Year: 1876

The CuGNHE ExcrTEMENT.-Our Sar
Francisco news indicates that the popu
lar feeling against the Chinese may ere
long take violent form. This far from
the Pacific coast, and from the effects OIL
the evil complained Of, we can have no
idea Of the feeling OF the people among
whom the Chinese have become an im'
portant element Of population. We look
forward to a serious state OF Affairs as re-
yards This people, lin this country in the
Us,r fnture, The evil complained OF in
California is growing one, and must
of necessity involve other commu-
mites before many years. 1t is
unlike any previous difficulty we
were ever called to meet on large
scale. 1t is radical in its character, for it
goes to the very foundations Of the labor
question. The difficulty in nutshell is
this: Shall American labor in the far
Wes. be forced to compete in the scale oi
remuneration with that OF the Chinese
The answer is full Of trouble any way we
look nj it. tits well known that these
people do not become n part Of ouI
nationality, nor do they, except to Il
msagre extent, adopt any Of our
habits Of life. On the contrary
they maintain their distinct char.
acteristics to very marked degree.
They live in way that other classes oi
laborers know nothing about. That is,
they eat u diet OF kind that neither
American nor European laborers could
or would subsist upon. They also lodge
in way that is peculiar. They do not
regard themselves rs at home in this
country. This is not the land Of theil
adoption and when they die they expect
to bc carried to China. They can worE
for starvation wages" and lay VI
money. For this reason they have been
largely substituted for other laborers or
the Pacific slope. As .long as there wa
plenty for every body to do the feeling
against them did not take such an intenst
and aggressive form as it has now assum
ed. But now that labor is scarce ant
times hard the collision that was incvita
BILE seems likely to occur. "Fire AM
steel" is actually threatened nt San Fran
cisco. An outbreak Of brutal characte
is not impossible at any time. Not be
cause Of the labor question alone. Their
is also phase OF social life connected
with the Chinese question. Their .lcw'
women are the most notorious and loHtlI
some characters in San Francisco. From
all accounts few OF any other kind eve
come to this country. In China thei
name is legion. Their importation int
San Francisco has been resisted by fore
in one or two instances, people goin
80 far us to mob them on thei
arrival. The Chinese quarter in Sa
Francisco is both shabby and repulsivt
The people Of that city are not disposed
to see it enlarged. Nor are the people @
the State disposed to see such a Popula
ton spread Themselves over their terri
tory. or the Chinese at home il has bee
said that their licentiousuess is US re
voting as that OF the Romans in the de
cline OF the Empire. and their mendacit
is also very notorious. Whether this
true OF them in the interior OF China i
appears to hold good in their sca'por
cities.


The question is, what are Americans t
do in regard to the increase Of this popu
lation in the country? Can Congress d
anything to stop their immigration to oil
shores. This is a very serious questio
indeed, and one that deeply and almost v
tally concerns our future prosperity. II
solution is not apparent. How can "
prohibit them from coming to this cour
try, and yet how are we to reconcile thei
interest rs laborers with that Of tho'
who, by birth or identification, have ii
highest claims on the sympathy and pr,
lection Of society?