THE 
 
 CHINESE IN AMERICA 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. O. GIBSON, A. M. 
 
 T ong Ya"n Choi Kam Shan 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 HITCHCOCK & WALDEN. 
 
 1877. 
 
05C.S 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by 
 
 O. GIBSON. 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 \ T 7 HEN Mr. Seward was in San Francisco, 
 on his journey round the world, he, was 
 invited by the Anti-Chinese party to visit the 
 Chinese quarter, and see how unfit its inhabitants 
 were to become citizens of the United States. 
 And, strangely enough, he was also invited by 
 the Chinese themselves to make the same tour of 
 exploration, to see how industrious and harmless 
 and profitable that colonization is in this country. 
 Mr. Seward declined both invitations, and al 
 though the Republican party in California, for 
 political reasons alone, had already acquiesced in 
 the exclusive policy so loudly insisted upon by 
 the Democratic party, yet Mr. Seward protested 
 firmly against that policy, and stoutly maintained 
 that immigration and expansion are the main and 
 inseparable elements of civilization on the Amer 
 ican Continent; and nowhere more so than on 
 
 85^243 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 the Pacific Coast. He gave it as hi-s unqualified 
 opinion, that any attempt to stifle or suppress 
 these invigorating forces must certainly fail. 
 
 Now, that very thing which Mr. Seward, for 
 good reasons, declined to do, this little volume, 
 under quite different circumstances, proposes to 
 undertake. An effort is here made, from per 
 sonal observation and experience, to give a fair 
 and impartial presentation of "The Chinese in 
 America," their number, character, habits, and 
 customs; their adaptation or otherwise to the 
 condition of things in this country, and the rela 
 tions of our Christian civilization to this heathen 
 immigration. 
 
 On the one hand, the reader will not find this 
 book a blind, fanatical advocate of the Chinese, 
 unwilling to see the evils and dangers of the 
 Chinese immigration to these shores. Nor yet, 
 on the other hand, will the reader find the almost 
 universal and frantic cry of "Down with the 
 Chinese!" simply in order to pander to unrea 
 sonable prejudice and bigoted ignorance, in the 
 interest of any or all political parties. 
 
 There will be no discussion of the "Chinese 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 in China," further than may seem desirable in 
 order to bring the " Chinese in America" clearly 
 and correctly before the mind of the reader. 
 
 Numerous books, interesting, reliable, and ex 
 haustive, have been written on the "Chinese 
 Empire," its inhabitants, religion, and social cus 
 toms. It would be well, indeed, if these works 
 on China and the Chinese were more generally 
 read by our citizens, in order that they might 
 the better understand how to meet the impor 
 tant question, yet in its infancy, which is already 
 puzzling the brains of the most versatile politi 
 cians and the wisest statesmen, namely, "The 
 Chinese Immigration." 
 
 Newspaper writers have discussed the "Chi 
 nese in America" from various stand-points; but, 
 generally, their observations have been superfi 
 cial, their information limited, and their state 
 ments highly colored and sensational. Accord 
 ing to the bias of the writer, the Chinese have 
 been represented either in an extremely favora 
 ble or an extremely unfavorable light. Reading 
 one class of these writers, we should suppose the 
 presence of the Chinese in this land to be an 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 unmitigated curse. Reading the other class, we 
 might feel sure that the Chinese are an indispen 
 sable blessing, a real godsend to these shores. 
 In these pages the reader will find the most of 
 the real data, upon which both classes of news- 
 paper writers have formed their opinions, and 
 based their highly colored statements. 
 
 An honest effort is here made to give the 
 American public as clear an insight as possible, 
 into the merits and demerits of this question of 
 Chinese Immigration. The chapters on Christian 
 missions among the Chinese in this country, it is 
 hoped, will be of interest to all Christian people. 
 
 If by means of this little volume the general 
 public shall come to have more correct views of 
 this important question, and a deeper Christian 
 interest in the vast population of heathen, now 
 our near neighbors, and swarming on our own 
 shores, the object of the writer will have been 
 
 attained. 
 
 O. GIBSON. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 19, 1876. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 INTRODUCTION, 9 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 NUMBER OF CHINESE IN AMERICA, .... 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CIVILIZATION, CHARACTER, LANGUAGE, AND CUSTOMS OF 
 
 THE CHINESE AT HOME, ..... 24 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 | IN AMERICA FROM THE STEAMER TO CHINATOWN, SAN 
 
 FRANCISCO, ....... 45 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 CHINATOWN, SAN FRANCISCO, ..... 63 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 \JTHE CHINAMAN AT WORK, , 95 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 .GAN WITH A Cm 
 
 TION, ON CHRISTIAN SOIL, in 
 
 THE CONTACT OF A PAGAN WITH A CHRISTIAN CIVILIZA- 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 CHINESE WOMEN IN AMERICA, .... 127 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 MISSIONARY WORK AMONG THE CHINESE IN AMERICA, . 158 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MISSIONARY EFFORT AMONG THE CHINESE WOMEN IN 
 
 CALIFORNIA, 200 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 [ ANTAGONISMS 1855-1856, 223 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 REPLY TO FATHER BUCHARD S, "CHINAMAN OR WHITE 
 
 MAN WHICH?" 1873, 241 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 , \\ 
 
 CHINESE QUESTION FROM ACHINESE STAND-POINT 1873, 2 $i 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE 1876, . . .. . 293 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 "~ THE "Six COMPANIES" AND SLAVERY, . . ., . 333 
 
 / CHAPTER XV. 
 
 /MATERIAL FACTS AND CONSIDERATIONS BEARING UPON 
 A. THIS CHINESE PROBLEM FINANCIAL, MORAL, Po- 
 
 S LITICAL, ........ 345 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 THE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE, . . . -374 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 i 
 
 HAVE carefully read in manuscript all the chap 
 ters of Rev. O. Gibson s book entitled, "The 
 Chinese in America," and am prepared to say that it 
 contains the freshest and most accurate information 
 on the subject, from an American stand-point, which 
 has fallen under my eye. Ten years experience in 
 China, and eight in California, devoted wholly to 
 the improvement of the Chinese people, gives the au 
 thor peculiar qualifications for the work he has so 
 opportunely accomplished. I am inclined to think 
 that he has drawn the faults of the pagan strangers a 
 little more strongly than their virtues; but the book 
 is written in that style of bold frankness and robust 
 honesty, which base and venal functionaries have 
 found to their cost to be characteristic of the author. 
 
 The Chinese problem is intrinsically worthy of 
 the study of American citizens. Add to this the 
 factitious consequence which the machinations of 
 demagogues, the fears of the timorous, and the malice 
 of (mostly Papist) competitors in the labor market 
 have given it, and we have ample reason for the 
 publication of such a book as this, by such an au 
 thor, at such a time. I think I do not overestimate 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the work when I say that to the permanent value of 
 an authentic history it adds the piquancy of a live 
 discussion of questions of intense present interest. 
 In all its aspects the Chinese problem commands the 
 attention of the thoughtful. 
 
 Shall we recede from the fundamental maxims of 
 Manhood Government, dishonor a treaty which we 
 virtually forced upon the Chinese Government for 
 our own advantage, imperil the lives of American 
 citizens in China, destroy a commerce rich in its 
 early fruit and magnificent in its promises of the 
 future, hush our high boast of open doors and un 
 barred gates, repel labor, which is the only au 
 thentic capital, and stifle the dictates of Christian 
 philosophy; all in the interests of sinister jealousy 
 and an irrational alarm ? These are grave questions, 
 and Mr. Gibson s book will afford invaluable aid in 
 the intelligent consideration of them. They are 
 questions of national breadth,.- and every man, who 
 wishes to reason like a statesman, and act like a 
 Christian, should hasten to qualify himself to handle 
 them with intelligence and candor. 
 
 Men of solid thought and weight of character are 
 proverbially "slow to speak." The real rulers of 
 this State have not yet been heard on this Chinese 
 question, save in the quiet protests of the counting- 
 room, the farm-house and the kitchen. The mad 
 ness of the mob is apparently already subsiding, and 
 the emergency may not demand a more pronounced 
 opposition. But let not the people of other States 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 1 
 
 draw hasty inferences from the noise and fury of the 
 Anti-Chinese ebullition. The Chinese are here by 
 the order of Providence, the principles of the Decla 
 ration, and the provisions of treaty, and here they are 
 sure to stay till better reasons for their expulsion can 
 be shown than any which have yet appeared. 
 
 M. C. BRIGGS. 
 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, Sept. 26, 1876. 
 
THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. . 
 
 THE NUMBER OF CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 THE most vague and extravagant notions pre 
 vail as to the number of Chinese now in 
 America. The Chinese Quarter of San Fran 
 cisco, and indeed every Chinese Quarter in the 
 country, is densely crowded. In San Francisco, 
 the Chinese Quarter proper is six blocks in 
 length, running north and south on Dupont Street, 
 from California to Broadway, and two blocks 
 wide, from east to west on Sacramento, Clay, . 
 Commercial, Washington, Jackson, Pacific, and 
 Broadway Streets, from Kearney to Stockton, 
 crossing Dupont, the great Chinese artery, at 
 right angles. The streets and all the alleys in 
 closed within the above-named precincts are al 
 ways thronged with Chinese pedestrians coming 
 and going; but especially on Sundays all these 
 streets and alleys literally swarm with the people 9 
 
14 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of this strange race, strange dress, and strange 
 language. 
 
 All day long, and often until late at night, the 
 streets are crowded with Chinamen of all ages 
 and sizes, and speaking various dialects, with 
 shaven crown and neatly braided cue, sauntering 
 lazily along, talking, visiting, trading, laughing, 
 and scolding in the strangest, and, to an Ameri 
 can, the most discordant jargon. Here and there 
 they gather in groups, very much like Ameri 
 cans, mostly on the corners of the streets, and 
 amuse themselves in trying to cipher out the 
 meaning of some of the thousands of strange 
 hieroglyphics of their own language that are plac 
 arded upon the walls. Not unfrequently a group 
 of these fellows amuse themselves for a long 
 time at the expense of some party of " white peo 
 ple," who, passing through "Chinatown" to see 
 the sights, all unconscious to themselves, present 
 to the Chinamen a show quite as novel as they 
 themselves can boast of seeing. 
 
