Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1905-07-29
PORTLAND ON CHINESE.
RESTRICTED IMMIGRATION
Of LABORERS SOUGHT
oNE-TENTH OF ONE PER CENT.
OF TOTAL POPULATION - A
LETTER WRITTEN TO
PRESIDENT.

Portland (Ore.). July 13.-ln re-
Spouse to President Roosevelt's invi-
tation to the commercial bodies Of the
Pacific Coast to express their views re-
garding the problem of Chinese exclu-
sion or the restriction of immigration
of Chinese to this country, President
William ID. Wheelwright of the Port.
land Chamber of Commerce has for
warded letter to the President. II
is. in part, as follows:
II is true that the citizens Of Call.
fornia, more than thirty years ago, APP
pealed to the general Government for
protection against an apparent danger
OF unknown and therefore possibly
overwhelming proportions. and that
primary legislation to limit Asiatic i'm
| migration was enacted in response to
that appeal. But experience since that
| time that shown that such fear was
without warrant: that the Chinese
have no desire to attain citizenship:
that they attempt no part in the ad.
ministration Of affairs. and that they
have no influence on our institutions.
There Is now much less opposition than
there was. and public opinion is chang
ing rapidly. under the influence of new
conditions and OF the stand taken by
your Administration. so that the tint
is !pe for renewed discussion OF the
subject.
The fear that they will exercise a
demoralizing influence on our clviliza-
ton has passed away; their usefulness
as patient and intelligent laborers, who
give a full equivalent for the wages
asked. and practically all OF whom re-
turn sooner or later to their own land.
has been demonstrated. They are
needed, especially in the undeveloped
portions OF the country, to do the work
that remains undone because there Ia
an insufficient supply of laborers to
do 1t, and they are wanted as house,
hold servants because the sons and
daughters OF American laborers aspire
to higher positions and are not content
to perform mental service.
We submit that the average condition
Of the laborer In this country has con-
stantly improved and still continues to
improve. in spite OF an enormous i'm
migration Of working people from
nearly every country OF Europe, and
that there is no objection to the ad-
mission to Pacific Coast ports Of a mod
crate number OF Chinese that does not
lie with equal force against the entry
into New York, Boston and Philadel-
phia of Italians, Poles. Slavs. Russians
and the inhabitants OF southeastern
Europe. And It seems to us that the
objections Of the laboring classes to
the importation OF Chinese in limited
numbers are no more reasonable than
the objections urged by the same
classes in the past to the introduction
of labor-saving machinery, which. as
we all know, had no effect TO degrade
the laborer, but, on the contrary, to
make OF him a better man than he was
before.
II can readily be seen that very
trifling increase in that opposition 10
r American products which has already
begun in China. owing to the unfriend.
ly attitude OF the United States toward
, the country and its subjects, will divert
!. to other nations the trifling percentage
- of her trade that We now control. In
= this critical condition Of our foreign
I trade II is imperative that We use all
b lawful and proper means to conciliate
n IA people on whose friendly attitude the
d enlargement of that trade depends, and
@ the importation of even a small num-
: Der of Chinese would reduce the ex.
pense OF marketing our products by