THE CHINESE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3169, 25 August 1881, Page 2

THE CHINESE.

[To the Editor of the Daily Telegeat?h.] yiß,—Now that the general election ia coming on, I think that the attention of the public should be directed to a fact that affects their most vital interests. I refer to Chinese immigration. In order to put my ideas on this subject into as clear a shape as possible I will propound the following questions—What they, the Chinese, were expected to do ? What they don't do P; and what they have done ?—and as far as lies in my power answer them. Now, with regard to the first question, What they were expected to do? The great bulk of , the labor employing clas3—l am speaking of California—with the exception of a few, e.g., Flood and O'Brien and Mackay in the mines, and in the city the proprietors of ; the Occidental and some others, were ia" favor of Chinese labor, partly to cut down the price of labor, and partly to J enable them to carry on the " knownothiug" principles which had almost' died out in the Eastern States; besides these there were the proprietors of suclx steamboat companies as were subsidised by the Chinese Government on condition -(, of taking Chinese as a portion of their crews; and a certain portion of the ing community who hoped by their; means to lead a life of laziness. Before I proceed I may as well explain what ia meant by " know-nothing" principles., These were principles advocated by thoee who wished to deprive of the right of franchise those who were foreign-born —in other words, to greatly weaken the power of the working classes. The first expectation of the capitalist, the reduction in the price of labour, has been realised. Men, who six years ago were in receipt of three dollars per day, now receive not more than a dollar and a half. But have the labour employing classes, as they expected, benefited in an inverse ratio ? By no means. ■On the contrary, the capitalist has suffered as well as the artizan. At first the scheme worked promisingly, and the promoters were joyful, but : John soon found out his own worth and set up for himself, and now undersells those who hoped his means to undersell others. in the mahufactury of ruche ladies' and gentlemen's underclothing, soap, candles, cigars, tobacco, fruit, fish, and also in carrying on the restaurant and laundry business, and in hundreds of other light employments, have they actually, taken the business from their employers, and run them out of the field. Some people think that John will never be able to complete in heavy work, or become a skilled mechanic ; but, in contradition to this, I may state that the best black- /' smith in Alameda County is a Chinaman. J With regard to the steam boat proprietors, the result is evident, the Chinese are now offering to carry freight in their own steamers at half the rates charged by the companies who formerly encouraged them. The last class I mention, the farming class, find themselves in the position of a merchant who has paid cash to his employees to spend in an opposition _}tf store for food and clothing, his market "~i. being greatly cut down, as the *" Chinese have their own merchants', who import their food and cloth" ing from China. Besides these disadvantages they have open opposition, as the Chinese have learned to raise wheat in China, to the serious detriment of the wheat growing interest of California. • It was also hoped that by means of John the servant girl nuisance would be conquered. In the place of the clean respectable Marys, Jennies, and Biddies, whom we could trust, and whose greatest fault was a certain independence of manner begotten by abiding under the mighty wings of the American Eagle, we have a sleek-faced Chinese who must ,be always watched. The next question to be answered is, What they don't do ? They don't patronize our hotels and restaurants. They don't buy. at our retail bouses, but when they become numerous club together and either import through their own merchants, or buy first hand. They don't become bona fide settlers, and invest in real property, but send their earnings as soon as acquired to China. How great a drain this is to the country will be seen when _Iwe consider the following facts. •■ It is np calculated that in San Francisco there are 40,000 Chinamen, whose savings on an average amount to at least half... a dollar a day. This means that there is a drain of 20,000 dollars, more than £4,000 sterling, going out-of that .one city alone daily. Now, mark the difference if the came number of servant girls and working men were employed. The i shopkeeping community, will tell you that their best customers are drawn from these classes, and practical men state that as Chinese immigration predominates so the increase of value of real estate slackens. ! ' They do got coiatHbute to the same extent as others to ! the revenue, inasmuch as they do not purchase those articles on which the ditties ire heaviest,

and many little luxuries which are necessary to the white man, are unused by them. They also cannot be induced to adopt our habits of civilization. The last question I put forth was, What they have done? They have driven the youth of the country out of their various light employments formerly open to them, and so been the chief cause of hoodlums and larrikinism of every description. ThiSj in the first place, raeansa heavy tax to the State; By their employment as laundry-men, etc., they have deprived of subsistence thousands of poor widows and homeless girls, and made them a charge on the State, or driven them to dissolute habits. They have cut out of employment thousands oi industrious artizans, add reduced their families to beggary, since they not only deprive the father of employment, but also block up the avenues of employment far his children. They also, by the filthiness of their dwellings, many being huddled together in a small area, are an active cause of disease. Through their not bringing their wives and families with them they are a very hotbed of all kinds of immorality. As has been shewn they cause a direct loss to all classes of the State. But some as for example Dr. W., may ask why cannot the white man, with his boasted superiority, compete with the despised Chinee. JDoeshe know what that means? It means that our working classes shall strip themselves of their wives and families; that, instead of having comfortable decent homes, they shall peg together, twenty or thirty in one small room : tbaf , they shall deny themselves all the little comforts which make life enjoyable; that they shall do without books, newspapers, museums, reading roora9, or anything which tends to cultivate the intellect and raise the man ; that shall lepress all longings after anything that is noble and true; that they shall, cheat and lie, and cog and steal, and live filthily, and deny that man was made in the image of God. Sir, is this right ? God forbid that such as this should come on the working classes, who are the Btrength and stay of every prosperous country. Show me the one who is bent on Chinese immigration, and I will show one who is bent on national suicide, and who cannot look beyond his own petty interests.—l am, &c, Veritas. August 23,1881.