Daily Yellowstone journal., 1886-02-04
Thursday, February 4, 1886.
THE UBIQUITOUS cHINAMAN.


The cry "The Chinese must go" has
recently broken out from an unex-
pected quarter-from the lower deck of
Q British Inan-of-war. A "private,"
Royal Marines, has written letter to
the London Times from Hong Kong
stating that 1.-THE men-of-war on this
station, from the flagship to the small
8tgunboat are overrun with Chinese"
On the Victor Emanuel, which is the
receiving ship at Hong Kong and flies
the commodore's pennant, there are
no less than ninety-seven Cinnamon.
OF twenty boats belonging to the ves-
eel only two are armed by Europeans.
"Even the commodore" writes the
private, has crew of Cinnamon for
bis galley, with Chinese first class
petty officer as coxswain. Ye shades
Of Nelson? o Temporal! o Mores. 1t
is bad enough to have Cinnamon at all
on board msn-of-war; il is worse to
employ them in working a man-of-
war; but il would make Nelson turn
uneasily in his grave If he knew that
British blue jackets and marines had
three or four Chinese first class petty
officers over them"
In America, among those who have
seen the Chinese in the cities of the
Pacific coast, the coo!ie-ridden private
will be better sympathised with than
he will i'm London or by the British
lords of the admiralty. These same
lords, it appears, have hitherto been
lat least officially ignorant of what
vas going on. The officers like to
have the celestials there. They make
good and economical body servants
add an officer is never obliged to sit at
mess with a Chinaman or share
bunk in hospital with one, nor has he
continually to rub against them on
the quarterback. So the officers have
kept the condition of affairs secret
from the authorities at home. In the
quarterly returns, the private ex-
plains, the diet of the Cinnamon Is
marked the same rs that of Europeans,
though they really have Chinese
nations from which, no doubt, the
purser makes very handsome profit
serv, d out to them instead. Then
their names are anglicised and All
Wing aud Wun Lung appear On the
rolls as A. Wing and w. Lung sim
ply-harmless looking names enough.
After this cutlery, however, their
lorships of the admiralty can hardly
affect any longer to be ignorant of
how her Majesty's squadron in
Chinese water Is manned. No small
clamor has already arisen i'm London
ever the scandal, and it will show con-
siderable capacity for long suffering
on the part of the British public IL
the next boats from Hong Hong to
London do not carry with them q
rich freight Of official heads. 1t is
rot merely "a question Of inconven-
lance to privates in the royal marines.
1t affects the supremacy of England
e sea more nearly. During the late
Russion scare" says the correspondent
Of the Times, I'VE had to draw men
from every ship in the fleet to man
the reserve ships. Now IL we had
bad In place of the ninety-seven Chi
hA hnx. Of Al
Victor Emanuel, as many Europeans,
ne need not have undetermined the
other ships" Great Britain not only
spends too much money on her navy
hnt Is too dependent upon it for the
aaintenance Of her empire, to be able
70 afford such a pernicious scandal as
his to continue.
Mean while there is a certain grim
hnmor in the idea that England, who
u SO overcrowded with population
that every year thousands of her
strongest men have to leave her simply
0r lack of space and lack of work,
end where there are always men and
boys enough and more than enough
cot only willing, but longing, to be
admitted to serve Ia her feetsyshould
oasry nearly one hundred cheap
labor Cinnamon ON one man-of-war
dome. The defense set up by the EN-.
ployers of Chinese hands In the COM
parstively thinly populated western
dates aud territories IL lame and un.
satisfactory enough; but Of such an
sbuse rs this there can be no defense
whatever. IL 10 as the Private says
almost enough TO make Nelson turn
In his grave to think Britannia ruI-
iAg the wave by Coolie labor, and her
'3olly tar" manning the guns with
dg-tsils twisted round their yellow
sAlps.-Minneapolis Tribune.