Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-10-02
A Great Boon-The Exclusion Bill
Signed.

Republican Senators having passed Mr..
Scott's measure, Mr.. Cleveland, according
to the same high authority, was seeking
for a plausible excuse for veto, which
was to be found in the statement that the
bill, instead OF having emanated from
the White House, was really drawn up
by SolicitorG General jerks, without the
Presidents knowledge. On this ingen-
ious superstructure of Republican fancy
Mr.. Cleveland was to put the finishing
touch of Presidential veto.
Alas and alack-a-day! All these
gauzy sophistries are at once scattered to
the four winds of heaven by Mr.. Cleve-
lands signing of the bill. The Chronicle
and its Republican confreres will again
be thrown back on their Imagination to
explain their explanations. Inevitably,
roorbacks about the patriotic Democr attic
Executive will be at discount for some
days to come. Even Republican impu-
dence will scarcely be equal to the task
Of resuming the role of misrepresenta-
ton at once.
Every year since his assumption of
this great trust Mr.. Cleveland has grown
steadily in the estimation of the Ameri-
can people. He looms up as astatesman
with all the force and emphasis of Old
Hickory himself. In his last official act,
the signing of the Scott Exclusion bill,
he has shown how genuine is his love of
the workingman, and how Independent
he is of the mawkish Eastern sentiment
which would consent to see labor de.
graded by Mongol hordes of non-assim-
ilative Coolies. His action is in gratify-
ing contrast with that of two of his Re-
publican predecessors. All who have
felt genuine interest in the Chinese
problem remember how Presidents
Hayes and Arthur shuffied with the
question, how they sought loopholes for
obstruction and how for years any gen.
uine relief was denied to our people.
With the signing of the Scott bill new
era begins for wage earners on this Coast,
and a danger of ominous proportions has
been averted from the labor of the whole
United States. We in California are at
last allowed the blessed privilege of at
least being able to calculate the extent
and approximate duration OF the curse
which was entailed upon this Coast by
the Burlingame treaty. The parents who
have seen their children shut out of
many avenues of employment by the
Mongolian, know that when Chinaman
leaves California for his home in far
Cathay he leaves forever, and that day
by day the opportunities for making an
honest living are improving for their off
spring. Month by month the heavy
hand that weighed down the legitimate
development of this State will lessen its
pressure. At the end of the dark vista a
bright horizon of hope for our youth of
both sexes glows with rainbow radiance.
And it is seen of all men that this splen-
did boon is due to the nerve and states
manship of Democratic administration.
We do not claim that our Republican
fellow citizens on this coast are less
honest in their opposition to the incur
sion of the coolies than we are. but we
do claim that with Republican admin
istration in power we could never have
secured measure of absolute exclusion.
No Republican President could ever have
been found to sign such bill.
A minor view of the passage of the bill
is that it will immensely strengthen the
Democratic party on this coast, as it
ought to do. Those who have been max
ing their calculations as to the result of
the election in California without regard
to the signing of the Scott bill would do
well to revise them at once if they have
any regard for their reputation for polit-
ical sagacity. The whole situation has
been revolutionized as by magic. With
consistent and determined enemy of
Chinese immigration in the White
House the people are not going to change
him for man who is on record as hav-
ing given seventeen votes adverse to the
California and Pacific Coast demand for
Chinese restriction during his brief
career in the Senate, and who claims to
have simply changed his mind as he
saw himself threatened with the loss of
the electoral votes of California and Ne
vada. Our people are not hunting for
an eleventh hour convert. They prefer to
adhere to man of fixed purpose and
consistent record.
All honor to President Cleveland He
says that the Chinese are non -assimila-
tive and that there is moral aspect of
the question. The tens of thousands of
wrecked careers on the Pacific Coast
emphasize his remarks, and the people
are prepared to say, "Well done, thou
good and faithful servant" His signing
of the Scott Exclusion bill will cause his
name to be craven in brass in the Gold
en- Gate and his memory to be cherished
as of sweet SAVIOR.
Prophetic of Peril to the Republic.