 An American lady, walking through their 
 streets, leaning on the arm of some gentleman, 
 her long, trailing skirts carelessly mopping up 
 the filth of the sidewalks, is to these practical 
 Chinamen a wonder and a source of amusement. 
 They may be called greatly wanting in good taste 
 not to appreciate our superior fashions, yet 
 
NUMBER. 15 
 
 it is a fact that they look upon this American fash 
 ion of mopping the streets with the skirts of ladies 
 dresses as exceedingly nasty and barbarous. 
 
 The stranger visiting Chinatown, in San Fran 
 cisco, on a pleasant Sunday, would likely con 
 clude that there might be seventy-five or a 
 hundred thousand in San Francisco alone. It 
 may be that the Committee who prepared the 
 resolutions and address to Congress, which were 
 adopted by that famous Anti-Chinese mass-meet 
 ing held in Union Hall, San Francisco, April 5, 
 1876, gotten up and inspired by the Mayor of 
 the city, and presided over by the Governor of 
 the State, it may be that the Committee took 
 the first impressions made by a Sunday ramble 
 through Chinatown as the basis of their statistics 
 of the number of Chinese among us. That ad 
 dress boldly states that there are two hundred 
 thousand Chinese in California, seventy-five thou 
 sand of whom are in San Francisco. On that 
 basis there must be in the whole country about 
 four hundred thousand, which is simply pre 
 posterous. 
 
 A little larger acquaintance with these matters 
 will greatly modify first impressions as to numbers. 
 Most of the Chinese laborers have leisure on Sun 
 days, and since they have no domestic life, no 
 homes in this country, and since our Sunday is 
 
1 6 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 not their particular day for worship, nearly all 
 the common laborers live on the streets on Sun 
 days, simply because they have nothing to do, 
 and nowhere else to go. It is much pleasanter 
 to saunter on the streets than to den up in their 
 narrow bunks and crowded sleeping-rooms. On 
 Sundays, also, many Chinamen come into China 
 town from Oakland, Alameda, and from the out 
 skirts of the city, also from the numerous wash- 
 houses scattered over all parts of the city. These 
 men improve the leisure of the Sabbath to visit 
 Chinatown, in order to see their friends, do a 
 little shopping, or attend the Royal Theater. 
 
 A few hundreds of these Chinese Sunday pe 
 destrians, perhaps a thousand in all, are going to, 
 or coming from some Chinese Sunday-school. 
 These generally look cleaner and brighter than 
 others of the same class ; for contact with Chris 
 tianity tells on this people, just as it does on any 
 other people. 
 
 When all these things are considered, the first 
 impressions as to the numbers of Chinese among 
 us will be greatly modified. But it will be an ex 
 ceedingly difficult, if not an impossible, task, to 
 determine the exact number of Chinese in 
 America. Using all available data, we will try 
 to get as near the truth as possible. It is believed 
 by the best American authorities, and the Chinese 
 

 NUMBER. 17 
 
 authorities concur, that there are in San Francisco 
 about thirty thousand Chinese, and as the popu 
 lation of the city is about two hundred and 
 twenty-five thousand, every eighth man is a Chi 
 naman. In other parts of California there are 
 about thirty thousand more, making sixty thou 
 sand in the State of California ; that is, about 
 one-twelfth of the population of the whole State 
 is Chinese. 
 
 In the other Pacific States and Territories, Ne 
 vada, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Oregon, are 
 some sixty or seventy thousand more. A few 
 thousands are scattered about in States east of the 
 Rocky Mountains in Massachusetts, New Jersey, 
 Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Louisiana, in New 
 York City, in Chicago, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. 
 In 1870 the discussion of the Chinese question 
 led the Commissioner in charge of the Bureau of 
 Education at Washington to request -Professor 
 Porter to prepare an article for the Annual Re 
 port on the subject of the influence of Chinese 
 immigration upon American civilization. Ac 
 cording to Professor Porter s Statistics, it appears 
 that up to July 1870, there were less than one 
 hundred thousand Chinese in the United States. 
 Since that time, up to April 1876, according to 
 Custom House statistics, about eighty thousand 
 more have arrived. Deducting a fair percentage 
 
1 8 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 for deaths and returns to China, the highest figure 
 at which we can reasonably place the Chinese 
 population in America at the present time, April 
 1876, is about one hundred and fifty thousand. 
 
 The rate of increase has never been so great 
 as is generally supposed. The increase by births 
 in this country is too small to be taken into the 
 account ; the increase being almost entirely by 
 immigration, and this has never been over twenty 
 round thousands in a single year, and will not 
 average ten thousand arrivals per annum from 
 1852 to 1876. The mortality among the Chinese 
 is in about the same rate as among our own 
 people, making about three thousand deaths each 
 year. There is one fact connected with this Chi 
 nese immigration, which has not been generally 
 considered by writers on this subject; that is, 
 that a large number, perhaps one-fifth of the ar 
 rivals from China in any given year, are those 
 who have been home to China on a visit, and are 
 now returning for another and, perhaps, a per 
 manent sojourn in California, or as they term it, 
 "The Golden Mountains." 
 
 Let us examine a little more in detail such 
 statistics as we have. According to Professor 
 Porter s figures, from 1850 to 1860, forty one 
 thousand, and from 1860 to 1870 fifty-six thou 
 sand, Chinese arrived in this country, making a 
 
NUMBER. 19 
 
 total of Chinese immigration up to 1870 of nine 
 ty-seven thousand. Taking these figures as cor 
 rect and deducting a reasonable number for 
 deaths and returns to China, we can readily see 
 that at that date, 1870, there could not have 
 been more than seventy-five thousand Chinese in 
 America. To this number add the eighty tho u- 
 sand, which according to the Custom House sta 
 tistics, have arrived from January 1870 to April 
 1876, and we make a total of one hundred and 
 fifty-five thousand. From this number, if we 
 now subtract the deaths and returns to China 
 since 1870, we shall have about one hundred and 
 thirty-five thousand as the number of Chinese 
 among us at this date. 
 
 This estimate, however, is a little higher than 
 the following table of statistics, published in the 
 San Francisco Evening Post, April 13, 1876: 
 
 CHINESE IMMIGRATION. 
 
 TOTAL ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES SINCE 1852. 
 
 The following statement of Chinese Passengers ar 
 rived and departed from this port since 1852 is compiled 
 from the Custom-House Records. It is probably substan 
 tially correct : 
 
 Year. Arrived. Departed. 
 
 1852 20,026 1,768 
 
 1853 4,270 4,421 
 
 1854 .;,..- -, .... . 16,084 2,339 
 
 i855 -3,329 3,473 
 
 1856 , Vi" .- . ; . 4,807 3,028 
 
2O THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Year. Arrived. Departed. 
 
 1858 .... 
 
 c,427 
 
 *,^j^ 
 
 2,542 
 
 1859 . 
 
 1860 .... 
 
 . 3,175 
 
 2,450 
 2,090 
 
 1861 .... 
 1862 .... 
 1863 .... 
 1864. 
 
 8,430 
 8,175 
 6,432 
 2,682 
 
 3,58o 
 2,792 
 2,494 
 
 1865 .... 
 
 
 2,295 
 
 1866 .... 
 
 2,242 
 
 
 1867 .... 
 
 . 4,290 
 11,081 
 
 4,475 
 4,210 
 
 1869 . . . : -. 
 1870 .... 
 1871 
 1872 .... 
 
 1873 
 1874 .... 
 1875 .... 
 1876, first quarter of 
 
 14,990 
 10,870 
 5,540 
 9,770 
 
 17,075 
 16,085 
 . 18,021 
 5,065 
 
 4,895 
 4,230 
 3,260 
 4,890 
 6,805 
 7,710 
 
 6,305 
 625 
 
 Total 214,226 90,089 
 
 This gives an excess of arrivals over departures of 
 124,137. The number of Chinese in California before this 
 record began to be kept, is estimated at ten thousand ; so 
 that the total of Chinese now in the country without de 
 ducting the deaths, would be about one hundred and 
 thirty-four thousand. Deduct twenty-four thousand for 
 deaths, and we have the round number of one hundred 
 and ten thousand Mongolians now with us. 
 
 But some Chinamen have arrived on sailing 
 vessels who have -not been reported at the Cus 
 tom House, and one or two cargoes, at least, 
 have landed in Portland, Oregon, directly from 
 Hong Kong. It is quite probable that the num 
 ber of arrivals from China not reported at the 
 Custom House, San Francisco, during the last 
 
NUMBER. 21 
 
 five or six years is about equal to the deaths 
 and returns to China ; in which case, our figures 
 will again stand as at first, about one hundred 
 and fifty thousand. 
 
 This agrees very closely with the registers of 
 the somewhat famous Six Companies." From 
 the officers of those companies, I personally ob 
 tained the following figures, as the total number 
 of Chinese in America, April I, 1876: 
 
 Ning Yung Company, . . . 75 
 
 Hop Wo Company, .... 34> 
 
 Kong Chow Company, . . . 15,000 
 
 Yung Wo Company, .... 12,000 
 
 Sam Yup Company, .... 11,000 
 
 Yan Wo Company, .... 4,300 
 
 Total -151,300 
 
 So that, to whatever authority we turn, political 
 Anti-Chinese clubs always excepted, we can not 
 possibly make the total number of Chinese in all 
 this land greater than about 150,000. 
 
