Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1893-08-05
THE SIX COMPANIES.
,o+bing About This Powerful
90iD Chinese Corporation.
All the Celestisls In the United
near, st,,e. said to BE Under bondage
70 the Mysterious organi-
ration.

uory many people know anything
~, " the Chinese six Companies
aoU"' mysterious organization which
, ,'Ins the immigrants from the nowery
i9nrdom with rod of iron, which die
Nn5 their business policy, which
'a a., IN Indictment upon those who pre-
S,s atodisobcy its DEGREES, which col
,'ats dpcs from them year after year,
Liob sends their bodies home and
,hich holds thousands of them in bond
,,oo The Buffalo Enquirer thinks 1t is
.t.-.o,ov that not one man in n hundred
''ra,y, ANYTHING accurate about this
D',rroratiGn and has practically no,
,.ri,,Irdre of the powers IL exercises
,,,,rr the Chinese in this country.
The Six Companies have been talked
and written about a great deal since
ma passage of the exclusion act, and
.aorv peOple have wondered how it
,,,as that the Chinese yielded such I'M
,restiOning obedience to its orders
and allowed it to act as their repre-
lototive in all dealings with the gov
ornment. The matter may appear
,Isorer when it is known that the Six
C,mnanies hold mortgage on the
lives Of eighty per cent. of all the
Cbiromen in the United States and
Conada. and do not allow them to re-
turn TO their homes until this mortgage
i Maid with interest. The Six Com
ronies represent six divisions of the
provipce of Canton, China, and their
arowed aim is to care for the China
mon coming from these districts, so
that upon arrival here each immigrant
NAV he associated with people who
sneak his dialect and come from his
| ro,oIitv. They loan the immigrants
money. rive advice, act as bankers,
care for the sick, furnish them with
,awvers when they are accused of
crime and swear to protect them in
every way. Their strongest claim,
however, upon the regard of their
countrvmen is by their guaranteeing
10 return to China the body, dead or
alive. Of every Chinaman who sails for
these shores They used to keep this
prolnise 70 the letter, but now they
only send home the bones of those
whose families request it.
The Six Companies started in a small
way in 1850 They began through the
operations Of the American agents of a
Hong Kong firm, and their first work
was in hiring men in China to meet the
demand for labor in California. As
the business grew other Chinese firms
went into it, and finally the agents of
all these firms united for self protec-
ton and IN order to keep the business
au0ag themselves. There were six of
these agencies, and they styled them
selves the Six Companies. Eighty per
cent Of the Cinnamon in the United
States and Canada are brought here at
the expense of the companies, which
re, them Work or loan them money to
start them in business. In return for
all this they are bound by contract to
pay back all the money expended for
them, and by an agreement which the
companies have with the steamship
lines no Chinaman is allowed to return
10 his native land unless he can show
certificate to the effect that he is
free from Indebtedness to the com
panies. Every Chinaman pays two and
one'ha!t per cent. of his earnings to
tnecompany having him in charge, and,
Il he Is taken sick, he is taken care of
at the expense of the company, while,
II he dies, they bury him, and, if his
parents request it, ship his bones back
10 China