News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-01-17
THE CHINESE SLAVE TRADE.
Human Beings Sold Into Bondage in
CaIifOTnia-HOw the Work is Done.

A letter from San Francisco says -
Ny brother had interviewed Cinnamon of |
all classes, in Chinatown and out of it, |
only been got by persistent endeavor.
The Chinese are notoriously close
mouthed, and it will not be denied that
when their domestic affairs are pried |
into it takes no little tact to get them to |
talk. AS stated above my brother dis
covered that slavery exists among the ,
Chinese in this city, and it is not i'm
probable in other cities also. It is |
slavery of the most disgusting character,
and as systematic as it is disgusting. I |
submit that after an honest Investigation !
no one will deny this fact, although |
partisans may extenuate it. Chinese
fathers-in San Francisco as we'll as in
Canton ard Hong Kong, and presum-
ably in New York--are selling their
children into bondage for money or
other consideration by formal deed. It
is most degrading bondage. The boys
are sold to be servants, and to be treated |
worse than brutes. The fate of the girl
is still more sad.
These poor children are almost always |
seriously i'll used, always poorly clad
and fed, Systematically deprived of every |
thing like wages and condemned to a life
of the lowest degree where degradation,
insult and opprobrium are the prime
factors of their being. These slave
owners no other word will express it,
| for such they are-are supported IN their
keeping their slaves by the public opin-
| ion, not only of their own class, but of
the most respectable of the Chinese. A
prominent chinese resident told my
brother that tine practieeis in accordance
with a law of China which the race are
accustomed to regard with respect. This
man undertook to eXtenuate the matter
by saying that it is practice that is in
dispensable to society, and is useful as
checking the crying evil of infanticide.
In regard to the enslavement of girls,
this Solomon said two-thirds of the Chi
nese people are believers in if not prac-
ticers of the infanticide of girls, and that
if they have the prospect OF selling them
crime of infant murder. Such an excuse
is quite as plausible as some of those
that used to be stereotyped by the Afri.
can Shareholders.
AS may be supposed, the subjects of
this bondage are decidedly opposed to
it. If their objections become too firm
and their appeals too affecting they are
quieted, and the conscience of the parent
is scared by the argument tina: the abuse
is "adoption" and not slavery. This
method of mental twisting is usually ef
fectual, and all qualms are easily got
over. Mr.. Bailey, the American Consul
General at Hong Kong, compiled few
years ago an able summary of the slave
laws of the Chinese Empire. A copy of
this public work is in our city library,
and presume can be found in any east
ern city. In these laws, which are as
fixed and horrible as those that formerly
existed in the South, rest the custom of
this city. Behind these laws is the
power of opinion, the opinion of the
people of the entire Chinese Empire an
opinion of character far weightier
than mere written law. The Chinese
gentleman above referred to said to my
brother:-"3 ow can it be wrong when a
father sells his child Is not a fathers
will the highest of laws ? Is it not di-
vine?"
He affirmed that the f)atriG pOtestaS
is absolute and that is the common
opinion. In time past, if not at the
present time, the slave trader is Hong
Kong citizen. Because that such slavery
exists in that colony constitutes a reason
next in value to public opinion as to
why it can exist here. If Chief Justice
Small, of Hong Kong, winks at the
practice, they argue that San Francisco
aw will not be less lenient. The Chief
Justice and the Governor of Hong Kong
denounce the traffic, but the British
Colonial office lets the matter alone, and
the powers that be" across the Pacific
can really do nothing. Although the
evil has not assumed such formidable
proportions here, it manifestly fiourishes
in the light of the Hong Kong example.
There and in other Chinese cities the
practice is an open secret.
Here it is practically unknown. People
think the opium joints bad enough, but
this worse thing is to make vastly more
trouble. A boy of eight, ten or twelve
years can be bought for $50 or $50, and
girls at price little lower. The former
are sold by shrewd dealers at a profit,
averaging about so per capita. Girls
: are more profitable, being in greater de,
mand, dealers preferring to 'handle
them rather than boys. Schemes that
! fill the pocket are those that are the
! most divine and best supported by law
and opinion. The sales are not always
direct. A Chinese father wanting tC
purchase a laundry or grocery can fre
quentiy use a child instead of the cash
A healthy boy or a comely girl is con
r sidered equivalent to money in man!
7 such transactions.