 And with all the inviting conditions offered by 
 this country to the Chinese immigration, such as 
 mines of gold and mines of silver, a congenial 
 climate and high wages for unskilled labor ; with 
 their close proximity to our Pacific coast, the 
 waters of the same ocean washing the shores of 
 both countries ; with cheap rates of passage by 
 steamer and sailing vessel from China to San 
 Francisco it costing the European immigrant 
 
22 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 from three to five times as much to reach Cali 
 fornia as it costs the Chinaman with all these 
 inviting conditions it has taken twenty-five years 
 to bring to our shores this comparatively small 
 number, one hundred and fifty thousand, from 
 the overcrowded and swarming millions of China. 
 During the same time, at much greater expense, 
 and in face of much greater difficulties, six hun 
 dred thousand white people have come to this 
 State. From Europe, in one single year, we 
 have received more than twice the whole number 
 of this Asiatic immigration for twenty-five years. 
 Moreover, each year, out of the total immigra 
 tion from Europe, there are, on an average, more 
 persons that find refuge, at public expense, in our 
 jails, prisons, hospitals, asylums, and reformatory 
 institutions, than the total average immigration 
 from China in a single year. 
 
 Up to the present time, then, there certainly 
 seems to be no real cause for alarm on account 
 of the extent or rapidity of the Chinese immigra 
 tion. If there is any cause for alarm, and we 
 will not deny that there may be, the danger 
 is entirely prospective and contingent, not pres 
 ent and certain. The New York Tribune well 
 says that, even taking the exaggerated figures 
 of the Anti-Chinese Committee, only two hun 
 dred thousand in twenty-five years, the people of 
 
NUMBER. 23 
 
 California in their present hostility to the Chinese 
 "seem to be chasing a phantom." Much more 
 will they "seem to be chasing a phantom," when 
 we cast aside the exaggerated figures of unscru 
 pulous political demagogues, and consider the fact 
 that after twenty-five years of Chinese immigra 
 tion there are only one hundred and fifty thousand 
 Chinese in all this broad land, from north to south 
 and from ocean to ocean. 
 
24 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CHINESE CIVILIZATION, CHARACTER, LANGUAGE, 
 AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 THE civilization of the Chinese Empire is 
 the oldest known in history. While other 
 nations and empires have risen and fallen, the 
 Chinese Empire has continued to hold sway over 
 its vast domain, and to keep under governmental 
 control the largest population ever subject to a 
 single power. The Government, which is Abra 
 ham ic or Patriarchal in theory, but like some 
 others of more modern date corrupt in prac 
 tice is, nevertheless, sufficiently powerful to 
 hold in check and comparative order the im 
 mense mass of four hundred millions of human 
 beings. 
 
 To do this, requires organizing and executive 
 ability of no mean order. So that, however low 
 the masses may be, still the 1 past history and 
 present existence of the nation compels the rec 
 ognition of brain power in the Chinese people 
 not inferior to that of the most advanced nations 
 of the human race. But as a people they are 
 
CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 2$ 
 
 eminently conservative. What was good enough 
 for their ancestors is good enough for them. 
 The same school books, the writings of Con 
 fucius and Mencius, have been used in their 
 schools for many hundred years without change. 
 This has stamped a common character upon 
 all the people. Confucius was not a teacher of 
 science, nor yet of religion; but a teacher of 
 Political Economy, as applicable to the Patri 
 archal System of Government. His writings dis 
 cuss, in various ways, the relative duties between 
 parents and children, elder and younger broth 
 ers, husbands and wives, the magistrates and the 
 people, the emperor and the magistrates. These 
 books are studied and memorized by the schol 
 ars in all parts of the Empire, using every-where 
 the same written or printed characters, but dif 
 ferently pronounced, according to the various 
 dialects of the different localities. So that the 
 scholars of one section of the Empire reading 
 aloud a manuscript copy of some of the writ 
 ings of Confucius would not be understood bv 
 
 o s 
 
 the scholars of some other section of the Empire, 
 who might perhaps be listening to the reading of 
 a manuscript prepared by themselves. 
 
 Then, again, this written language, common 
 in all parts of the Empire, is not a spoken lan 
 guage in any part of the country, except it be 
 
26 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 in the form of quotations, and the quotations 
 when used often need explanation in the local 
 dialect in order to be clearly understood. These 
 different spoken dialects are almost as numerous 
 as are the great cities of China, and differ al 
 most, if not quite as widely, as do the spoken 
 languages of the different nationalities of Europe. 
 
 This difference in dialect, combined with other 
 causes, leads to a kind of local clannishness 
 among the Chinese, somewhat similar to the his 
 toric clannishness of the Scotch. And although 
 in all parts of the Empire the same text-books 
 are memorized, the same literature in common 
 use, and the people all subject to the same gen 
 eral or central government, and stamped with 
 the same general national characteristics, yet the 
 Chinese of one locality have but little affinity for, 
 or sympathy with, those of a different locality. 
 For instance, between the Chinese of Foo Chow 
 and the Chinese of Canton there exists about 
 the same regard as exists between the Chinese 
 people in general and the people of the United 
 States. 
 
 As to scholarship, the average Chinese scholar 
 knows little or nothing about geography, mathe 
 matics, natural philosophy, chemistry, or astron 
 omy. His knowledge of history is confined to a 
 bare epitome of the history of his own country 
 
CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 27 
 
 and people. He knows no language except his 
 own, and yet he is no mere novice. His memory 
 is truly wonderful. His knowledge of the rela 
 tions and duties between man and man, between 
 the people and the rulers, is indeed remarkable; 
 and in diplomacy the Chinese have few equals. 
 
 Schools abound in China, and because schools 
 abound, it is generally believed, in this country, 
 that all Chinamen can read and write their own 
 language. But this is a mistake. Probably not 
 one-fifth of the population have what may be 
 called a common-school education. The masses 
 of the people know the written characters repre 
 senting the common articles of food and cloth 
 ing, without being able to read a single page of 
 literature. In a country so overburdened with 
 population, it is simply impossible for the masses 
 to be educated. 
 
 In the arts pertaining to a high civilization 
 the Chinese have made no progress for many 
 centuries. Originally, the manufacturing of gun 
 powder and glass, the art of printing and the use 
 of the compass belonged to China; but no im 
 provements have been made upon the original in 
 ventions, and for many hundred years no new in 
 ventions have appeared in China. In science, 
 government, and religion, every thing is stereo 
 typed, every thing runs in the same old rut. 
 
28 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Change or improvement in any thing that was 
 acceptable to their ancestors is not desired. 
 
 The religion of the educated may be formu 
 lated as blind fatality ; the religion of the masses a 
 heartless, superstitious idolatry. Of course, their 
 civilization is low, for it is an axiom that no people 
 can rise above the plane of the gods they worship. 
 
 The Chinese truly verify the Scripture state 
 ment that in this world there be that are called 
 gods many and lords many." The whole land 
 is full of idols, and all the people are filled with 
 idolatrous superstitions. The whole civilization 
 of China has stood still for ages, and has become 
 like one great stagnant pool. To purify it, it 
 needs to be moved and stirred from center to 
 circumference by contact and friction with the 
 Christian civilization of America and Europe. 
 The few thousands of European and American 
 merchants and missionaries now in China, and 
 the one hundred and fifty thousand Chinese now 
 in America, are but the beginnings of mighty 
 changes about to take place in the history of 
 that wonderfully strange people. 
 
 Occupying one of the grandest domains in the 
 world; enjoying a healthy climate, having in 
 abundance all products and minerals of earth; 
 not only satisfied with, but exceedingly proud 
 of, their civilization, their literature, and their 
 
CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 29 
 
 religion, the Chinese long ago adopted an exclu 
 sive policy. 
 
 They have always discouraged emigration from 
 their own shores, and have been constantly and 
 bitterly opposed to every attempt by outside na 
 tions to settle among them. Even in these, our 
 days, the Chinese have entered into friendly re 
 lations with other nations simply because they 
 have been compelled to do so. The term, 
 " Chinese walls of exclusion," has become a 
 sort of proverbial phrase, well understood by all 
 classes of people. 
 
 Living thus by themselves, with little or no 
 contact or friction with the customs, the language, 
 civil polity, or religion prevailing among other 
 nations, the Chinese people seem generally to be 
 filled with the strange conceit that they are supe 
 rior to all other nations of the earth. 
 
 This conceit is so strong, and their prejudice 
 against all other people so bitter, that, unless 
 under some restraint of circumstances, they sel 
 dom fail to manifest contempt for any and all 
 people except their own ; for any and all cus 
 toms differing from their own, and for any and 
 all learning or science or invention or art differing 
 from the established order of affairs in their own 
 "Middle Kingdom." However foolish and ab 
 surd this conceit may appear to us, it is not so 
 
3<D THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 very strange after all that the Chinese are filled 
 with it. For centuries, the civilization of the 
 Chinese has been in advance of the nations and 
 peoples of Asia, immediately adjacent to them, 
 and with whom alone they have had intercourse. 
 With a people more numerous, a government 
 more powerful, and a history of greater antiquity, 
 a literatrue more extensive and refined, a better 
 system of philosophy, and a purer standard of 
 morals, a general civilization, in fact, quite in ad 
 vance of all the peoples with which they had as 
 yet come in contact, it is not so very strange, 
 after all, that Christian civilization has found 
 the Chinese thinking of themselves as standing 
 at the head of the human race. They have 
 schools and colleges. They understand political 
 economy. They have an immense coast and 
 inland commerce. They understand agricultural 
 pursuits equal to any people in the world. They 
 build houses and temples, and immense stone 
 bridges. They have a great navigable canal sys 
 tem reaching through almost the entire length 
 of the country. They make silks, satins, and 
 cotton cloth. They are elaborate carvers of ivory 
 and wood. They make beautiful bronze castings 
 and exquisite China ware. They are industrious 
 and frugal to the last degree. 
 
 The Confucian system of morals, which in 
 
CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 3! 
 
 theory is accepted by the whole nation, is com 
 paratively pure and elevating; but the debasing 
 influences of idolatry lower the standard in prac 
 tice, and the mass of the people are untruthful, 
 selfish and cruel. In business transactions, how 
 ever, the commercial honesty of the Chinese is 
 equal to that of the nations with whom they 
 trade. Indeed, without commercial honesty and 
 confidence no great commercial transactions 
 could take place, and the Chinese are great trad 
 ers. It is the testimony of the American mer 
 chants in China, and of bankers and importers 
 of San Francisco, that Chinese merchants will 
 not suffer by a comparison of their commercial 
 honesty with the commercial honesty of any other 
 people in the world. 
 
