Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-06-02

WV II II menu NubSt EStlucllHIS u
her envoy have been of the same
tenor.
Snch are the results abroad of our
interference IL Chinese affairs, AMI
of our diplomatic relations with
CHINA. But it is only when we con
sldcr their outcome on our own soil
that we can fully reco4niz1 THEN
utter folly, the mischief already
wrought by our colossal blunler>
and the further mischief that bid
fair to come.
When Bri ish cannon first opened
Chinese ppr'S, California Was known
10 us m;iinly aI II land frui-lui in
products and wiuspme in climate:
Il broad terri Dry, coveted 10y Great
britain and ly our own country, and
heil with an unsteady hand by Nick
Ico. Ton Years lacr it belonged I,
lhe United States. and its gold
mines made it the FL Dorado of the
restless of all nations. With tn.
others came the Chinese. As indi-
vidua,s they came and returned to
their OWN country, a constant ebl
and flow. As a people they came t.
stay. Their number has constantly
increased i'll spite Of all obstacles
until in commerce and indns;iics
Their Influence Is dominant through
all the Pacific coast, aud their adj
vance scouts bave extended to the
Atlantic seaboard. 1t is in Caiifor.
mia, however, that the problem
Snrlneing from their presence have
most forribiy arisen, and it is from
California that facts conclusive in
The solution Of these problems must
he derived.
California has population, Chi
nesc included, of about seven hun
dred and fifty thousand, or some
what less than four individuals to
the square mile. The land, It the
date of It's annexation, WAS held in
large grants, some from the Mexican,
others primarily from the Spanish
Government, and all, SO far us they
were Iona fde, protected by the
treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo. AL
though these lands have in u meas
IRE passed to new owners, they have
seldom been divided into smaller
holdings, and are now possessed by Il
comparatively small percentage of
The entire population of the State
The influx of Chinese labor almost
simultaneous with the new settle
ment of the county, provided a
means 10y which tGese lands could
be worked at little cost, and Obviated
;he necessity, which otherwise would
have existed, of dividing the i'm
mtnSe ranches into farms. Chinese
migration, therefore, buttressed
the almost fcudal control of the land
In their turn the great land owners
lent the power of their wealth, their
political influence, and their own
power was maintained. From this
it has followed that the social econ
omy of California agriculture has
throu shout been different from that
of any other country professedly
governed by Republican institutions
or assuming to be controlled by Re-
publican traditions.
The great crops which form the
staple productions of the soil are
such as require no tillage between
seed-tim ana harvest, which thus
become the only active seasons of
the year. East of the Sierras the
conditions of farming are such that
there is opportunity for continuous
labor from early Spring to later
Autumn, and even in some degree
throughout the Winter months;
and the farm laborer has opportunity
for constant occupation. Forming,
rs he does, part of II homogeneous
community he has. if a man of fami-
ly, fixed abode, however rude, and
has within his reach many at least of
the ordinary comforts of life. If
single, he commonly resides in the
family of his en- ployer. Under such
the existence of the
farm hand is rendered tolerable,
neither undignified nor unworthy;
and there is nothing in his condition
which need impair his self respect
or deny to his industry or skill their
legitimate reward OF pecuniary or
social success. But nothing of this
exists in California farming. The
Mborer is hired during few weeks
of the heavy Spring work and of the
harvest. be receives his wages and
his rations, and is expected to lodge
Wrapped in his blanket,
he sleeps in an clubhouse or Oh the
tire shed straw under the rainless
sky. When the season of driving
work is over he goes away, whittier
no one knows and no one cares.
Thus periods of long idleness inter-
vene between seasons of severe la
Dor. Such a system is possible only
in u country composed of estates of
immense proportions, titled by labor
Of the cheapest aud most servile
kind.
The discovery of gold. the reported
fertility of the soil. and the beauty
Of the climate led at the outset to
large immigration from the Eastern
States; to the organization of a
based on their politi-
cal traditions and social usages.
These traditions and usases were and
sill are directly counter to those
which, in all ages, have resulted from
the control OF the land by the few,
and to those represented by the |
cheap labor of the Chinese. The |!
civilization represented by the masses
If the white settlers on the Pacific |
coast had, as an inherent necessity, |
| remuneration of labor adequate to |
Inc comfortable maintenance of fam
lies, their education, their refine |
nent in manners, mind and morals;
which can only obtain where the
being is sustained by suf. |