Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1888-10-12
The Cleveland Law.


Thanks to Grover Cleveland, the Pa
citic Coast is saved to American civil
ization. The insidious process by
which it was gradually being converted
into Chinese colony was checked by
the Restriction acts of 1882 and 1884,
but it was left for the Scott Cleveland
act to end it-that is, if the enforce
ment of the new law shall be entrusted
to its friends.
/ Never before has an anti-C Chinese bill
been enacted by Eastern men, without
the initiative of the California delega-
ton. Never before has one approach
/ ing the present one in perfection been
seriously offered by anybody, Califor-
MAN or otherwise. The history of the
Scott bill shows that we have cham
pions in the East at least as devoted
and as we'll informed as any Of our
own. AS long as we have Cleveland in
the Presidency, We are as safe as if the
capital were at San Francisco.
Fortunately there is no need to waste
time explaining the merits of the Scott
bill. Nobody disputes them. The Re-
publican State Central Committee and
the Republican organs have tried to
adopt the bill as their own-perhaps
the most audacious case of attempted
kidnapping on record. Under the new
law red certificates, white tags, straw
bondsmen, professional witnesses and
all grimy machinery of Chinese impo-
sition will be consigned to the waste
heap. The stream Of justice in the
Federal Courts will run clean again, or
at least as clean as the nature of its
bed will let it.
Grover Cleveland is the first Presi-
dent who ever sympathized with the
Pacific Coast on the Chinese question.
Hayes vetoed the Fifteen:P Passenger
bill.
Garfield voted against it.
Arthur vetoed the Twenty-Y Y ear Re-
striction bill
Cleveland alone has been always on
our side.
Always before we have felt more
than satisfied when we could persuade
President reluctantly to sign an i'm.
perfect bill, introduced and passed
against his will. In this case the Pres
ident has taken the lead. Through the
greater part of his Administration he
has been earnestly engaged in trying
to settle the Chinese question. Through
lis Secretary OF State he negotiated a
treaty that would have had that effect,
and when the treaty was rejected he
promptly procured the passage OF a
law SO radical and uncompromising
that his opponents insisted he would
be afraid to sign it.
That this act gives the Pacific Coast
to the Democracy is SO obvious that
there will be hardly more than for
NAL attempt to deny it. We shall Lot
insult CnlifOrnians by suggesting that
they could possibly fail to stand by the
man who has stood by them with a
fidelity so unprecedented.
If they should-if they should de-
sert one who has risked so much to be-
friend them, for the sake of one who
never had anything but injuries for
them until he needed their votes-they
would rightfully lose all the influence
they have gained by twelve years of
steadfast adherence to friends and pun
ishment of enemies. No future anti
Chinese legislation would be accorded
the courtesy of vote in either house
of Congress.
But il is useless to discuss a suppo-
sition so extravagant. Californians
could not be guilty of such dastardly
ingratitude.
Cleveland and Thurman, the two
men of all the Union who have most
signally proved their friendship to this
Coast, will not find their services for
gotten.