 The marriage relation is recognized and hon 
 ored in China. Polygamy is allowable, though 
 not very generally practiced. A man who is 
 able to do so will sometimes marry a second 
 wife, because he desires a son and heir and has 
 no male issue by his first wife. Merchants do 
 ing business in different parts of the country 
 usually leave their families at home, at the patri 
 archal residence, and often take a secondary wife 
 or concubine at the place of their temporary res 
 idence. In such cases, the children, if any are 
 born to them, are considered legitimate and are 
 
32 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 treated as such. These secondary wives or con 
 cubines seem to sustain very much the same re 
 lation to the first wife that Hagar sustained to 
 Sarah in Abraham s household. 
 
 With them marriage is rather a civil contract 
 than a religious rite or ceremony. No public 
 register is kept, no official certificate of marriage 
 given. No legalized civilian nor ordained priest 
 of religion is necessary to the performance or 
 consummation of the contract. The parties 
 pledge each other in small cups of wine, and 
 perform together a whole rit-ual of prostrations 
 before the open heavens, and also before the 
 family penates. There is a great deal of form 
 and ceremony according to the rank of the par 
 ties, but the prostrations and mutual pledgings 
 seem to be the principal parts. In taking a sec 
 ondary wife or concubine, forms and ceremonies 
 may be omitted; the secondary wife taking her 
 place in the family with as little ceremony as a 
 hired servant would in America. 
 
 Under certain circumstances divorces are al 
 lowable, and men may even put away their 
 wives for certain trivial causes ; for instance, one 
 of the seven sufficient causes justifying divorce 
 is, "a persistent habit of loquacity on the part 
 of the lady." But divorces are not frequent, 
 and if a man marries when poor, and afterward 
 
CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 33 
 
 becomes rich, he may not for any cause put 
 away the wife who shared his years of poverty. 
 It is not considered respectable for a widow to 
 marry again, and if a young girl loses her be 
 trothed before marriage, it is considered highly 
 meritorious in her to remain unmarried all her 
 life. The people sometimes erect testimonials 
 of respect to such persons. Sometimes a young 
 lady, bereaved of her betrothed husband before 
 the consummation of marriage, publicly commits 
 suicide in order to make her widowhood per 
 petual and to remove herself beyond the tempta 
 tion to marry another. One such instance oc 
 curred at Foo Chow during my residence there. 
 The relatives and friends of both parties knew 
 all about her intentions, and assisted her in mak 
 ing preparations. Her intention, as well as the 
 place and day of executing it, were designated 
 in invitation cards, sent to the magistrates and 
 to persons of distinction, and to all the friends 
 and acquaintances of the interested families. 
 Every one joined in aiding or encouraging her, 
 it being generally considered that she was about 
 to perform a very meritorious act. The British 
 Consul at the port, Mr. W. H. Medhurst, re 
 monstrated with the mandarins for allowing 
 such a thing to take place, but they professed 
 to fear a popular demonstration or mob if they 
 3 
 
34 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 should interfere to prevent it. Very likely they 
 had encouraged it. A day or two previous to 
 her self-immolation, she was dressed in gaudy 
 robes, and was carried about in state through the 
 principal streets of the city, after the fashion of 
 parading idols. A temporary stage or scaffolding 
 was erected in the open fields, and on the day 
 appointed thousands of people assembled to wit 
 ness the sacrifice. From a frame on the plat 
 form a strip of scarlet crape was suspended, and 
 a chair was placed under the frame. The little 
 woman was assisted to mount the platform. She 
 herself adjusted the suspended crape around her 
 neck, embraced a little boy, her brother, 
 bowed a farewell to the crowd, smiling all the 
 while; then mounted the platform and reso 
 lutely jumped off, her little hands still saluting 
 the crowd as her quivering body was twirled 
 around by the tightening cord. Although this 
 took place within a mile of my residence, I did 
 not have the courage to witness it ; I could not 
 bear to be present, and thus seem to countenance 
 such a wicked thing. The very thought of such 
 an affair taking place was sickening in the ex 
 treme. 
 
 The faithfulness of married women in China 
 to their husbands will compare favorably with the 
 practice of the same virtue by the women of Eu- 
 
CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 35 
 
 rope and America. Husbands are not generally 
 as chaste as the wives. Female prostitution ex 
 ists in all parts of the empire, and is especially 
 prevalent in large cities and all seaport towns. 
 This class of women is usually confined to some 
 particular quarter of the city, or to the boat 
 population. 
 
 Poor people often sell their female infants to 
 this class of panderers to human depravity, and 
 the poor girls are brought up in perpetual bond 
 age to the wills of their villainous masters. 
 
 Infanticide of female children is practiced in 
 all parts of the empire, in some sections to an 
 alarming extent. Proclamations are sometimes 
 issued by the magistrates, warning the people 
 against committing the crime of infanticide, not 
 only because it is a crime, but also because girls 
 are becoming so scarce and expensive, that the 
 common people can not afford to marry, and 
 public morals are endangered. There is no in 
 fanticide of boys, and neither is there any sys 
 tem of slavery in China as regards the male sex. 
 
 The people of China are noted for their in 
 dustry and frugality. Every man has something 
 to do. The streets of the cities and villages are 
 full of people ; but all these comers and go 
 ers are intent on some business. Few people 
 walk the streets for the exercise, or to see the 
 
36 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 sights. And yet the streets of Chinese cities 
 usually present a picture of universal industry 
 almost without a parallel. There are no railroads, 
 no horse-cars, no stage-coaches. All land trans 
 portation, especially in Central and Southern 
 China, is done by the bone and muscle of human 
 beings. Merchandise, house-furniture, and build 
 ing material are all packed on men s shoulders. 
 Travelers who are able to pay, and feeble ones 
 unable to walk, are carried about in sedan-chairs 
 on the shoulders of men. A little boy, son of a 
 missionary about to leave China for America, 
 began to cry, and begged to be left in China, 
 when he learned that there were no chair-bearers 
 in America. These chair-bearers and burden- 
 carriers have stands in different parts of the city, 
 to which a person can send for a conveyance, 
 just as we Americans patronize expressmen and 
 livery-stables. 
 
 In his habits of living the ordinary Chinaman 
 is exceedingly economical and frugal. Through 
 out Central and Southern China rice is the prin 
 cipal staple of food. Rice and vegetables, fish, 
 pork, and fowls, compose the principal diet 
 of the people. The cost of living is small as 
 compared with the cost of living of the average 
 American. The average Chinaman, in his own 
 country, can live nicely in most parts of the 
 
CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 37 
 
 empire on from seven to fifteen cents a day. 
 That will give him all the rice and vegetables he 
 can eat, with a small allowance for fish or meat 
 daily. Chinamen know how to cook rice better 
 than most people. The price of labor corre 
 sponds to the cheapness of living. Fifteen or 
 twenty cents a day is very good pay for a com 
 mon laborer. Literary men of good ability can 
 afford to teach for salaries from six to ten dollars 
 a month, and board themselves. House serv 
 ants, among the Chinese, receive from two to 
 four dollars a month and found. Serving in 
 white families in China, in the open ports, Hong 
 Kong, Canton, Amoy, Foo Chow, and Shang 
 hai, they receive from three to ten dollars a 
 month according to the ability of the employer 
 to pay, and the servant to please. Mechanics 
 and stone-masons receive from twenty to forty 
 cents a day,. The cost of living in China and 
 the price of labor is about the same as in many 
 parts of Europe, but is from three to five times 
 less than in most parts of the United States. 
 
 The currency of the country is adapted to this 
 cheap rate of living, and low price of labor. 
 The currency used in all parts of the empire is 
 a brass "cash," about the size of a twenty-cent 
 piece, quite thin, with a square hole through the 
 center. These are strung together in hundreds, 
 
38 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 and the hundreds tied in pairs, or links like a 
 log-chain, and sold in packages of four hundred, 
 six hundred, eight hundred, or one thousand 
 cash. A Mexican silver dollar is worth about 
 one thousand brass cash, so that a single brass 
 cash is about the value of one mill of our money. 
 This is the common currency in retail transac 
 tions of every day life in all parts of the em 
 pire. Mexican dollars and American trade dol 
 lars are also in circulation, but before they have 
 been long in circulation, they become what is 
 known in China as " chop-dollars." With a cold 
 chisel each banker punches his name or stamp 
 on the face of every dollar he handles ; and the 
 process, often repeated, soon spoils the face of 
 the poor dollar, covers it with Chinese letters 
 till not a letter of the original superscription can 
 be seen, lessens its weight, depreciates its value, 
 and retires it from the retail market. The banks, 
 in changing brass cash for silver dollars, always 
 take the dollars by weight, not by count. They 
 are exceedingly expert in detecting counterfeit 
 coin. In large mercantile transactions, payments 
 are made in sycee ; that is, in bars, lumps, or 
 masses of silver by weight, bearing the stamp 
 of the house issuing it. There is one custom 
 prevailing among the Chinese in financial mat 
 ters which is worthy of imitation ; that is, a 
 
CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 39 
 
 universal custom of squaring accounts at the 
 close of each year. The rule is that debts must 
 all be paid at that time; if payment can not be 
 made, mutual arrangements are made to con 
 tinue the account. The power of this custom is 
 so strong that it frequently produces fatal re 
 sults. The debtor, unable to pay or to make 
 satisfactory arrangements to continue the ac 
 count, becomes mortified and discouraged, and 
 commits suicide as the only means in his power 
 of canceling his financial obligations. 
 
