Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-08-22
Chinese Prohibition q Failure.

1t was emphatically asserted in .
prominent newspaper several days 2
that the anti Chinese law passed by
Congress had effectually stopped the
influx of Mongols into the United States,
and that the Orientals were going homo
as fast as they could. This important
statement is fatty contradicted by Mr..
Dwight S. Dow. of No. 25 Stuyvesant
street, who recently travelled through,
the districts affected by the evils OF
Chinese immi gration.
"This Statement" said Mr.. Dow to .
Herald reporter yesterday, sis abso-
lutcly false. The Chinese population OF
the United States is increasing rapidly,
even at present despite the law against
the immigration of Mongolians. They
are not going back at all, except in the
individual instances where Chinese be-
conc rich enough to 90 back and enjoy
the %luxuries that their native tastes
crave for. Twas in Puget Sound two
weeks ago Several days before a YES
sci had arrived at Victoria. British Col
umbia, with four thousand Cinnamon
on board. The local authorities re-
fused to allow them to be landed, but
the Cinnamon insisted on coming ashore.
Then the local authorities APP
pcaled to the General Govern
ment to stop them and compel
the owners of the steamship to take the
detested Immigrants elsewhere. The
Government replied that it was the duty
Of the local officials to have given notice
of their objections in China before the
vessel sailed for British Columbia. The
result was that the four thousand China
men landed. 1 was informed that they
made their way over the borders into
the United States in two or three days.
Some wentinto California and some into
Oregon. l lived in Sacramento, Cal,
ten years ago, and l passeda portion of
last winter there. There are ten China
men in that city to n formerly. 1t is
the merest nonsense to say that Chinese
immigration to this country has ceased.
The fact is that it has increased in
greater proportion since the passage of
the Anti Chinese bill than it did before.
These foreigners have literally ruined
the Pacific Coast as a place of residence
for white men. They have taken pos
session of an entire street in Portland,
Ore. I can take you for a half hour
walk through a section of that city and
in that time you will meet none but
Cinnamon. On the sidewalks the smell
of opium is constant. If you think the
Chinese intend to go back to China you
ought to go to Portland and use your
eyes and ears. The biggest buildings
in course of construction there are for
them. They take out twenty year leases
for the property, paying rents which
amount to ten per cent. upon the orig :
inal cost of the buildings. No one would
erect a house for q Chinaman upon any
other terms.
lit is easy to understand the
evils Of Chinese immigration by
observation in that part of the
country. The Chinese are like the
millers in q beehive; they consume but
do not produce. They hoard away all
the money they get and never let a cent
of it 90 back to Americans for any pur-
pose if they can help it. They won't
eve eat our rice, but insist on import
ing rice from China, so.strong are their
prejudices against the soil"
.But how do the Chinese manage to
steal over the borders from British
Columbian"
who is to stop them? We have an
enormous frontier, and they are able to
laugh our law to scorn until we take
strong measures to enforce it. The
people of the East do not seem to appre-
ciate the great danger that is hanging
over the country in this question.
China has a population Of nearly four
hundred millions. These people are
looking for a land in which to subsist.
Europe is overcrowded, and they natur-
ally turn their eyes to America. If
China should %concludeto send q hundred
million Of her people to us there is not
room enough, even in our great back
yard, to accommodate them. If the
Chinese come in bulk we are gone, Just
as surely as the red men of America
were gone when they permitted the pale
faces to land"
'But strictly enforced laws will
check these evils, will they not?"
"There is one evil that cannot be
checked by law if the Chinese get here
by the million. and chat is labor compe-
tition. Our people cannot compete with
them at all. Their standard of expense
for personal support is too low for
the most economical American. Then
the women they bring here are frightful
evils. They are in nearly every case
bound as slaves for about ten years to
Chinese gamblers, and are used to make
money in a way that cannot be de-
scribed. These poor wretches are COM
PEELED to serve out their terms of bond
age by Chinese organizations which
usurp the functions of our courts. They
cannot speak a word of English, and,
being Of the most ignorant class, they
know nothing of their legal rights in
the United States. When they have
almost finished their terms their mas
ters generally hire a man to entice them
away. For this offence they are fined
an enormous sum, and are sentenced to
earn the fine by serving another term
OF slavery almost as long as the first one.
ga missionary lady who. returned
from China a short time ago told me
that she believed China would vet get
possession of this country by simply
stocking it with a Monaghan popula-
ton. From my own observation 1 be-
lieve that there is some truth in this.
Wherever they go in the West these
people get control of whatever they
want. They can nav hipher rents he,