The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1882-04-12
Veto of the Bill to Prohibit the I'm.
portation of Chinese Laborers.

the guIse Of immigration that it was
'too much like importation to welcome
it without restraint, too much ike IN
vasion to be looked upon without solici-
tation." The Democrats in their plat
form were rather more pointed. They
said no more Chinese immigration
except for travel, education and com
merce." Gen. Hancock accepted the
platform without dotting ana or crossing
t.. and Mr. English in his letter of &C
ceptance said: "The toiling millions of
our country should be protected from
the destructive competition of the Chi
nese, and to that end their importation
to our shores ought to be restricted. "
These expressions voiced the general
sentiment Of the country. He Is bold
man therefore, who acts in defiance of
it, as Mr. Arthur has done.
1t will be seen that he does not base
his action upon the utterly absurd end
far-fetched idea that to prevent Chinese
importation will Initiate q race proscrip-
ton which might ultimately lead to a
movement against the people Of Afrl-
can descent. He is TOO practical and SEN
sible for that. He knows that the cases
are totally dissimilar that the African
has been in the country for two hun
dred and fifty years, that by the organ
ic laws Of the States United, and Of the
States separately, he is invested with all
the privileges of the most favored citl-
zens, and that there are not hidden
forces enough in the heavens above, nor
in the earth below, nor in the waters
beneath the earth, to produce reyolu-
ton that could disturb the negros
status. But he assigns a different rea-
son altogether He objects to the bill
mainly on the ground that it is in vio-
lation Of a treaty with China. The OBJ
lection is insufficient. The treaty stipu-
lates that the importation Of Chinese
Iabprers may be suspended for "a rea-
sonable length of time" What is ''rea-
sonable?" The United States is to be
the Judge, and this is to be determined
by the necessities Of the case. And this
involves the inquiry what sort of
people are these imported Chinese?
What are they brought here for? How
brought? What evils will attend their
importation to the toiling millions of
our country? What dangers to our
civilization And after all may it not
be that the treaty-making power tran
scecended its authority in making such
stipulation Has it right to divest
Congress of its authority to regulate
commerce in which is included the right
to regulate immigration?
As Chinese importation is a question
of great Importance, destined to COM
mand large share of public attention
before it is settled, we will submit the
strong reasons assigned by Gen. Rose
crantz, one of the Representatives from
California, why the bill restricting such
immigration ought to become law:
To the eye of the statesman, therefore,
the admission of Chinese immigration to
the United States, at least to the Pacific
coast requires Us to decide which ciyiliza-
ton we will prefer. Will we choose our own
or the hoary and compact materialistic civ
ilization of China? Mixture is impossible;
assimilation impossible. Thirty years ex-
perience in California and on the Pacific
coast has demonstrated this practical i'm
possibility. You have heard this often as
serted on this floor in debate, and detailed
reasons for it. With us it is no longer an
experiment. The united voices of the peO-
pie of the States of California, Oregon, Ne |
vada, Colorado, and of the adjacent Terri /
tories of Arizona, Washington, Montana, |
and Idaho solemly declare it. They are
willing that those here should be allowed /
to earn their living by working for such |
employers and for such wages as they can +
obtain, and live as economically as they /
please, subject to needful sanitary regula-
tiOns.
We admit that their labor, hitherto, has
often been convenient, useful and in some
sense profitable, by leaving balance over
cost in the hands of employers and has in i
some measure elevated white labor by un-
dertaking its inferior and less inviting
grades.
And notwithstanding all this that
Because they send away to China, never
to be returned, by far the largest part of
that balance of profit which white laborers
would retain among us;
Because practically they are, and always
will remain, Chinese subjects, alien to our
laws, customs municipal life,
modes of administering justice and of OBJ
tanning evidence in courts of law;
Because they practically set up their own
government within and unknown to our
laws;
Because, unlike immigrants from Euro
pean countries, they are not permitted, but
are forbidden under the most terrible pen
alties, by their government, from renouncing
their allegiance to their own ruler, and
by their ancestor-worship to
send home to China the very bones of those
dying abroad;
Because, even were it otherwise, general
ignorance of our language, unconquerable
hereditary habits, customs, and modes of
I10u4nI anu Oh lie, NOuIu IedbS them
and indefinitely Asiatic;
Because they are introducing among us
some fearful diseases and degrading vices
Because they furnish fearfully large per-
,entage of criminals, and impose on US ex- {
,essiYe difficulties and expenses in the de-
lection and punishment of crime among
Them;
Because it is practically impossible to {
prevent the criminal, diseased, and pauper !,
.lasses of Chinese from being poured in
lpon US, if any of the lower classes are
admitted;
Because their presence here excludes
much more desirable population from filling
,ur country with our own people and i'm /
migrants of our own race having all the j
general habits, customs, and ideas of liberty,
aw, and government appertaining to our
civilization Il
Because the Chinese already here form
put the vanguard of an industrial army of
Asiatie laborers, impelled by an irresistible {
impulse to better their condition, which,
lnIess prevented, will oyerrun our country
md degrade our civilization.
N n D.....,,... .l.z...,.. - Al