Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-11-30
Representative Kahn Replies to Min
lister W.
'OME CHINESE BECOME CITIZENS
But as a Class They Are Men,
ace to Labor.
WILL NEVER ASSIMILATE

"I note with interest the remarks of Min
lister WI. made a few days ago, that were
the Chinese voters in this country would
not be so anxious to exclude them" said
Representative Julius Kahn of California
to Star man this morning.
Mr.. Kahn has just arrived from the
Pacific coast, carrying with him much i'm
portant data anent the Chinese question,
and also very severe cold, which has con-
fined him to his room at the Hamilton.
THE change of climate from warm sun
shine to Thanksgiving SHOWS has about de-
prived me OF my voice." continued Mr..
Kahn, but with the greatest respect to
Mr.. WI, he is mistaken. There are over
| 100 Chinese voters in my district, Chinese
who have been born in this country, reach
ed their majority, and are. therefore,
American citizens and who exercise the
right of franchise Nevertheless. in their
conversations with US they sometimes for
get themselves and will say, Well, l am
going home" next year. They are going
home. mind you, to China, though born In
| this country and vote. The children of
parents of other nationalities call this
country their home. and so do our natural
lied citizens. But not SO the Chinese. China
is their home, it matters not where they
are or where they may have been born.
Will Never AssimiIate with Us.
This fact bears out the assertion that
has always been made by us on the Pacific
coast that the Chinese do not assimiate
with our people and never will. And so we
have Chinese voters and still we are ex-
cIusionists, and will always remain such.
The feeling against the Chinese is
neither racial nor religious. 1 have seen
young men who were decidedly adverse to
Chinese immigration bravely defend a
member of that race when some malicious
hoodlum has attempted to do bodily harm
to him. Even though We readily protect
their lives and property, We do not desire
them as immigrants We do not want them
upon any terms. The Chinatown Of San
Francisco is a fostering sore in the heart
of the city. 1t is a hotbed of crime and
immortality. Hundreds of young white boys
and girls have become slaves of the opium
habit as result of the presence Of the
Chinese in our city, as they have become
afflicted with incurable diseases.
1T has been asserted that Chinese girls
are not sold in this country as slaves. l
will prove by an actual fact that this as
Sertion is not true.
The keeper of a Chinese brothel in
Chinatown in San Francisco recently alb
seconded, leaving her debts unpaid. Her
Chinese creditors seized her place, and on
placards plaStered all over Chinatown an
nounced that the contents of the house, in
Guiding the furniture and its inmates,
would be sold to the highest and best bid
der at auction at certain place at GER
tain hour and they were so Sold girls,
furniture and all. These placardS were
translated into English for the use of the
district attorney of San Francisco 1t has
been proved by the admissions made by
Chinese girls in our California missions
that Chinese girls were sold into slavery
there and that the daughters of the Chi
nese We're sold to a life of shame.
Chinese Against American Labor.
1T is a notorious fact that the Chinese
works for less wages than the white labor
er. He has no family to support, and can
subsist upon few handfulS of rice day.
| have been in small rooms in Chinatown
in San Francisco where ten men slept ev-
cry night. They require no beds and sleep
upon shelves nailed to the sidewalks, mere
ly covered with Chinese mating, and at
rental for the entire room of 81 month;
so that each man had rental of 40 cents
a month to pay for his lodgings How
does that strike the mind of the American
workingman, who lives in his own home
surrounded by his family? 1t is impossi-
BILE for white man to live under such con-
ditionS.
I'm place of a stove to cook his meal the
Chinese has half an oil can filled half full
of sand for cooking stove. venture the
! assertion, and L do not fear contradiction,
when I say that the average Chinese labor
| er in San Francisco lives on 10 cents a day.
| He does not come to this country as other
| immigrants do for the purpose of making
his home among us. His passage is paid
| for him by one of the Six Companies, and
| by the way. the Six Companies have devel-
| oped now into eight, but the title the Six
| Companies still remains.
A Dangerous Immigrant.
And see also how dangerously unlike
| other immigrants he is. The Chinese who
come to this country do not themselves
! seek employment; it is secured for them by
| the Six Companies, who also collect their
wages and eventually secure the return of
| the passage money After a servitude
| which Is practically that of slavery, for
| some years, the laborer begins to accumu-
| late his own earnings. These he invariably
| boards until he has secured a few hundred
dollars, upon which he returns to China 20
| live in comfort 1t is even stipulated that
| If he dies before he has ended his seryitude
| that his bones will be returned to his rela-
| lions in China. Indeed, we have an Of
| fetal in San Francisco whose sole work is
| to regulate and inspect the disnterment of
| the Chinese dead.
| They do not adopt our dress and very
| little of the clothing they wear is manu-
| featured here, almost all being imported
| from China, as are most of their articles
| OF diet, including even duck eggs. They
| spend as little money here as possible In
this respect the Chinese again differs from
other immigrants. He Is a notorious per-
| Jurer, and his testimony is taken with more
than the usual grain of salt The white
mans oath does not appeal to him. He
| settles his disputes in his own way, fire.
| quently by murder, and without regard to
Jul CouttS Vi law Last year there were
| seven murders committed in Chinatown
| where the murderers were never CAPTURED
1t Is safe to say that in these cases where
| the murderers escaped that their identity
| was known to many Chinese but who re-
| fused to diyulge their knowledge, and thus
| showed their disregard Of American laws
| Encroachments Upon Labor.
| 1T has been said that the Chinese do
| not enter into the skilled trades, but is
employed only as a laborer. While it is true
that when he comes to this country he is
an unskilled laborer. he soon learns a trade
and enters the ranks Of competition with
our skilled workman This is especially
| true In the manufacture of cigars. shoes.
| overalls, ladies' and children's garments
| He works cheaper than the white man. and
Tor sixteen hours a day seven DAYS In the
week There is no desire on his part to
| improve his condition mentally morally ar
socially. and he is content to drudge along
| always hoping to be able to save enough to
return to China. the fondest and ultimate
| hope of them all.
| Under our treaties and under existing
| laws we cannot keep out Chinese rner
| chants. students. professional men or per-
| sons travelling for pleasure and instruction
| Ii the Chinese embraced in these clauses