 It can not be said that the Chinese generally ly/ 
 in their houses and personal habits of living are 
 a neat and clean people. They seem to us very 
 careless, even filthy in some of their habits, and 
 quite squeamish and particular in others. A 
 Chinaman s stomach turns at the sight and smell 
 of strong cheese ; but he regards fish in advanced 
 stages of decay with much less disfavor. They 
 bathe their persons often in warm weather. It 
 is a very common custom among all classes in 
 the Summer time, at the close of each day s work, 
 to take a sponge bath from a little bucket of 
 warm water. They do not believe in cold baths 
 under any circumstances. " Cold Water Cures " 
 have no advocates or patrons among the Chinese. 
 Their clothing also, especially in warm weather, 
 is frequently washed and kept comparatively 
 
40 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 clean. But on the other hand the water-carrier 
 might not think it out of place to wash his feet 
 in the water-bucket, and after a good rinsing 
 bring water in the same bucket for you to drink. 
 While living in Foo Chow, China, I saw an in 
 stance of this kind. Our man of all work was 
 called from digging in the garden to bring water 
 from the well. Both my wife and myself hap 
 pened to see the performance. He drew both 
 buckets full, coolly washed his feet and legs in 
 one bucket, then emptied out the water and 
 rinsed the bucket with water from the other. 
 This done, he again filled both buckets and 
 brought the water to the house for family use. On 
 being remonstrated with for his dirty trick, he re 
 spectfully suggested that our objections to the per 
 formance were not founded upon good and reason 
 able grounds. He was sorry he had offended us, 
 but maintained that the water in the well came out 
 of and through the ground, and that his feet and 
 legs were covered with the same kind of dust 
 and soil as the sides and surface of the well, and 
 therefore there could not be any thing really 
 dirty about it, and, as to the dust and soil get 
 ting into the water-bucket, he had been very 
 careful to rinse the bucket clean, and had brought 
 clear, pure water to the house. However, he 
 would scrub the bucket and do better next time. 
 
CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 41 
 
 But no ; wife would never use any water out of 
 that bucket again. So some new ones were 
 bought, doubtless greatly to the amusement of 
 the philosophic water-carrier. A Chinaman will 
 often scrub his teeth and rinse his mouth in 
 the same dish and same water in which he has 
 just washed his face, and they generally have 
 clean teeth. The Chinese dish-washer might not 
 think it amiss to wipe his face and your dinner 
 plate with the same cloth. But then, who has 
 not heard of that same class among white peo 
 ple doing just these same or worse things ? In 
 the cold weather the Chinese do not bathe their 
 persons so frequently, nor wash their clothing so 
 often, and the consequence is that they become 
 exceedingly filthy, and the clothing and persons 
 of the common people often become alive with 
 vermin. It is an exceedingly disgusting but not 
 an uncommon sight, in China, to see some chair- 
 bearer or other common laborer employing his 
 leisure moments in biting with his teeth the 
 scams of his clothing, in a wholesale slaughter 
 
 o * o 
 
 of vermin, the offspring of his own filth. But 
 the same thing is done in Rome and in Cork. 
 The Chinese are not the only filthy people in 
 the world. A man who employs a gang of white 
 men and a gang of Chinamen in the mines of 
 California told me this day that the Chinese were 
 
42 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 more cleanly in their camps and in their persons 
 than the whites. 
 
 Just as drunkenness is the curse and bane of 
 American society, just so opium smoking is the 
 curse and bane of the Chinese people. Just as 
 depraved, unprincipled white men will open 
 groggeries and drinking saloons, in order to en 
 rich themselves by the certain ruin of their 
 neighbors, just so depraved, unprincipled China 
 men, in order to enrich themselves, will open 
 dens for the certain ruin of their neighbors by 
 the consumption of opium. Just as white peo 
 ple know that the consumption of intoxicating 
 liquors leads to poverty, crime, and misery, just 
 so the Chinese know that the consumption of 
 opium leads to the certain ruin of their people. 
 Just as Christian governments are lavish in the 
 expenditure of money in erecting jails, prisons, 
 and hospitals, and in sustaining courts for the 
 punishment of the pitiful victims of the liquor 
 traffic without ever making a single effort to re 
 move the accursed cause, just so the Chinese 
 Government handles the opium curse. The use 
 of opium ruins about the same proportion of the 
 Chinese people that the use of liquor ruins of 
 our own people. Opium produces less of crirrie 
 than liquor, but not much less of poverty, dis 
 grace, and ruin. 
 
CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 43 
 
 Mr. W. H. Seward, in his "Voyage Round 
 the World," thus sums up the civilization of 
 China: "The Chinese though not of the Cau 
 casian race have all its moral and social adapta 
 bilities. Long ago they reached a higher plane 
 of civilization than most European nations at 
 tained until a much later period. The Western 
 nations have since risen above this plane, the 
 Chinese have made no advancement. 
 Although China is far from being a barbarous 
 state, yet every system and institution there is 
 inferior to the corresponding one in the West. 
 Whether it be the abstract sciences, such as phi 
 losophy and psychology, or whether it be the 
 practical forms of natural science, astronomy, ge 
 ology, geography, natural history, and chemistry ; 
 or the concrete ideas of government and laws, 
 morals and manners, whether it be the aesthetic 
 arts or mechanics; every thing in China is effete. 
 Chinese education rejects science. Chinese in 
 dustries proscribe invention. Chinese morals ap 
 peal not to conscience but to convenience. Chi 
 nese architecture and navigation eschew all im 
 provements. Chinese religion is materialistic, 
 not even mystic, much less spiritual. If we ask 
 how this inferiority has come about among a peo 
 ple who have achieved so much in the past, and 
 have such capacities for greater achievements in 
 
44 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the future, we must conclude that, owing to some 
 error in their social system, the faculty of inven 
 tion has been arrested in its exercise and im 
 paired." 
 
 This I believe to be a clear and correct state 
 ment of the facts concerning the civilization of 
 China ; but not so correct nor clear a conclusion 
 as to the causes which have produced the gen 
 eral stagnation which exists, as might be given. 
 The prime cause is not to be found in "some 
 error in their ancient social system," but in their 
 false religion, the universal prevalence of a debasing 
 idolatry. The minds of a people constantly given 
 to the study and practice of the endless cere 
 monies and ritual of innumerable gods made 
 with men s hands will never be interested in the 
 study of nature or nature s God. 
 
 "No people can rise above the plane of the gods 
 they ivors/np." The Chinese civilization long ago 
 rose to the level of their gods, and can never rise 
 higher till their dumb idols shall be discarded, and 
 the God of heaven be recognized in the thought 
 of the people as the only wise and true God. 
 
 We have now 150,000 of this people among 
 us, very few of whom are women and children. 
 The larger part are of the ignorant but indus 
 trious masses. We will now look at them in 
 this country. 
 
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 45 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 IN AMERICA, FROM THE STEAMER TO CHINATOWN, 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 THE arrival in San Francisco of a Pacific 
 mail steamship from China presents one of 
 the most novel sights seen in America. As the 
 steamer comes in through the Golden Gate and 
 steams up the bay to the wharf of the P. M. S. 
 S. Co., the Chinese passengers, who have spent 
 their time for the most part during the passage, 
 dozing in their narrow cots, now begin to swarm 
 about like bees in May. They have a great time 
 over their wardrobe, the most of which they take 
 ashore on their backs, putting on one suit above 
 the other, the new and clean ones generally out 
 side. In this way the new-comer often looks 
 cleaner than he really is. It is amusing to see 
 the piles of clothing which some of these fellows 
 will bring ashore on their backs. 
 
 This getting ready to go ashore makes quite 
 a busy time in that part of the ship occupied 
 by Chinamen, especially where there is a large 
 number of Chinese passengers. A thousand 
 
46 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 men, each with his personal baggage, huddled to 
 gether, in a space not large enough to make five 
 hundred persons comfortable ; all getting ready in 
 excitement and hurry to go ashore, in a new and 
 strange country ; washing and combing, talking 
 and laughing, looking and wondering, scolding 
 and quarreling, pushing and crowding; conceal 
 ing opium in one part of their clothing, and silk 
 handkerchiefs in another; determined to run a 
 chance of losing all in hope of gaining a little 
 all this presents a scene quite unique, and not 
 soon to be forgotten by those who have once wit 
 nessed it. 
 
 When the steamer reaches the wharf, the Eu 
 ropean and American passengers debark first. 
 After a few preliminaries, begins the swarming on 
 shore of the Chinese passengers. They pour out 
 in crowds like people from a theater or church. 
 Each man comes down the plank with his body 
 thickly wadded in clothing, and bringing his bun 
 dle and blankets with him. Relays of custom 
 house officials are on hand to examine the men 
 and their baggage. The Chinamen are ordered to 
 throw down their baggage, and the Custom-house 
 men go through with it without much ceremony. 
 On the one hand, it is marvelous to what tricks 
 the Chinamen will resort in efforts to smuggle 
 through a little opium or silk goods or curiosities 
 
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 47 
 
 of some kind. They tuck these things away in 
 the toes of their shoes, between the soles of their 
 shoes, in the seams and folds of their clothing, 
 in their hats and caps, in their blankets, and in 
 every possible, conceivable place. 
 
 Long acquaintance with these tricks makes 
 these Custom-house officials quite expert, and at 
 the present time the ordinary Chinese smuggler 
 stands a small chance of escaping detection. 
 But, on the other hand, these officials are not 
 only expert in detecting smuggled goods, they 
 arc also singularly careless in handling the per 
 sonal effects of these poor fellows ; and often 
 wantonly destroy or (according to Chinese au 
 thority) unlawfully appropriate to their own ben 
 efit many little articles of personal baggage not 
 subject to duty. And it is strongly hinted, by 
 those who ought to know something about it, 
 that some of those Custom-house collectors are 
 open to an arrangement with John Chinaman 
 for a division of the profits, in which case, the 
 officer although apparently practicing unusual 
 diligence, is quite unable to detect any thing 
 contraband. 
 
 The San Francisco press has more than once 
 intimated the existence of an organized system 
 of opium smuggling in connection with the Chi 
 nese trade, for which the Chinese are not alone 
 
48 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 responsible. Some three or four years ago an 
 honest and efficient officer came near losing his 
 life, because of his efforts to expose this ring. 
 He has since been superseded in his office, with 
 out doubt through the political influence of this 
 ring of smugglers. 
 
