Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-04-06
a Plea im Favor
eS the Chinese.

p Afect looseness. He manufac-
II .6s his own postulates and
>scribes them to the opponents OF Chi
aese immigration. Then he demolishes
his men of straw in a most sturdy and
manner. He says that "as
long as the Chinese served their pur-
poses and did not come into collision
with the hoodsum element afterwards
imported to California, the people OF that
State had nothing to complain of regard
ing them" All who are familiar with the
history of this State, and especially of San
Francisco, know that the element called
4'hoodlum" never was imported. 1t is
an outgrowth of the very industrial con-
dition which the excessive presence Of
Chinese produced. The Mongolians
monopolized every trade and calling in
which youths in other States were en-
ployed, and ours were therefore forced
to grow up in idleness. From this
enforced idleness was envolved the hood
lum. He is native to the soil, not an i'm
portation.
The writer tries to make out that the
opposition to Chinese is identical with
the opposition to free immigration of
Europeans. 1t may be identical in SO
tar as there is rising belief that the
United States Las reached the time
when a sound policy looking to the future
of the country would consider that there
was no further need of unrestricted i'm
migration from any part of the world
that the country was stocked, so to speak,
and that the natural increase will give us
as dense a population as we ought to
have in the next hundred years. But
there is wide difference between the
reasons that control the opposition to the
two classes of immigration. Whilst the
European immigration soon blends
itself into the body of the
American population, and becomes
one with it, that can never be the
case with the Chinese. The latter will
always remain a distinct and insoluble
people. Yam Phou Lee makes little of
the danger of unlimited immigration
from China. But the danger, neverthe-
less, exists. If the gates were left open
there is no reason why people number
ing 400, ,000, 600 would not at some time
come here in large enough numbers
to create immeasurable difficulty in
this country. If the Eruption has
been kept within anything like moderate
bounds, it has been by the strong and
persistent popular opposition TO it by the
people Of this State. If, instead Of op-
position. that immigration had been
encouraged, California would now be, as
to population, a Chinese province in
stead of an American State.
Yam Phou Lee admits the fact that
what is known as the Chinatowns of the
large cities of California are disgrace
to civilization and an eye-sore to all
within sight of them-nurseries of di-
sease and hotbeds of immortality; but,
with degree CT Oriental hauteur that is
refreshing, he asks why these disgusting
quarters are not abated, or made safe
and healthful by the municipal authori-
ties? He insists that the Chinese are
not to blame for the shortcomings of city
officials in enacting and enforcing proper
ordinances. Well, Lee is partly right in
this criticism. We are to blame-at
least, our system is to blame-for per-
mitting these blotches upon our civiliza-
ton to exist in our cities. But it may be
said, in extenuation of the inaction of the
officials, that whenever they attempt to
clean out the Chinese Augean stables,
they are resisted by all the available
machinery of the courts brought into
play by the Chinese themselves. The
fact is that, in San Francisco, the China
town nuisance has got to be bigger
than the law; and to abate it
would require q remedy that appals
the official energy and staggers the pub
lie will. To unhouse $4,000 people at
one fell swoop is job that no set of of
fcials would care to undertake. If we
were despotism and not Republic we
might do it.
Mr.. Phou Lee makes light of Chinese
prostitution, and tries to turn the tables
upon US by pointing to the social evil in
its American phase. True, it is bad
enough in any phase. But there is a
feature of the Chinese evil which is un-
speakably fagrant. Chinese prostitutes
are mere chattels, slaves that are owned
by masters and sold at so much per
head. They are purchased in China as
such, are imported to California as such,
and are sold here in the Chinatown mar
kets as surely as sheep are sold in the
shambles. That We cannot stop this or
convict the men who engage in the
traffic, emphasizes and corroborates the
ruth of one of the postulates
hat Lee denies, namely, that the
Chinese in this country have
quasi government among themselves,
md through its operation defy our laws
md successfully prevent their enforce
nent against criminals who carry out
,rimes that are not offensive to the code
If morals recognized by the Chinese.
Che Chinese in this country look upon
PROSTITUTION as legitimate traffic, and
ecognize the women set aside for that
raffic as chattels to be bought and sold,
md whenever the American law officers
90 .k<.A - -.