El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-01-02
Observation-Disclosures
Efforts to BE Made to Have Them
Prohibited From Coming Into
This Country.
Frederic ]. Haskiu--
BY Frederic J. Haskln
AsHNGToN. D. C.. Jan. $50

/ Korea IS concerned, conditions are now
regarded as satisfactory. The Chinese
! exclusion law operates so WELL and3the
agreement with Japan is carried out
with such good faith by the japanese
! government, that there are no changes
| recommended by the immigration com
| mission. But there is another tide Of
! Asiatic immigration that is giving
| much concern to the Pacific coast This
| is the stream of humanity coming from
| India. These East Indian coolies are
| Aryans, and belong to that immigrant
/ tide which swept out of the cradle Of
the race far up IN northwestern Asia,
/ and down through the lands of the
! Modes and PerSianS into India But, ac-
cording to the findings of the inmigra-
tloS commission, they are, from no
point of view, desirable members Of
the community. The British govern
ment, whose subjects they are, acceded
few years ago to Canada's desire to
exclude them. That turned the tide
to the Pacific coast of our own coun-
try The commission recommends that
steps be taken to induce the British
government to stop their coming to
the United States by the same policy
that Japan prevents Japanese labor
from coming.
Come at Rate of 1000 a Year.
The East indians are entering the
United States at the rate of about a
thousand a year. OF these nearly sew
en-eights are Hindus wearing the tUr-
ban The first important lmmi grafton
of East Indian IabOrers into the
United States came from British Col
umbia, where, as a result Of the ac-
tivity of steamship agents and the
spread of Canadian literature in India,
there arrived over 5000 of them in four
years. As soon as Canada decided that
these immigrants were undesirable,
they were denied admission unless
coming direct from their native land
upon through tickets. The amount Of
money required to be shown was also
advanced from S25 to $500. Since
there are no steamship lines direct to
Canada from India, the intent of Can
ada to exclude the East Indian is plain
The Hindu laborers who had already
come to Canada soon found that the
winters Of that country were too rig
Orous for them, and Furthermore, that
the lumber mills and salmon industry
in Washington and Oregon offered bet
ter wages than they were getting in
British Columbia.
But when Canada barred her boun-
daries against them, immigration from
British Columbia soon exhausted the
supply, and those who come now are
directly from India Considered by the
government as the most undesirable
class of immigrants who ever came to
American shores, a policy of most rigid
inspection has been adopted at Pacific
coast ports, and If there is any pos
s1Dle reason for excluding a Hindu, he
IS promptly turned back upon the
steamship company for transportation
back to India. Nearly one-half Of all
those who come are rejected Yet, in
spite Of the strictest Interpretation of
the law, they still continue to come,
and It is the opinion of the immigra-
ton commission that unless some radj-
cal measures Of exclusion are adopted
they may insist upon coming to this
country in large numbers
Few Come to Stay.
Nearly all of the Hindu immigrants
have been agricultural laborers in In
dia- A large majority OF them come
here ambitious to save $1,000 and then
return home. However, many of them
come to stay permanently, predicting
their determination upon British op-
preston at home Most of them are
not physically sturdy enough to meet
with favor as construction laborers c.
section hands on the railroads, so the
only thing left to them is to become
farm iabOrers. Here their work is
limited almost wholly to hoeing and
wedding In most Of the communities,
because of their dirty appearance and
their turbans, they find it difficult TO
get work They usually go from place
TO place in small gangs, with one OF
their number as leader, business mana
ger, and. Interpreter Many of them
find great difficulty to secure work
during the winter months. The com
ton the most insecure of any race, and
says that when other labor is available
the Hindus find little favor with en-
plOyers-
Standard of Living Low.
The standard of living among the
Hindus in California is lower than
that Of any of the races with whom
they compete. Having no families.
they usually have no furniture and
sleep upon blankets on the floor or
ground They generally cook upon
crate placed over a fire built in
hole in the ground II there happens
to be members of different castles IN
the gang, those Of each caste mess sep
arately, and all food eaten must be
prepared by a member Of the caste eat
ing it. They will not eat any meat
that they do not kill and dress them
selves. so they get but little Of 1t.
The strength Of their caste feeling is
revealed by the fact that when placed
in jail for petit larceny or other mis-
demeanors, they consistently refuse
food not brought and prepared by
members of their own caste. One Of
them tasted for ten days rather than
eat food not prepared by his caste.
The jail authorities kept him from
starving to death only by providing
pare his own food.
Spend Little.
The average Hindu spends about %
cents a day for his food and $50 a year
for his clothes, of which he seldom
has a change Dressing up with him
consists in changing his turban and
putting on his coat He saves money.
but sends it back to India as fast as
he saves it, so that he seldom has any
on hand for periods of unemployment
and sickness. They are the most illit-
crate of all the immigrant races com
ing to America, and the government
has instructed the federal attorneys
everywhere to oppose their being
granted citizenship papers.
Chinese Exclusion.
In 1856, after there had been some
minor legislation in 1884, China pro-
posed a new treaty, which was signed,
excluding the Chinese for 20 years
The senate amended the treaty in
several minor matters, and then China
refused to accept it. In this state of
affairs president Cleveland signed a
law carrying into effect the subject
matter of the treaty. Exclusion was
made even more rigid by the law Of
1892 which provided that all Chinese
in the United States who did not regis |
ter their presence within a year, should
be depOrted. Its coRstitutiOnality was
attacked, but upheld by the supreme
court Meanwhile, some 10000 Chinese
failed to register and were liable TO
deportation. As it was found that i |
would cost some $4,000, 600 to depoTt |
them, the time for registration was eX- |
tended
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