 It has long been suspected at the Custom 
 house that a considerable amount of smuggling 
 is successfully carried on by the employes and 
 crews of the China steamers ; the officials on the 
 wharf were instructed to look into the matter. 
 As a consequence, a number of Chinamen have 
 been detected in smuggling opium from the city 
 of Peking in the soles of their shoes. This is 
 only one of the various methods employed to 
 get the drug ashore without paying duty. As 
 only about six ounces can be concealed in a shoe, 
 the quantity thus smuggled can not be very 
 great. Smuggled goods have been discovered in 
 the coal-piles and steam-pipes of the engine-room, 
 in small quantities; but it is alleged that large 
 packages are taken ashore without any trouble. 
 The officers arc so exceedingly sharp in detect 
 ing "crooked " shoes and guilty-looking Chinese 
 laborers, that they have no time to look after 
 large boxes, bales and such unimportant articles 
 of merchandise." (San Francisco Chronicle, June 
 22, 1876.) 
 
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 49 
 
 The personal examination of each Chinaman 
 as he leaves the steamer is decidedly a unique 
 performance. The officer stops him, makes him 
 hold up his hands, and then manipulates him 
 from head to foot, fumbling over all the nooks 
 and corners of the ample folds of the sleeves and 
 legs of his clothing. The Chinaman seems to 
 consider the process as a part of our peculiar 
 civilization, and quietly submits to the perform 
 ance. Sometimes a flash of the eye and a burn 
 ing face tells that the process is distasteful even 
 to the Chinaman, but no resistance is ever of 
 fered. 
 
 Of course, it is very wicked and naughty of 
 these Chinese to undertake to cheat this Christian 
 Government by smuggling. But is it any worse 
 for the Chinese to smuggle merchandise into this 
 country than it is for Americans to smuggle mer 
 chandise into China? If our own people would 
 only practice the virtue of strict honesty which we 
 profess to teach, there might be much less diffi 
 culty in managing the Chinese. But when they 
 find that here, as in their own country, are govern 
 ment officers who stand ready to sell themselves 
 to the highest bidder they begin to doubt the ex 
 istence of the superior virtue of which we boast. 
 
 At last, the Custom-house officers have fin 
 ished manipulating the men, and have gone 
 
5O THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 through the baggage ; and now the Chinamen 
 gather up their scattered effects, and under the 
 direction of friends who have come to meet 
 them, or of the agents of the six companies, 
 they begin their journey from the steamer to the 
 Chinese Quarter of San Francisco. They pile, 
 pell-mell, into the express wagons provided for 
 them, or filling the wagons with their baggage, 
 they themselves run along behind and beside it, 
 closing up as near the wagon as possible, watching 
 anxiously lest the driver should prove to be a ras 
 cal, and run away with all their precious effects. 
 Often, and perhaps generally, they get through 
 the city without much serious annoyance; but the 
 roughs, or hoodlums, as they are called in San 
 Francisco, have frequent outbursts of active hos 
 tilities against Chinese immigration. At such 
 times the passage of these newly arrived heathen 
 through the streets of this Christian city, in these 
 United States of America, in this, the Nineteenth 
 Century, is like running the gauntlet among the 
 savages of the wilderness, a hundred years ago. 
 These Chinamen with their shaven crown and 
 braided cue, their flowing sleeves, their peculiar 
 trousers, their discordant language and their utter 
 helplessness, seem to offer especial attractions for 
 the practice of those peculiar amenities of life, for 
 which the San Francisco hoodlum is notorious. 
 
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 51 
 
 They follow the Chinaman through the streets, 
 howling and screaming after him to frighten him. 
 They catch hold of his cue, and pull him from 
 the wagon. They throw brickbats and missiles at 
 him, and so, often these poor heathen, coming 
 to this Christian land under sacred treaty stip 
 ulations, reach their quarter of this Christian 
 city covered with wounds and bruises and blood, 
 received at the hands^of parties whom the Chi 
 namen suppose to be fair representatives of this 
 boasted Christian civilization. Sometimes the po 
 lice have made a show of protecting the China 
 men, but too frequently the effort has been a heart 
 less one, and the hoodlums have well understood 
 their liberties under our sacred guardians of law 
 and order. 
 
 A few years ago this abuse of the Chinamen 
 was so frequent and so disgraceful, that our pri 
 vate citizens organized a Chinese Protective So 
 ciety," whose object was to do what the regular 
 police force either could not or would not do, that 
 is, to secure the arrest and punishment of those 
 who unlawfully assaulted the Chinamen. This 
 Society operated about one year, spent about six 
 thousand dollars, and kept a number of special 
 police especially to protect these helpless stran 
 gers. It secured the arrest and punishment of 
 a large number of villians who disgrace our 
 
52 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 civilization, and it demonstrated that the regular 
 police force, at any time, could, if it desired to 
 do so, protect these Chinamen from all such 
 assaults. 
 
 While truth compels me to write that the 
 largest part of this hostile opposition, and the 
 greatest number of these unlawful assaults, have 
 always been by the Irish Roman Catholics, I am 
 glad that truth also, permits me to say that an es 
 teemed fellow-citizen, Mr. Edward Bosqui, himself 
 a liberal French Roman Catholic, was an active 
 member and the efficient President of the " Chi 
 nese Protective Society." Truth also demands 
 that it should be told that the Chinese themselves 
 did not seem to appreciate the services of this 
 Society. They did not subscribe liberally to the 
 fund, giving only about six hundred dollars of the 
 six thousand dollars expended by the Society. 
 They seemed to take the view that the treaty ought 
 to protect them, and if there was any additional 
 expense, it belonged to the Americans to meet it, 
 and not to the Chinamen. 
 
 But, at last our ship-load of Chinamen has got 
 up into Chinatown. Here they breathe easier. 
 Though not so grand, nor so clean as Kearney 
 Street, or Montgomery Street, to these newly ar 
 rived Chinamen, Dupont and Jackson Streets seem 
 a very haven of delight. The hoodlum s voice 
 
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 53 
 
 has died away in the distance. Here Chinese 
 faces delight the vision, and Chinese voices greet 
 the ear. The Chinamen always thought that 
 the people of the "Great Flowery Middle King 
 dom " were superior to all the world besides, 
 and now he is sure that the civilization of China 
 is as good, to say the least, as the boasted civil 
 ization of these "Golden Mountains," whose peo 
 ple mob their invited guests. His prejudices 
 against other nations, and his conceit in favor of 
 China, are stronger now than ever before in all 
 his life the natural result of his first contact with 
 a Christian civilization on its own shores. 
 
 Our Chinamen are now housed for the time 
 being with their friends or clan, in Chinatown, 
 waiting for something to do. To save rent they 
 are packed in very closely and hardly have more 
 house room on shore than on the steamer. "In 
 every nook and corner, from cellar to garret, 
 wherever a breath of air can be coaxed to ful 
 fill its life -sustaining purposes, there you are 
 sure to find lively and apparently healthy 
 Mongolians. Sleeping where Americans would 
 smother for wanT~~of fresh~air^ the Chinaman 
 seems to thrive. It does not appear to injure 
 his health at all. It has come to be a mat 
 ter of serious doubt whether any atmospheric 
 conditions exist which a Chinaman s lungs can 
 
54 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 not readily convert into a vitalizing principle. 
 It is no uncommon thing to find in an apart 
 ment fifteen feet square three or four branches 
 of business carried on, employing in all, at least, 
 a dozen men. In apartments where the ceiling is 
 high, a sort of entresol story is fitted up, and 
 here a dozen are to be seen engaged in various 
 avocations, eating and sleeping upon and beneath 
 their work benches or tables." Many of these 
 people sleep in dark apartments in underground 
 cellars, where scarcely a single ray of light or 
 breath of pure, fresh air ever penetrates. These 
 rooms arc filled with bunks like the rooms for 
 passengers on ships and steamers, and by the 
 dim, flickering light of a little oil lamp the poor 
 wretches who clen there crawl into their misera 
 ble couches. 
 
 Under such circumstances, great order and 
 neatness is simply an impossibility. These ten 
 ement and lodging houses are generally filthy 
 and disgusting places. It is a marvel and a won 
 der though, that a Chinaman can come out of 
 such a place looking so clean and tidy as he often 
 does. And though able to enjoy confined air at 
 night, no people are more particular and care 
 ful to have plenty of pure, fresh air through 
 the day. 
 
 But what can these men find to do in this 
 
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 55 
 
 country? This is the important question to them 
 now. As has been already stated the great ma 
 jority of these Chinamen are of the poor, un 
 educated, industrious masses. They can only 
 hope, for the present at least, to perform the 
 most common and unskilled labor, and thus far, 
 they have had but little trouble in getting employ 
 ment of this kind. The supply has never been 
 so much in excess of the demand as to bring 
 wages down below living rates. 
 
 Thousands of these men, as many as ten thou 
 sand at one time, have been employed in building 
 railroads. It is almost certain, that without Chi 
 nese labor we should not as yet have had any 
 general system of railroad on this coast, nor any 
 railroad communication with the other side of the 
 Rocky Mountains. Our farms, and especially our 
 fruit ranches, demand Chinese labor. Up to this 
 time in California, even with the presence and com 
 petition of Chinese labor, the price demanded for 
 unskilled white labor is so high that capital em 
 ploying white- labor alone is unwilling to invest 
 largely in manufacturing or agricultural pursuits. 
 If we had not the Chinese amojig us our woolen 
 mills and our rope factories must be closed, and 
 our famous fruit ranches turned back into pas 
 ture grounds. Without the Chinese we could 
 not manufacture any thing on the Pacific coast, 
 
56 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 and compete with importations from the East. 
 The Chinese take kindly to all these industries, 
 and induce capital to invest in this direction. 
 But in all these industries made possible by the 
 Chinese there is required in all the ramifications 
 of the business more white than Chinese labor; 
 and, while the business itself would not be pos 
 sible without the Chinamen, yet the business 
 once made possible and commenced by the pres 
 ence of the Chinese, engages capital and creates 
 a demand for white labor which otherwise could 
 not find employment on this coast. 
 
