, 1882-07-28
The BoyaOtting Leaguers.

. .
$. F,,hrouir,rl
Whatever motive miy have originated
II, II We ,Ip not mistake its present quail
MY. the Su-culled League Of Deliver
uucc' has dcgcneratcd INTO one of those
things which all honest people should
combine to rid the city of 1t. The pre-
tense Of It's leaders is tuat they are earn
cstly working to protect white labor from
degrading competition with the products
Of cheap Chinese labor. This is well
enough So long as they work by lawful
and decent methods. The sure way to
accomplish the object would be for the
LCagurrs to enlist as many as they can
in an agreement not to- purchase any
goods or wares of Chinese production,
and To stick tothls agreement themselves,
But this Is not their method. The course
they are taking is one that has q strong
flavor of blackmail and unlawful intimi-
dati0n. They assess merchants, for in
stance, so much a month and exact from
them, i'll addition to the assessment, a
pledge not to sell anything Of Chinese
production. Who pockets this money!
There are many hundreds OF merchants
in this city who might be so assessed and
taxed; in fact. many who do sell or ped.
die Chinese productions, some of them
being taxed and belonging to the League.
This was clearly explained by the re.
marks of one of the LeaguerS at the Hop
klns' Hall meeting of the League Branch
No. 7-on Wednesday night He sold
potatoes branded Hong Wo," but, as he
explained, the Leaguers were among his
wiling purchasers. Is the man who sells
the Contraband article more culpable,
more III the line of encouraging Chinese
competition than the man who buys?
Certainly not. In this case the buyers
were the Beaguers themselves, some Of
whom have recently introduced the boy
cOtting method against the merchants for
doing lnst the same thing buying where
they could buy cheapest. We denounce
all such Inconsistencies as outrageous,
intolerablc, and the boycotteTs who levy
the assessments, and yet themselves vio-
late the pledges they exact, aS not whit
better than blackmailers: and we insist
| that they give an account of the moneys
so collected, and that the police shall see
| to it that any such boycotters in the fu-
| ture be instantly arrested and suppressed.
Here is the form and substance of the
certificates this impudent League of
Dcliverance" is in the habit of using to
intimidate merchants and make them
pay assessments:
The Pacific Coast League OF Deliver
ance hereby grants this certificate to ---,
and recommends him as dealing in white
labor goods only The certificate is to
retained by him so long as he pays the
monthly assessment of One-haf dol
lar and conforms to the requirements Of
the League of Deliverance.
(Signed-) - Chairman.
- Secretary"
Now what business has this new-fan-
gled corporation to go about the city
carrying this sort OF mOney-getting in
timidation among the retail merchants?
Is that decent way to collect four bits
a month from retail merchant? Who
gets the money? Who accounts for the
collections. We are told that the
Leaguers are entering peoples private
houses and warning them against extend
ing patronage in any way to any one who
sells Chinese products. We advise all
people SO insulted to peremptorily turn
the intruders out of doors, and if they
add kick it will not be amiss. The Chi
nese who are here are here by the invita-
tion and permission of the government.
They have lawful right to work and
sell what they produce, and no illegal
means can be adopted to impair this
ri ght.