The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-05-25

remark after the fire was This means
the end of China town. And il seem
ed as if it were So For years the dis
trict known as Chinatown had been
an eyesore to San Francisco. 1t was
once one of the finest parts of San
Francisco, and many of the filthy
dwellings, occupied by the Chinese
were in former times the dwellings Of
the citys magnates- Rod by rod and
block by block, the yellow plague had
made its way driving the whites be-
fore it. until Chinatown extended from
| Sansome street on the east to Powell
street on the west, from Broadway on
the north to Bush street on the south
| Therefore it was that San Francisco
said that the fire was not an unmixed
evil, if it should drive out Chinatown.
The Chinese seemed to simplify the
| problem by fleeing from the city in
great numbers. Together with the
| Japanese they did not stand on the
order of their going, but fed in droves.
principally southwark Only those
who were absolutely unable to leave
the city remained, and they We're
placed in a detention camp in the
Fort Mason Military Reservation.
Their odoriferous neighborhood, how
ever, was so distasteful to the white
men and women in their neighborhood
that they We're twice removed by the
authorities. This gave rise to the COM
plants to Washington that they We're
being 'maltreated.' AS a matter of
fact they were as we'll fed and well
treated as the white refugees, with the
single exception that they were
thoughfully placed to leeward of the
J0ft ~,
We're placed to windward, would have
driven the white men and women into
the bay.
Now, however, when it comes to
the disappearance of Chinatown
many difficulties have arisen One of
the first of these is that many of the
Chinese own the title to the land in
Chinatown in fee-simple. These peo-
pie will resist dispossession unless
paid an exorbitant price for their land.
If any attempt is made to eject them,
outside the law, it will speedily be-
come Federal matter. The Chinese
government will complain and the
Federal Government will intervene.
While the matter of Individual Chinese
owners might be settled by large pay
ments for their land, the Chinese Gov |
eminent owns a large piece on Stock |
ton street which it occupies as Con-
sulate General for this coast. The Chi |
nese Government will not sell that for |
any price, as it would be derogatory
to its dignity to do so. 1t will there |
fore be impossible to eliminate the |
Chinese entirely from this district, but |
even if most of them be removed, it |
would be an Improvement highly to be |
desired.
A phase of the matter which is not |
is this: Nearly fifteen hun
dred Chinese have taken refuge in Los
many of them wealthy Chi |
nese merchants. They have assured |
the Angelenos that five thousand of |
their countrymen Will follow them |
from San Francisco if they are hos
pitably received. They have gone fur
Their and have assured their hosts that
San Francisco's large Oriental trade
was due to the existence of the Chi
nese colony there and that if the
Chinese colony were transferred to
Los Angeles, the Oriental trade would
follow it, using San Pedro as a ship
ping point No one in San Francisco
before has suspected the Chinese coll
ony there as being the center of the
Oriental trade But the mere thought
of Los Angeles taking anything away
from San Francisco in her hour of trial
so aroused San Francisco that at a
of the General Citizens Com
mittee 1t was urged that this matter
be taken up at once. Charles S. Wheel
er is reported in the Chronicle as de-
clarfng that If the situation were not
wisely handled, the bulk OF San Fran
cisco's Oriental trade might be divert
ed TO other Pacific Coast ports There
upon the Committee declared that
there was no disposition to harass the
Chinese or. to exclude them from full
participation in the commercial life of
the city. and subcommittee deter
mined to bring about an amicable ad-
Iustment of matters concerning the
Chinese -