Year: 1876




The most bitter political opponents O
the TRINITY JOURNAL will hardly ac
cuse it of favoring Chinese Immigration
in any form. But it rec ognizes th,
question as one of national importanc,
and as one with which the nation alon,
can deal. This is the sentiment of tn,
Republicans of the Pacific Coast, and i
is from this stand point that we wish t.
say a few words to our readers. Their,
is no difference of opinion here upon thi
grave question, but there is a difference
Of opinion as to the correct method o
procedure to relieve our people Of thi
curse upon their energies.


We have always held that if this Chi
nese question were understood at The
East as well as here, there would be The
same unanimity of opinion on tie sub
ject. The Republican Convention, ap
preached the hequestion in a spirit of states
manship. 1t said in effect " let us have
a fair inquiry into this matter, ana i
your representations are correct we will
relieve you" The Democratic Conven-
ton took hold of it in an equal spirit OF
demagogucry. 1t asked no information
as to the merits of the case, but was
ready to promise anything which would
give them the hope Of few electoral
votes to put with their "unIted South" !"
And when the delegates from this Coast
held out the hope that the electoral votes
Of California, Oregon and Nevada would
be secured by a strong anti Chinese
plank in the platform, that was all the
light this gang of model " reformers "
asked. This is the way the question
stands to-day. The East and the Old
World have sought for years to have the
Chinese Empire throw open its ports to
their commerce, and American diploma
cy accomplished this result They look
ed upon it as purely an international
commercial question, and such is the es-
tmation in which it i, held in the East
ern States by men of all parties to day.
We Of the Pacific Slope are the only ones
who have suffered by the Chinese, and it
is idle TO suppose that the government,
whether in Democratic or Republican
hands will relinquish these supposed ad-
yantages upon our meIe ipSc dtrU. And
none know this better than tho blatant
demagogues who are bowling for votes
from those opposed to Chinese immigra-
ton. What we ask and what we noed
is this-that our Eastern brethren may
be enlightened upon the habits, manners,
customs and degrading influence of our
A>iatic population, and when once arous
ed to a sense of the danger attending the
presence of such people here we will
not have long to wait before we are freed
from that danger. This is the difference
and the only one between the parties on
this point-the one approaches it in II
calm statesmanike manner, the other is
ready to ponder to prejudice and promise
impossibiites to gain II few votes.


The blatant Luttrel was especially
demagogical upon this question. Bond
holders and Cinnamon were put before all
others AS favored classes, according to that
relormer, and exempted from taxation by
the Republican party. None knew better
than the Honorable Mr.. LuttreIl that this
assertion was wide of the truth, that Chi
ncse are taxed equally with all others
They pay Poll, Hospital, Road and Prop
erty Tax, and for many years were com
PEELED to pay Foreign Miners License.
And they would be paying Foreign Mi
ners' License to-day, but for the Demo
cratic party Of this State. That party
had used the Chinese question as a step
ping-stone to power, and when it got that
power found itself unable to keep the
lavish promises its politicians had made.
The Democratic Legislature of 1869 in
troduced and considered so many nulli-
flying measures, that Congress was com
PEELED to take the matter in hand and
passed what became known as the " En-
forcement Act" by which law adrnitted
to have been unconstitutional from its
passage was suspended on our statute
books.


We do not think this Chinese question
has properly n place in this campaign.-
Where men all think alike it is nonsense
to argue to them. But it is not in the
nature of n Democratic politician to do
otherwise than deal in Misrepresentation,
and we are not surprised to find this Chi
nese card being played for all and more
than it is worth. The elements to rid us
of this drag upon our enterprise are at
work and it viii! be our own fault if we
are not relieved of the incubus in few
years. 1t must be worked out in a legal
method, in method wherein the good
sense and fraternal feeling of other sec
tions are appealed to. This is the method
offered by the Republican party, and it
will be found far more eficcual in the end
than the mouthings of lot of buncombe
politicians who are ready to make an issue
Of anything they think will hide the real
questions before the people.


~--ss--s~.--------..--s.--