The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1902-04-12
KAHN
ON THE
CHINESE
Father Of Exclusion Bill
Speaks for the Measure

Chinese exclusion bill passed by Con
gress Mr.. Kahn, of California, con-
tended that 1t was the duty of the
United States to preserve the Philip
pine Islands for the natives thereof,
that 1t was better to retard exploita-
tion than to open the gates for hordes
of Chinese to sweep over the land,
allowing a limited number of capital
lists to aggrandize themselves at the
expense Of the population. Expert
ment had shown that the F1lipinos
we're quick to learn and were good
mechanics. Let us give them a
chance" exclaimed Mr.. Kahn. Let us
extend our exclusion policy to these
new possessions, and l believe the flu
ture will amply Justify our decision
in this matter"
He referred to his visit to Canton
and Shanghai where he found the
Cinnamon living in the most squalld
manner. They knew absolutely moth
ing of sanitation. In many OF the
shops the men went naked to the
waist and did not wear shoes, stock
ings or slippers. Their only garment
was a pair OF loose cotton trousers.
Quoting Coleridge's lines on the city
Of Cologne,
81 counted two and seventy stenches
All well deflned-and several stinks."
he remarked that had the poet ever
visited Canton, from which city hail
most OF the Cinnamon who come to
America. he would have been compel
led to stop the count. He character
lied as "wellmeaning but ill-inform-
ed those persons who tell us that the
Chinese are honest, sober and peace
able. He asserted that brigandage
and piracy in Canton province were
OF the most commonplace occurrence.
Aboard the steamer on which he trav-
eled in Chinese waters the passengers
were placed below decks and the
matches were bolted down to prevent
any possible pirates among them
from uprising and taking possession
OF the ship. AS for their sobriety,
II was possibly true that they did not
get drunk as rule upon whiskey, but
they are frequently besotted with
opium. And the latter vice was much
worse than the liquor habit. AS to
their alleged peaceability he cited sta
tistics of crimes committed In the
past 20 years by Cinnamon in San
In the past year alone IL
murders were committed in China
town and in not single instance was
the perpetrator apprehended. II the
ratio of murders by the Chinese OF
San Francisco had been maintained
in every urban section of the United
States regardless Of race, the number
of homlcides for the year would ag-
the startling total Of 2S,664.
In conclusion Mr.. Kahn said; I'VE,
Of the Pacific coast, are perhaps more
deeply concerned in this matter than
other people. We have learned to
know the Chinaman better than our
fellow citizens elsewhere. He is a
present, living. vital problem with us,
and we feel that our cause is the
cause of the laborer and the wage
Garner In the Eastern states. II is
only the sordid and the selfish, who
prefer a low standard Of wages and a
low grade OF morality-men who want
cheap labor because IL will increase
their individual profits - who would
open the loop-holes in the barriers we
have erected after many years OF
hard labor, bitter practical expert
ence.
."Our exclusion laws have been a
great boon TO the laborers Of this
country. They now ask us to contin-
ue our sheltering aegis over them and
/ feel that there is not patriotic,
loyal, liberty-loying American, who
does not desire 10 see the working
men of this country protected against
this unequal competition. The Amer
lean laborer and mechanic, In his
neat and comfortable home, seated at
his fire-side. surrounded by his wife
and little ones. is the peer Of any
wage-worker in any part OF the world.
Let us keep him so"
nanooer.tIo co,,ntv Platform.