 To the wives and daughters of our farmers 
 and fruit-growers the Chinamen bring both re 
 lief and blessing. A gang of workmen on a 
 farm or ranch work for so much a day or 
 month, finding themselves, attending to their own 
 commissary department, and cooking their own 
 food in some out-house provided for that purpose. 
 This relieves the women-folks from the burden 
 of cooking for and waiting upon a set of hungry, 
 fault-finding boarders all through th hottest sea 
 son of the year. In fruit-raising, for which Cali 
 fornia is wonderfully adapted, up to this time 
 Chinese labor is indispensable. 
 
 Probably not a single strawberry ranch in the 
 State is carried on, or could be carried on, with 
 any profit, without the employment of Chinese 
 
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 57 
 
 labor. This is a kind of industry in which the 
 Chinese excel all competitors. Yet, with this 
 industry carried on almost exclusively by " Chi 
 nese cite ap labor " our strawberries cost more by 
 the pound than in New York, Philadelphia, or 
 Chicago. In this business, if our producers 
 had to pay white laborers two dollars a day for 
 less efficient service than the Chinaman gives for 
 one dollar or one dollar and twenty-five cents 
 a day, who could afford to eat the fruit when 
 brought to market? As it is, even employing 
 Chinese labor, our producers pay as much a 
 pound or basket for picking as is paid by the 
 producers in New York, Delaware, or Maryland. 
 So, all over the Pacific Coast, there is a con 
 stant demand for Chinese labor simply because 
 steady, sober, reliable white labor can not be ob 
 tained at prices which capital can afford to pay. 
 It is impossible to gather any reliable statement 
 as to the number of Chinese employed in the 
 State of California and other parts of the Pacific 
 Coast on farms, ranches, mining claims, swamp 
 lands, and building roads. But, go where we 
 may, through the length and breadth of the State, 
 and all over the coast, and wherever we find any 
 body at all, there we find a Chinaman, ready and 
 willing to do any thing that needs to be done, 
 from the running of a steam-engine to the nurs- 
 
58 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 ing of the baby. They do a large part of the 
 laundry business in all the cities and villages of 
 the State, and yet we pay one dollar and fifty 
 cents a dozen for washing our linen, and poorly 
 done and badly torn it is even then. If the Chi 
 nese competition in the laundry business were 
 withdrawn California would have to come back, 
 for a while at least, to the good old days" of 
 early California life, when a man who could af 
 ford to wear clean linen "a biled shirt" was 
 considered a real nabob. 
 
 The Chinese vegetable vendors arc a great 
 convenience in San Francisco. There are about 
 one hundred and fifty of these peddlers who pay 
 ten dollars a quarter license, making a total of 
 yearly revenue to the city from this source, of 
 six thousand dollars. In baskets suspended from 
 each end of a shoulder-pole, these peddlers carry 
 an assortment of fresh vegetables and fruit every 
 day to all parts of the city. In the far away 
 suburbs, and on the high steep hills, inaccessible 
 by horse and wagon, these patient, toiling vend 
 ors are welcomed as a convenience and a blessing. 
 The housewife, far out in the outskirts of the city, 
 can purchase at her own door, each day, vegeta 
 bles and fruit as cheap and as fresh as her more 
 favored sisters who live near the market. This 
 fact adds greatly to the comfort of the suburban 
 
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 59 
 
 home, and increases the value of suburban real 
 estate. 
 
 Probably about one-fifth of all the Chinamen 
 in America are to be found in San Francisco. I 
 have endeavored to obtain reliable statistics as to 
 the various industries in which these Chinese arc 
 engaged, and the number of Chinamen employed 
 in each, with the following result : 
 
 Cigar Makers, ...... 7,500 
 
 Laumlry men, ...... 3,500 
 
 Sewing on machines, ..... 1,230 
 
 Soap Makers, ...... 231 
 
 Cigar-box Makers, ...... 324 
 
 Boot and Shoe Makers, .... 900 
 
 Slipper Makers, ...... 890 
 
 In Woolen Mills, ...... 540 
 
 Merchants, Traders, and Clerks, . . . 5,000 
 House Servants, ...... 4,500 
 
 House Painters, ...... 105 
 
 Saddle Makers, . ..... 140 
 
 Whip Makers, ...... 240 
 
 Harness Makers, . . . . . 130 
 
 Salt Makers, . . . . . . .145 
 
 Slone Cutters, ...... 145 
 
 Powder Makers, . . . . . .120 
 
 Broom Makers, , . . . . . 150 
 
 Coopers, . . . . . . . .140 
 
 In Lumber Mills, ..... 140 
 
 Silver Smiths and Wntch Makers, . . . 254 
 Making Chinese Clothing, only . . . 168 
 
 \Vomen, respectable families, .... 120 
 
 Women, enslaved prostitutes, . . . 2,600 
 Vegetable Vendors, . . . . 150 
 
 To this we may safely add three or four thou 
 sand for transient residents, agents, and offi 
 cers of various associations, loafers and vil 
 lains say . ...... 3,500 
 
 And we have a grand total of . . . 32,860 
 
60 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Thirty-two thousand eight hundred Chinese in 
 the city of San Francisco ! 
 
 But how are the farmers, manufacturers, and 
 labor contractors to engage these men, and how 
 can they work them when engaged ? This seems 
 to be a puzzle to strangers and visitors, and a 
 short way out of the difficulty has often been, to 
 say that all these working-men have been im 
 ported by the Six Companies, are owned by the 
 Six Companies, and can be rented, hired, or 
 bought, singly, or by the hundred, or by the 
 thousand, wholesale or retail, from the Six Com 
 panies. 
 
 But when we come to learn how it is done, 
 we do not find that farmers, or families, manu 
 facturers, or contractors, ever go to the Six Com 
 panies jointly or singly, to engage a single serv 
 ant or a gang of workmen for any purpose what 
 ever. There are numerous Chinese employment 
 agencies, similar to American employment agen 
 cies, which will undertake to furnish any num 
 ber and class of workmen desired. There is also 
 generally some one connected with each consid 
 erable mercantile house who will undertake to 
 fill a small order for workmen from those be 
 longing to his own class, or who have come from 
 his own immediate neighborhood. It is always 
 better to have the whole gang from the same 
 
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 6l 
 
 clan rather than from different clans. To every 
 gang of laboring men there ought to be one, at 
 least, who can understand and speak a little Eng 
 lish. This one acts as foreman, does little or no 
 work, and receives better pay than the workmen. 
 He is responsible for the good conduct and indus 
 try of the whole gang. He receives all the 
 wages and distributes the money among the 
 workmen, often keeping a percentage of every 
 man s wages to increase his own salary. China 
 men seem to recognize it as right that a percent 
 age of all moneys which a man has the privilege 
 of handling should stick to the hands of the 
 manipulator. There is, then, little or no trouble 
 in securing a company of Chinese laborers. We 
 shall not be obliged to consult the Six Compa 
 nies any more than we shall be obliged to con 
 sult the Central Pacific Railroad Company, or 
 the New York Mutual Insurance Company. I 
 have never known of these Companies furnishing 
 labor, and they constantly, both privately and 
 publicly assert that they do not transact busi 
 ness of that kind. The Chinese who have be 
 come Christian, and have severed all connection 
 with these Six Companies, corroborate this view 
 of the case. All that has to be done is simply 
 to go to a Chinese intelligence or employment 
 office some are kept by Chinamen, and some 
 
62 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 by white men state the number of men needed 
 and the kind of labor to be performed, agree 
 upon the time and terms of service, and the Chi 
 naman will generally keep his engagement. 
 
 As to the Six Companies, we will devote a lit 
 tle more time to them in a subsequent chapter. 
 Let us now take a walk through Chinatown. 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 63 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SCENES IN CHINATOWN, SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 LET us now take a walk up through China 
 town, and "see what we can see." Don t 
 be afraid of the distance, it is not far. China 
 town is close by; don t you smell it? 
 
 All countries have their own peculiar smell. 
 The very dogs of a country distinguish at a great 
 distance the smell of a foreigner from the smell 
 of a native. 
 
 The Frenchmen smells of -garlic ; the Irish 
 man smells of whisky and tobacco ; the German 
 smells of sour krout and lager, and smells strong 
 too ; the Englishman smells of roast beef and 
 " arf and arf;" the American smells of corn-cake 
 and pork and beans. The Chinese smell is a 
 mixture and a puzzle, a marvel and a wonder, a 
 mystery and a disgust ; but, nevertheless, you 
 shall find it a palpable fact. The smell of opium 
 raw and cooked, and in the process of cooking, 
 mixed with the smell of cigars, and tobacco 
 leaves wet and dry, dried fish and dried vegeta 
 bles, and a thousand other indescribable ingredi- 
 
64 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 ents ; all these toned to a certain degree by what 
 may be called a shippy smell, produce a sensa 
 tion upon the olfactory nerves of the average 
 American, which once experienced will not soon 
 be forgotten. But never mind, we shall not no 
 tice the smell so much when we get a little fur 
 ther into it, and have become a little more accus 
 tomed to it. 
 
 In China the streets are very narrow, and 
 without sidewalks for the use of pedestrians. 
 Burden carriers and foot passengers of every 
 grade all walk in the one narrow street, jostling 
 and crowding each other in strange confusion. 
 But in Chinatown, San Francisco, the streets are 
 wide and paved, and have sidewalks like the 
 streets and sidewalks of other parts of the city. 
 The buildings also in Chinatown are all of Amer 
 ican architecture, of a plain style. A few old 
 frame buildings are still standing, but as the 
 whole of Chinatown has been for some time 
 within the fire-limits, the most of the buildings 
 occupied by the Chinese are of brick, two or 
 three stories high, with a cellar or basement. 
 With these two exceptions, "China, as it is," 
 can be seen here in San Francisco almost as well 
 as in China itself. The streets are full of China 
 men and a few Chinese women dressed in Chi 
 nese fashion, the men with shaven crown and 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 65 
 
 braided cue, walking with a Chinese shuffle or a 
 Chinese swagger, and talking loudly in various 
 Chinese dialects. 
 
