The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1901-11-22

patriots, because you believe in California, be-
cause you believe in yeur homes And you are
you believe in American institutions and the
dignity of American labor. (Applause.) So 1t
Is to me a great pleasure and satisfaction 10
be present here to-day.
1t Is not necessary for me to tell you how
stand upon this any other public question
that has been SO long before the public as the
Chinese exclusion act has. / have grown up in
California, and 1 have always been on the
side of the Caucasian race, because they are
the best people God ever made (Applause); ana
therefore, If we are not true to ourselves we
are not true to our country and our homes
Friends, this is not political nor partisan
question. l would like to coin new name for
this splendid assembly of representative men,
and think the name that suggests itself to
me is. American ideas of government. Ameri-
can ideas of government; that means patriot
ISM it means love of republican institutions,
it means that our forefathers, the grand old
slavery, and they said that no longer shall
servile labor, contract labor which is worse
than slave labor. come in here to compete with
the dignity of labor. (Applause) The Ameri-
can idea of government means the greatest good
to the greatest number. 1t means in this con-
vention that opposed to the introduction
of Asiatic and Monaghan labor because it pulls
down and degrades the dignity of labor. Gre
newed applause) 1t means that the Chinese
are a REPRESENTATIVE race, that they come
here, get what they can, and go away with It,
They have no family. no home. they do nothing
to benefit our country; therefore they are a dis
ease upon the body polite, and we would not
be true to ourselves, true to our country and
our State. If we did not take this action And
l want to thank the authorities of this great
city, this great metropolis of the West, for
having inaugurated the plan of calling to-
gether this representative convention or people
from every part of our State. Your Congress
men, your Representatives in Congress, have
only one vote, only one voice that we can use
there in presenting your wants. And already
there is an undercurrent of sentiment coming
to us that the extension of this Chinese ex-
cluSlon act will not be smooth sailing for us.
There are great interests in this country, there
are interests in the Hawaiian Islands that
our duty by this very act which you doing
here to-day to say, mo, you shall not come
into this country to compete with free Ameri-
can labor
In California. in which the writers say, Per
kins, We are opposed to Chinese coming in,
are not going to attack the extension of the
chinese exclusion act and advocate the incom-
gong to move in an insidious, underhand way
by saying, NO. we are opposed to Chinese i'm
migration. they all go back home; you say they
of the Six Chinese Companies; they make a
contract that they shall be taken back home
be taken back to China So we say let this
law rest for two years. and then they can come
IN LOT that time. there will only be a very few
not come back again, and two years hence we
Will re-enact the law That is one of their
plans.
Another plan is to put the limit at 2oo, 900
chinese, and when it reaches that number no
more shall come in. Then they have another
plan that will appeal to Eastern friends
who are friendly to us and who opposed
10 Cntnese immigration; that Is that adopted
py the Dominion of Canada, by British Co
every Chinaman coming into British Columbia
or canada, and prohibits any vessel from
bringing more than one Chinaman for every
nIty gross tons of that vessel. That looks
feasible; It looks easy. Why. should any one
ts to bringing in such few Cinnamon as
tnat number would be in these vessels? And
tnen we would get 500 tax for EACH
But, my friends to-day the Japanese have
one Oh the finest marine steamship companies
the ana they are bringing immigrants from
bring them by the score into California and
the the ports on the Atlantic. There are Chinese
building ships, and they will bring that peo-
pie here. And to-day there are American
SHIPS that are working the Chinese in their
nrerooms as firemen and as coal passers, in
tnelr stewards department, paying them but
from $40 to SIS a month as the maximum,
wnen our Americans who have their families
taxes here are receiving, as they ought to re-
ceive, from $35 to $50 month. (Applause.)
h bow ca. can we compete against that class of Ia
DOR. mat class of navigation?
And SO 1 want to say to this committee
whom Governor Budd has suggested prop
erly should be selected from the different Con-
that in their memorial they will take up and
consider all these phases OF this great ques-
lists who have an individual interest say. Our
1ru1t is going to decay because we can't get
labor to preserve it, I want you to get on
higher plane and say that we don't want fruit
cured or dried or put into the market or
canned or sold unless 1t is canned by Ameri-
can boys or American men. (Applause.) 1t is
our people that pay the taxes that have built
up our splendid institutions and should
draw the line further, only this is not the time
nor the occasion-I would permit no one to
come into this country unless he felt as he ap-
preached these shores as Moses did when he
approached the burning BUSH that he stood
upon sacred ground; and the voice coming out