The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-04-06

/ undesirable. II Is not III lHt inttifSi Va
either capital or labor. and we shall fail in
our duty If we shall open the way TO the
free admission OF Oriental cheap LABOR,
which viii inevitably result In lower wages
'The Chinese empire is teeming with a
population OF some 400,000,000 of human be-
ings. With many ii is a struggle for the
barest necessities OF life. 1t is a notorious
fact that many of the people there live
upon that which no decent American would
wish one OF his own countrymen TO De
Obliged 10 subsist upon The great Chinese
ports are but twenty days from San Fran
cisco. Portland and Puget sound. Transpor-
tatiOn facilities are ample. and the cost Is
moderate. The opportunities in this country
are so much greater and more inviting
than in China, that countless thousands
would seek our shores were restrictions re-
moved.
"The opportunities which this country af-
fOrds are very we'll known in China, and
the agencies which are now so fruitful in
devising means to evade existing laws
would soon send her vast numbers to in
wade our labor markets.
NOTHING IMMORAL IN EXCLUSION.
There Is nothing immoral in our exclu-
sion Of those who do not tend TO elevate our
civilization. On the contrary, we would be
recreant to the high trust committed to us
il we should enter upon a policy of admis-
sion Of vast numbers who must surely tend
to bear il down. Our course is not dictated
by any i'll will toward the Chinese empire.
/ We nave Out 10 feCuI 10 the events Oh the
past few years to find the amplest assur-
ance OF American friendship for that great
and venerable empire. When other nations
sought her ACKNOWLEDGMENT and the distrt-
button of her provinces among the powers
of the earth, the United States stood first
and foremost in favor of the preservation
of her solidarity. We wish for China the
most enlightened progress and prosperity.
but our first duty is to our own country.
We wish to see our country grow in
strength and power; not in numbers only.
for We do not find in mere numbers our
greatest national strength and chief glory.
We find our chief pride in the character and
quality of those who constitute the 50, 200, 600
Of American citizens.
IF numbers alone constituted the real
strength Of a nation, China would. indeed.
be one of the strongest one of the most
puissant upon the face OF the globe.
w value our broad fields. our great
cities. They stimulate our pride, but above
and beyond all that, as great and splendid
as they are, we value our citizenship. 1t is,
indeed, our chief glory. 1t means more to
Us. more TO our children and to their chill
esty of the Republic than all of the myriad
material things which surround us.
"a high order of citizenship is the chief
end and aim of the Republic. We establish
schools and found universities that they
may elevate our people TO a higher and
broader and better plane. We have a care
for the humblest among US. We want men
and women who are in love with our insti-
buttons, and who will support and defend
them, and transmit them unimpaired to
pOsterity 1t has been a part of our national
policy TO greet at our ports those from ev-
cry land who are assimilable with us. We
have been actuated by no nativistic spirit.
We have made them Joint sharers with us
in the blessings and opportunities with
which a beneicent Providence has favored
us; but We should not invite those who will
pull down and degrade our high standard.
We have heard much recently of the
necessity for more land and for more terri
tory. The vast plains of a few years ago
have been largely occupied. Homes have
been built and cities have been founded
there. We read in the decennial census of
our tremendous progress, and the eye of
prophecy can already see how soon the
un0ceupied places, comparatively small,
will be required to accommodate our rap
I'VE must not be too prOdigal Of our op-
portunities. or of our resources. We may
those of us who stand here to-day, but for
those who shall follow US, and TO whom we
owe a supreme duty.
OUR FIRST CARE.
"Our first care is to our own country and
it's citizenship. native born and foreign
born alike. Our policy toward those of for
eign birth. as 1 have hitherto said, is a
) broad and generous one. So soon as an alien
sets foot upon our soil, every avenue, save
one, is open to him as it is open to the
! native born. The ways of trade and COM
Z merce. the professions and politics, are as
f free and open to him as to those who are
{ born beneath our benignant skies. Being
] thus liberal, have we no rightful concern
r as to who is admitted? Is it of no concern
| to us whether or not we shall have in him
the elements of good citizenship? What
5 were our country without its citizenship?
Destroy it or corrupt it and our chief glory
5 ''The admission of cheap labor may. for
I the time being, stimulate enterprise upon
f the Pacific coast and elsewhere. 1t may
e quicken the wheels of commerce., already
= turning with greater rapidity than at any
period in our history. 1t may, for the time
e being. promote the interests of capital. but
/ do not believe that in the long run 1t will
do so. l do not believe that there is a right
= minded and intelligent citizen of the Re-
public who views the multiplied agencies
r for cheap neutrality-suspicious. with de-
creased labor-who does not put the query
e to himself, What Will be the result when
= we shall have a surplus of labor?' A sur
t plus of labor is in the nature of a calamity
We can conceive of no worse misfortune
t than a great country with labor unem.
plOyed. A surplus in the labor market is one
= of the serious probabilities that otter
4 faces us.
o THAT American labor is displaced by the
= admission of Chinese labor, and that the
opportunity of American labor is curtailed
= TO the extent that Chinese labor is intro
t duced. is obvious. II. may be said that the
same is true with respect to the admission
of European labor. but in the latter case
r we admit those from whose ancestors we
q are descended, and who. speaking largely
are readily and fully incorporated into our
American citizenship: while in the other
case we have no racial elements in common
They do not harmonic with us. Upon their
. admission they become an undigested and
4 undigestible mass.
. s'The pending bill is intended to carry into
the public law as the policy OF the United
S States, recognized in the Gresham treaty
G and sanctioned by the almost universal
judgment of the people, the absolute eX-
clusiOn of Chinese laborers. 1t recognizes as
: entitled to admission Chinese officials
d teachers, students, merchants and travel
{ ers for curiosity or pleasure. excepted by
e the terms of the Gresham treaty.
1T has been found in the administratio
{ OF the law that Chinese laborerS have beer
struggled into the country as belonging tC
5 the excepted classes, and il has become
a necessary TO define such classes so as tC
l prevent a gross abuse of the privilege.
+ A SERIOUS OBJECTION.
"A most serious objection to the admis.
sion of Chinese laborers is the general dis
regard of the home relation, with ali Of it:
o humanizing and ennobling influences. The
American home is, indeed, the unit Of the
Republic. In the final analysis. great issue:
i which engage our attention from time t.
time, in fact the destiny of the Republic
are determined at the American fireside
e of the Republic are numbered. lmmigra'
q ton which ignores this great potential fac
y is a serious menace, and is not to be de-
o sired.
THE immigrants who have so materially
n added to cur national strength have come
7 mainly from those countries where the
u home and family relations are sacred, anC
2 they have built among us frugal and virtu
y Gus homes whence wholesome influence:
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