Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-12-11
a WITNESS or THE STAND.

One of the constant arguments of the
New York and Boston press against the
restriction of Chinese immigration is that
it will injure our commercial relations
with China. That is TO say, because we
do not admit the Chinese serf, therefore
the Government of China will retaliate by
such commercial restrictions upon us as
will cut short our trade with that country.
We have already shown that sentimental
reasons seldom, if ever, enter into trade
codes. China Will buy where she can buy
to best advantage, and permit those to sell
within her domain who can sell to the best
advantage for China But if we waive the
suggestion that we cannot afford to barter
the American system of civilization and
INDEPENDENCE for trade with any country
whatever, we still can point TO the fact
that there Is no such consideration in the
Chinese mind as our Eastern contempo-
raries fear, and that in truth the Chinese
Government does not care a rush whether
We exclude laborers or not. On Wednes-
day the REcoRD-UNIoN published AN in
terview had by one of its corps with
Colonel Comstock, a gentleman of broad
experience, who has just returned from
China, and whose opportunities for OBJ
seryation and for fathoming the Chinese
policy have been of the best After
reciting his experiences as to travel in
China and the low condition of the masses.
he says:
America is not in the thought of the
people OF China. The Chinese i'll China
don't seem to be aware of the fact that such a
country as this exists. And even among the few
that do know what is going on, there is no feel
ing over the subject The Cinnamon at home
care no more about the fate of those that have
wandered from the land of their fathers than
they do about the result Of the next local cleo
ton to be held in Sac, amento ] learned alb o.
lutely nothing in China about the Wyoming
massacre except what read in the papers from
home. II all America were closed tightly against
Chinese immigration to morrow, and all the
Cinnamon now here were next month landed
IN hongklng, the event would scarcely produce
ripple upon the surface of everyday affairs in
China. Outside n small mercantile circle in
each Of the leading ports, these matters are
never discussed, and assure you the people are
positively indifferent about them.
He found the Chinese Indifferent as to
the fate of any of their own number; life
is at discount there, and there is little or
no care 10 save it when in peril, since the
rescuer of another is thereby made charge
able with the maintenance of the rescued
The Colonel, whose business brought him
into close relation with the business peo-
,.ln &c fnb5,o III
cials, informed our reporter that he had
never heard the question of retaliation
even suggested or mentioned, and that no
idea, so far as he could discover, was enter
tanned at all among the influential or any
other classes, that the exclusion of few
Chinese from the United States would
have, or ought to have, any influence what
ever upon trade. Indeed, the Colonel was
surprised that any people here should i'm
agine that such thing enters into bust
ness considerations at all, nor could he see
how it could have any influence. There
might be a. few houses engaged in fitting
out emigrants, who would, we can con-
ceive, be affected by the limiting of immi-
grafton, but it is unreasonable to suppose
that these people would at all influence the
policy of their Government. But if it be
admitted that our commercial relations
would suffer, it IS better that they should,
than that the American labor element be
degraded to the level of the Chinese wage
winner.