Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-01-09
.HE LATEST cEINEsE EXCLUSION ACT
DECISION.


the Exclusion Act Chinese laborers may be
permitted to pass through the country,
though quite consistent with the view
taken heretofore by the Chinese Govern
ment, certainly appears to involve very
Naturalization construction of the law it
self. When the latter was first enacted it
was objected to it that it would net allow
Chinese IN transitu from one country to
another to pass through the United States,
and the Chinese Minister at Washington
then called the attention of the State De-
partment to the fact that there were sev-
eral Thousands of his countrymen in the
West India Islands whose time would soon
expire, and that the natural and most con-
venient homeward route for them was
through the United States to San Fran
cisco, and thence by steamer to China. 1t
was intimated that since no danger could
accrue from the mere passage of these chi.
nese across the continent, law which re-
fused such transit to them was open to the
charge of being deliberately unfriendly to
China. At that time it was generally held
that the law did prohibit the passage of
Chinese through the country, and it has
been left for the Attorney General to dis.
cover that the Act is far more elastic than
it was supposed to be.
1t is contended, as a ground for refusing
mere passage through the country to the
Chinese, that if they once landed in New
York it would be impossible to prevent
them from stay ing, either there or at some
point along the route, or at San Francisco.
Whether this is really valid objection is
question to be determined. 1t should
not be impossible to devise measures for
preventing such passengers from changing
their intention after arriving in the coun-
try. It is not probable that they would
care to take the chances of getting off the
cars between New York and San Francisco,
being in ignorance of the country and it
certainly would not be impracticable to see
that they went from the cars to the wharf
after arriving at the end of their land
journey. As to the dangers apprehended
from this loophole in the law, we are dis
posed to think them very much exagger-
ated. In the first place the law as a whole
really does not offer any insuperable bar
rier to Chinese immigration. Il is like
putting gate in the middle of long
wall which has no connections at either
end. The gate may be locked, but it is
always possible to walk round either end
of the wall. We can keep the Chinese out
at San Francisco, but they can get in
easily enough either through Mexico or
British Columbia, and we have no doubt
that many have already entered the State
both from the north and the south.
But for all this the short experience we
have already had of the bill justifes the
conclusion that it will stem the main
stream of Chinese immigration, and that
nothing is to be feared from the driblets
which will find their way in surrepti.
tiously. AS to whether all the good re.
suits anticipated from the bill are to be
secured, time alone can determine. Thus
far it has had scarcely any other effect
than to make times better for the Chinese
who are domiciled here. That is to say,
it has raised the price of their labor to
some extent, and has made them much
more confident than they were before. As
regards the effect upon the white popula-
ton, none is observable beyond the in.
creased annoyance springing from the nat
ural growth of Chinese independence and
arrogance. Before the passage of the bill
we had guarantee against this in the
sharp competition among the Chinese
themselves. We have destroyed that COM
petition, and so erected the Chinese who are
here into sort of privileged class. We
have made things so comfortable for them
that they are sure to stay with us, and as
there are quite enough Of them to monopo.
lie all the occupations they set their
hands to, it is rather hard to perceive in
what way white labor has been benefited
by the bill.
Since IT'D passage indeed there has been
almost a reaction in some parts of the
community in regard to the question. A
great many of our farmers and fruit growers
roundly declare that they cannot get on at
all without Chinese labor. Some of the
fruit.growers positively assert that they
would have to abandon their business if
they were made dependent on white labor.
As the case stands they are not yet
subjected to that deprivation, and in fact
no change of any real Importance has fol.
lowed the passage of the bill. 1t has been
assumed that in the course of few years
the resident Chinese population must begin
to decline, as individuals make little
money and go home. But it seems posi-.
BILE that this expectation may be counter
balanced by the contraband importation of
Chinese, so that the numbers here are
likely to remain tolerably constant for
some time to come. OF course it is to be
presumed that if the Government permits
Chinese laborers to pass through the coun-
try, in accordance with Attorney. General
Brewster's construction of the law, pre-
cautions will be taken to prevent them
from settling anywhere en- route. With
the adoption of such precautions we do not
see that there need be any alarm as to the
result of Mr.. Brewsters liberal interpreta-
ton of the law, though no doubt it will
furnish all the Chinophobiacs in the country
with text for the next few weeks.
CRUEL AND BARBARoUs ADJUSTMENTS.
1t is no secret that pit has been set up
in this city for the purpose of dog and