bel Mongolian or Amer
lean that was the question for congress
to decide.
McLane, when the bill, which he re-
garded as full of merit and protection
defending 5000, 900 workingmen in this
country, was denounced as iniquitous and
as q yiolution of the treaty and Of its
/ stipu'stions, he felt called upon to vindi-
cate the vote which he intended to cast IN
support Of the measure. 1t was not
necessary for him to reply to the general
assumption that men of Africa, of China
| and Of Europe were free to come to this
country with the permission of Ou' peo-
ple. No intercourse had ever been held
With China by either Americans or Eng
lishmen, except under the thunder of
English cannon, and he was amazed when
he heard gentlemen talking about free IN
tercourse with Cbpa. Never was an
American citizen allowed ia go into China
at all unless under the same protec-
ton. This had confined until the Bur
lingame treaty had been entered into
McLane related some interesting Incl
dents relative to the introduction of the
bible into China, and characteristic Of the
people of that country, and he WIS lis
tened to attentively by other members,
who assembled in the sp-ce IN front Of
the sneakers desk and maintained uni
yer.al silence. In 1853 McLane was ap-
poin,ed Commissioner to China with
powers of minister p!enipotentiary, and
the fact that he Was speaking from per-
sonal e1perienc, lent additional interest
10 his remarks. Coming down t. the
confederation of the bill he argued that 1t
WAS not IN violation of the treaty, and III
sistsd that Congress was the only tribu-
nal which had power to declare the mean-
inc Of the term reasonable suspension.
Page then took the floor to close the de-
bate. He trusted the bill would pass
vithout amendment. The gentleman
from Ioya (Kasson) came here, and under
cloak of an amendment he Page saw the
dagger of An assassin, which would stab
the bill 10 death. He believed that there
was . persistent determination on the
part of tho.e who opposed, to fcrce an
amendment Page closed the debate
with brief and vigorous defense Of the
bill and an earnest appeal for its passage
The amendment reducing the term OF
suspension to 10 years relected-99 to 81:
The amendment reducing the term o.
suspension to 10 years rejected, 81 to 100
The Butterxorth amendment, limiting
suspension to Is years, lost A large
number of amendments Were then voted
upon, but all were lost.
The bill passed Yeas, l61; nays, 10
WHY can the British farmer pay AZ an
nu.l rental for land that is less fertile
thsn the average American farms, equal
10 the fee simple for land in this country.
is often asked The answer Is because the
English government does no. legis!ate IN