Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1882-05-13

|RDAY, MAY 13,
'e rested. Party resolutions and co,
ID gressional legislation have demon
l. strnted who our enemies are. w
know fiom what source the oppos
tion c,mes. All the senators, saw
II one. from six New England states al
against us. Tho merchants aud mon
o eyed men of New York are agains
IL us. Ihe eastern clergy are for th
( most part against lis. Every railros
nii'lona're III the east is against ut
J. Every republican in the senate of tn
United States who represents corpo,
u ate wealth is i'll opposition TO u.
u Under this continuing opposition
II and i'll the absence OF restrictive legis
latloh, the city of San francisco
!, going to the dogs. Property value
decline. aud business interests are be
G ing destroyed. Governor SiandfoS,
: told the writer of this article five wear
!. ago that In ten years from that da,
we would sec network of railway
+, centering at San Francisco, and bring
Ing here the wealth aud business q
the east; that we should see steam
lines pouring out upon our shores
great and profitable commerce; an.
That i'll that time San Francisco woul,
, have one million of inhabltants. H Il
the time has passed. The railroads
have been built, the steam lines ar,
established, and San Francisco ha,
fewer white Inhabitants than on the
day OF the prophecy. The steam lines
erihg their Asiatic slaves all kinds OF
business languish; the death rattle il
i'll our throat.
When the president, in defiance OF
every honorable obligation, vetoed
the Chlnese measure, and the veto
was sustained in the senate by the
votes of republican leaders, the alter.
native of submission to ruin or re-
sistahce TO law seemed to have been
offered us. The very suggestion OF
this alternative was y startling one.
On the one hand was revelt against
the law, with the almost certain re-.
suit of its enforcement by military
authority OIL the other hand, the sure
destruction Of all our interests ky
the invasion that was overwhelming
US. Ours Is a sovereign state, and
under its municipal laws, its laws of
health and police, we have the right
to determine what is best for the
protection, safety, and welfare of our
people. This question of Chinese
immigration presents a new problem
to our country. We are a family of
states. each sovereign within It's iur-
isdlctlon. The general government
is clothed with certain powers state
governments have certain other DOW.
ers. Congress controls commerce.
The courts of the federal government
have decided that passenger immigra-
ton comes within the definition of
| commerce" aud we find our CITY in
this condition: Our port ls the gate
OF Aslaiic Immigration; four hundred
| millions of people confront us. They
have Invaded US already to an embar-
RAISING extent. They threaten us with
an alarming increase. Those citizens
OF states three thousand miles away
do not fear this invasion, because
they are ignorant of it. Some fear
c"mmercial results; some desire to
save Asiatic souls; some are merely
sentlmentalists; some are interested
Ill cheap labor many are Indifferent.
and we feared ii would be impossible
to impress sense of our danger upon
the eastern mind sufficiently 10 secure
practic Legislation. We alone nm
dcrstand this question. We are loyal
and would SO continue. But have We
Il right to allow this coast to be over
run with am invasion that will des.
troy the country? We do not desire
TO get ourselves cnlangled in a dis.
cussioh of state rights but if it had
become necessary tor us to arrest the
continuing invasion Of Chinese by
1orcibie resistance to existing laws
we would have been compelled to
make the effort, and would have
placed our Justification upon the
higher law of necessity and self-de.
tense. Ii one is driven to the wall,
ana his life is i'll danger. he may take |
the life of his assailant. If we are
driven to the wall. and our lives and
property are in danger, we may re-
slst the invader, and by violence
drive him back from our shores. Our
defense i'll the higher court of con.
science, When we Game to plead
against the accusation of the law,
would have been this, aud the worlds
tribunal would have rendered a ver-
aict OF Justification. 1t would not
have been the first time in history
that the oppressed had been com
PEELED to resist. There is no act in
the history of the worlds civilization
where rightful aud honorable resist
ance to wrong can be justified upon
higher grounds than would have
been without precedents. An order
d council Was passed in England in
1913. authorizing the secretary of
state to send convicts to such colonies
IS he might think proper. Earl Grey,
hen Colonial Secretary, dispatched
he ship Neptune to the Cape Town
colony, III South Africa, with. two
lundred and eighty-hine convicts.
heh the news reached Cape Town !
nat this vessel was on her way, the {
people of the colony became violently
'xrited. Goaded to fury by the in- !
'nmatory articles in the local news. &
'irs, aud guided by few leading {
piiits, they cstabl ished what was
alIeh the "Anti Convict Associa.
ION, by which they bound them {
"'V"S by pledge to cease from all +,
:''"t curse OF every kind with per.
ons IN any Way connected with the l
iahulhS. supplying or employing of !
onvicts." On the 18th OF September.
o49, the Neptune arrived in Simons t
ny. When the Intelligence reached |
ape Iown, the people assembled en- /
ldSse, and determined that the shin v
houid not land. Their behavior. p
ays the government historian. WINS Ii
ioient and outrageous in the ex.
.eme. The governor, unlcr prcssur. "
popular agitation, agreed not 10 &
u the convicts land, but to keep Il
ZEN on board ship in Simons bay tiiI Il
e received orders to send them else h
there. They did not land. The Il
Ass OF the populations, continuing c'
ne aglln'ltn, did all in their bower p
prevent the cOnvicts and the ot. .
:ers of the government from obtain.
9 supplies. When the home yov.
became aware nt the state
affairs, il immediately sent order,
recli"g the Neptune To proceed
lth lis comvicts 10 Van Dien,uu's
and. The agitation continued until tn
Irec government was obtained for dc
q COLONY. The cn,,.s.;, ,,, in