Daily Honolulu press. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1886, 1886-03-10
FOREIGN NEWS.
Senator Mitchell and the Chinese.

WASHINGTON, Feb. On the Senate,
to-day, Senator Mitchell, in speaking
of the Chinese evil, said the people of
the whole Pacific Coast were to-day
suffering from the presence of large
numbers Of an unclean, non-asslmilating
and pagan race. Impending over them
and gradully extending eastward, the
cloud of the Chinese evil imperilled la
Dor, prosperity and peace, even life also.
To eradicate the scourge heroic treat
ment would be necessary, and more
decided and aggressive governmental
step than had yet been taken would be
necessary. Means of relief could not
properly be availed of while preserving
existing treaty stipulations with the
Chinese Government, neither could we
expect within any reasonable time to
secure relief by further negotiations
with that Government. Hence it was
that the bill submitted by him proposed
that the States and the people of this
Republic, through Congress and the
Executive, or by two-thirds of the vote
of Congress without the approval of the
Executive, should remove the obstruc.
tions by first wiping out of existence all
treaties which recognize the coming oi
Chinese to the United States, and then
absolutely prescribing their coming,
except Consular and diplomatic officials.
Senator Mitchell argued at length to
show that the United States has power
to abrogate by an act of Congress a
treaty with foreign nation, and that
the magnitude of the evil to be relieved
justified the step proposed. He read
a number of newspaper articles to show
that the recent anti Chimes disturbances
in the West we're not the work of the
irresponsible or hoodlum element.
They were the voice of honest labor,
the wall of indignant toll struggling for
life in an unequal contest with servile
labor.
The Burlingame treaty, he said, was
valueless to the United States, and this
point the speaker enlarged upon in de-
tail, quoting statistics of our commerce
with China in support of his contention.
Senator Mitchell in conclusion said
This bill, unlike our restriction acts and
proposed acts, is not elastic, it is abso-
lutely iron-clad. 1t leaves nothing to
construction it is conclusive. 1t is
not open to the objection of being liable
to having its vitality sapped or its eff
cheney destroyed by departmental OF
judicial decisions. No delicate ques-
tons as to the conflict between the act
and the treaty are left open for con-
struction or determination by either
court Of department. The conflict that
is waged on the subject of the Asiatic
occupation of this country is as respon-
sive as the conflict that resulted in the
overthrow of human slavery. 1t is a
conflict for supremacy on American sod
between intelligent, enlightened and
honest American labor and the cheap
and degraded labor of the lowest order
of Mongolians a cohict between
morality and vice, order and anarchy /;
a conflict between civilization and
heathenism, Christianity and paganism;
a conflict between two opposing forces
in all essential particulars, non-assimi-
latlng and repellant when considered in
relation of one to the other, and one or
the other of which must and will ulti-
mately and necessarily be driven to the
wall. Nor does it require any peculiar
prescience to determine the result of
the contest if the United States Govern
ment stands supinely by and does moth
ing OF, what is but little more effective
for good, simply attacks the advancing
army of invaders with wooden swords
and paper bullets under the pretence of
conforming to our treaty stipulations,
and sustaining our diplomatic relations