Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1902-01-30
THE cHlNAMAN IN THIS cOUN-
TRY AS HE ACTUALLY Is.
New YorA Sun. |

has a very temperate and an instruct.
i've paper on The Chinese in Ameri.
ca in the latest numDer OF the Forum
magazine. II seems to have been pre-.
pared with some inCideptal reference
10 re proposal, and we may add. the
probability OF the extension OF the Chi
ncse Exclusion act by the present Con.
grcss. He makes no direct assault on
that law prohibiting the immigration
OF Cinnamon, except to speak OF 1t as
WITHOUT a parallel in the history of the
world" but his whole article is an
indirect exposure of its injustice from
a Chinaman's point of view.
He starts out by ealing attention to
the historical fact that the coming OF
the Chinese into this country was not
of their own volition; they were in.
vited here" because of lie impossible
ty of getting enough of otner laborers
for the building Of the Central Pacific
Railroad. Inc road needed at least
ten thousand laborers, but not more
than eign, hundred whI,e men could
be secured" ana in the extremity CHI
nese labor was systematically sought
and obtained. "CoOlie ships were kept
running between the Kwang-tung
Province and San Francisco" and
when the railroad was finished more
than fifteen thousand ,hinamen were
turned loose on .-.e country for sup.
port" This number was increased
largely because of the activity of the
steamship agents in inducing immigra'
ton for the sake Of ne fares.
The result was nat eventually in
California white labor began to feel
the competition OF the Cinnamon, who
were willing to take less wages. In
1876 arose the so-called "Sand-lot agi
tation" in San Francisco against the
Chinese, which brought about the en-
actment OF the United States law pro
hibitlng the immigration of the Chi.
nese and making them ineligible to
citizenship. The number of Cinnamon
here had been exaggerated greatly. the
estimates more than doubling the aC.
tual number found by the census OF
1880, or 105,44S. At present the total
is about the same.
The theory on which the Chinese
Exclusion law was advocated and
passed is that II not iorcibly prevent.
ed Chinese immigration would swamp
the Pacific States, and by becoming
the controlling element in the popula-
ton would sweep away Christian civil.
| lizatlon. Mr.. Sunyowe Pang opposes
to this. however. the matter of fact
that the Chinese are not migratory.
Those who have come here, he says,
are from a few districts of the Prov.
ince of Kwang-tung, IN which Canton
is situated. and the majority of them
were villagers and peasants.
The bar to their admission to Amer.
lean citizenship and the prejudice
against them have compelled the Chi.
namen for self-protection to live by
themselves, so that there are no more
clannish people on earth than the Chi.
nese in America" Mr.. Sunyowe Pang
denies however. the justice of the
popular notion that as people earn
ing much and spending little, they
might drain this country of its wealth
for the benefit of China. me Chi
nese in this country. he says, are not
parsimOnious. Their savings may be
estimated at not more than 10 per cent
of what they earn and very often are
invested In this country, and do not
go to China" The Chinaman rs in.
clined to be a spendthrift when he
can; "he is an epicure in his own
way" he Is also fond of silk clothes
and expensive Shoes Every often he
is gambler" the food bought by the
Chinese is oICen as expensive as thar
of the whites" II they lodge in mean
houses 1t is because, as a rule, they
are allowed In no better, though tha
families OF well-to.do Chinese mer.
chants in New York and San Francis
co are well housed, ana "in New York
there is an apartment louise. up to date
In every respect, occupied by Chinese
families"
To the popular impression here III
the East that all the Cinnamon in this
country are laundrymen. he opposes
the facts that whme, OF course, many
are in that business, more are engag.
ed In large number Of other indus.
tries. ION the Pacific Coast and In the
far West, where more OF them are en-.
ployed than in all the rest of the
Union besides, they are mainly labor,
ers.' Many, too, are in domestic ser.
vice, in which they get wages mnnlne
from twenty to sixty dollars a month.
They have been very successful in
farming and mining industries. the
Chinaman being especially capable as
a grower OF vegetables and small
fruits. in CaLoTnia. and in fact all
over the West the raising OF garden
truck Is almost altogether in their
hands" "A Chinese vegetable farm,
usually very small in extent, is a les.
son in thorough and careful cultiva.
ton; not even in France or Belgium
can sIIph close pultiVaI,on no found D..