 One of the first things we shall notice, next 
 after the people themselves, will be the strange 
 sign-boards, telling us the name of the store or 
 business that may be carried on. The front of 
 their shops and stores and their numerous sign 
 boards are covered with gilt or gaudily painted 
 Chinese characters, perfectly unintelligible to 
 Americans unless translated into the English lan 
 guage as they sometimes are and then it even 
 puzzles the Yankee to grasp the full meaning of 
 an apothecary s sign, translated, "The Temple of 
 Heavenly Harmonies." As with Americans, so 
 often with the Chinese, the smaller the business 
 the more grandiloquent and sensational the an 
 nouncement. Large wholesale establishments 
 will perhaps be satisfied with the name of the 
 firm over the entrance in gilt letters, usually 
 read from right to left. Thus Wing Wo Sang 
 Co." would be written and read thus: 
 
 Sang Wo Wing 
 
 (Produces) (Harmony) (Everlasting) 
 
 The character Wing means everlasting; the 
 character Wo means harmony, and the char- 
 5 
 
66 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 acter Sang means to beget or to produce. So 
 there can be no discord in this company. The 
 character Wo, meaning harmony or mutual agree 
 ment, is very popular and much used in making 
 up these fanciful firm names. It is not custom 
 ary with the Chinese to give the names of the 
 parties composing the firm as the firm name, but 
 some fanciful, high-sounding phrase is selected. 
 Here, for instance, is this butcher-shop called 
 "Man Wo, Ten Thousand Harmonies." Such 
 phrases are peculiarly pleasing to the Chinese 
 mind, and are suggestive of good luck. A small 
 retail dealer will often cover the lintel and side- 
 posts of his door, or place a board vertically, 
 edge toward the street, both sides covered with 
 highly colored Chinese characters, announcing 
 the most magnificent firm name, and describing 
 in grandest style the wonderful things on hand 
 for sale. But here we are on Sacramento and 
 Dupont Streets, where we shall find quite large 
 and influential wholesale houses, some of which 
 are doing an extensive business. 
 
 Let us go into one. We shall most likely 
 find some one of the number who can speak a 
 little English. Boxes of tea and bags of rice 
 are piled up snugly in one part of the room. 
 There is a counter on one side, behind which is 
 the book-keeper, and perhaps also one or two 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 6/ 
 
 salesmen. The shelves on one side are filled with 
 a variety of lighter articles of merchandise, such 
 as shoes and clothing, indicating that somebody 
 does a little retailing in that line. There may 
 also be a drug -store in one corner. Quite a 
 number of men are sitting about, all calm and 
 serene. The Chinese are too conservative in 
 their nature to bustle and hurry in their trade. 
 If a man desires to purchase he will certainly 
 make some inquiries, and it will be time enough 
 to show him the goods when he gets ready to 
 ask for the particular kind he wishes to buy. 
 We are kindly received and asked to be seated. 
 One of the attendants brings tea in the tiniest of 
 little cups. Another, who understands Amer 
 ican tastes a little better, offers cigars, and those 
 who have been in America the longest sad 
 commentary on our social customs bring out 
 different kinds of wines and champagne. 
 
 These stores are all comfortably clean, and every 
 thing appears orderly. The principals and their 
 assistants and attendants are all comparatively neat 
 and clean in their persons. They are polite and 
 well behaved. Using, as they do, a vast amount 
 of capital in this country, doing a legitimate busi 
 ness in a legitimate way, this class of Chinese 
 in the aggregate must add largely to the revenues 
 of the city, and aid in the development of the 
 
68 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 State. Receiving the parting salutations of our 
 newly made acquaintances, we will walk on. 
 "What humming and buzzing is this we hear?" 
 "Just look here; this is not a store, this is a 
 work-shop." Yes, here are twenty sewing-ma 
 chines, busy ten hours daily, all run by China 
 men making coarse drilling into overalls. The 
 machines stand pretty close together, and the 
 room seems small for so many workmen; but 
 they look healthy and happy, talking and chatting 
 as they work. 
 
 The Chinese nearly, if not wholly, monop 
 olize the manufacture of these overalls in Cali 
 fornia. But then, until the Chinese began to 
 make them, none were made on this coast, the 
 entire supply being imported from the East. 
 Here is another shop running about the same 
 number of machines and men, working up flan 
 nel undershirts and drawers. Here is a sign, 
 "Shirt Maker." In this place they make gen 
 tlemen s fine shirts for some wholesale establish 
 ment, taking the liberty, now and then, to make 
 a dozen or so to sell as a private venture. I 
 know of a Chinaman, who, for some time, has 
 made the finest bosoms for the finest of gentle 
 men s shirts that are sold in one of the most 
 hicfh-toned stores of San Francisco. Since the 
 
 o 
 
 recent Anti-Chinese crusade, white^ labor is pro- 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 69 
 
 fessedly employed, to make these fine bosoms, 
 but the fact is, the same Chinaman makes them 
 still, only, as he says, "Now, I make em 
 secret." 
 
 Here, on Jackson Street, is a silversmith. 
 About a dozen men are employed here in mak 
 ing finger-rings, hair-pins, and other Chinese 
 ornaments. The sign over this shop when trans 
 lated reads, "Hand-craft." Close by is a shoe- 
 factory, using all kinds of modern machinery, 
 and employing about twenty-five men, making 
 ladies boots, shoes, and slippers. The China 
 men have got hold of a considerable part of this 
 business. At first they only made coarse, cheap 
 slippers, but now quite a number of shops are 
 engaged only in making ladies boots and shoes. 
 There is a tin-shop just around the corner on 
 Dupont Street, and here, on Washington Street, 
 the Chinamen manufacture all kinds of ladies 
 fine underwear. Some people will object to this, 
 but if the women would only make their own, 
 the Chinamen would not get the job. We can 
 hardly blame the Chinese for making them. 
 Surely it is better that the Chinamen make these 
 indispensable articles than that the dear people 
 should go without them. 
 
 But here is a three-storied building, with bal 
 conies on the second and third stories, gaudily 
 
/O THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 painted with deep green, and trimmed with red. 
 A profusion of Chinese lanterns suspended in 
 these balconies helps to give the place a peculiarly 
 Oriental appearance. This is a Chinese restaurant. 
 Like the other Californians, many of the China 
 men board in restaurants. The merchants usually 
 keep a cook and a small kitchen in the rear of 
 their establishments, and use the principal store 
 room for a dining-room, but they all go to the 
 restaurants for party dinners ; and thousands of 
 the common people live constantly in them. The 
 cheap cellar eating houses are exceedingly filthy 
 places ; but these more pretentious restaurants on 
 Dupont and Jackson Streets are, as you see, 
 quite respectable in their appointments and gen 
 eral appearance. 
 
 The Chinese cooking is more like the French 
 than the English. They are fond of cutting every 
 thing up fine, and mixing different things together. 
 Their meats are usually well cooked, and some of 
 their pastry is light, though not generally so. The 
 principal drawbacks to the enjoyment of a real 
 Chinese dinner are two: the inability of Ameri 
 cans to use chopsticks, and the fact that many of 
 the dishes taste of rancid oil or strong butter. 
 The principal dishes are prepared and placed on 
 the table within reach of all. Then each one 
 drives his own chopsticks into the common dish 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 71 
 
 and carries a piece to his mouth. This requires 
 considerable skill and practice. Americans gen 
 erally find many a slip between the cup and 
 the lip." If you get a bone in your mouth after 
 getting all the meat off, just turn your head and 
 drop the bone on the floor. The Chinamen often 
 indulge in a social dinner, each one paying his 
 share, costing each from two dollars and a half to 
 five dollars, and over. These high-toned restaur 
 ants also keep knives, forks, plates, table-cloths, 
 and napkins, and can, on due notice, get up 
 quite a respectable American dinner. 
 
 Plain living in a common restaurant can be 
 had by a Chinaman for eight to ten dollars a 
 month. Good living will cost from fifteen to 
 twenty dollars a month, according to the taste 
 and ability of the boarder. In company with 
 the Rev. Dr. Newman, Mrs. Newman, and Rev. 
 Dr. Sunderland, of Washington City, and Dr. J. 
 T. M Lean, of San Francisco, I once took a Chi 
 nese dinner at the restaurant on Jackson Street. 
 Dr. Newman took hold and ate like a hungry 
 man, and when I thought he must be about filled, 
 he astonished me by saying that the meats were 
 excellent, and were it not that he had to deliver 
 a lecture that evening, he would take hold and 
 eat a good hearty dinner. Dr. Sunderland did 
 not seem to relish things quite so well. But Mrs. 
 
72 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Newman relishing some of the meats, and failing 
 to get the pieces to her mouth with the chop 
 sticks, wisely threw aside all conventional no 
 tions, used her fingers instead of chopsticks, and, 
 as the Californians would say, "ate a square 
 meal." In every Chinese restaurant of any pre 
 tensions is a raised platform or dais under a can 
 opy, provided with pipe and pillow for the use 
 of opium smokers. Opium is the curse of the 
 Chinese, just as intoxicating liquor is the curse 
 of Americans. 
 
 Now let us visit one of the Chinese Temples. 
 The Chinese have opened their heathen tem 
 ples, and set up their heathen idols and altars 
 in this Christian land; and instead of our convert 
 ing their temples into Christian churches, they 
 have absolutely changed one of the first Protest 
 ant churches of this city into a habitation for 
 heathen. One of these heathen temples, or an 
 apology for one, is to be found in almost every 
 place where any number of Chinamen have taken 
 up their abode. Some four or five of consider 
 able pretensions, in a Chinese way, are to be 
 found in San Francisco, besides a number of 
 smaller ones. Each of the famous Six Compa 
 nies, with the exception of the Yan Wo Com 
 pany, owns or controls a temple. In these tem 
 ples are "gods many and lords many," and god- 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 73 
 
 desses and attendant divinities, and tablets and 
 inscriptions, and incense sticks and incense urns, 
 and elaborate carvings in the most grotesque of 
 designs, and gongs and bells with which to arouse 
 the gods when too drowsy to hear the prayers of 
 the people; and priests to teach the poor devo 
 tee the ceremonials of his worship. They do not 
 have congregational worship at stated times as 
 Christian people do. There are certain feast-days 
 and birthdays of their gods and goddesses, when 
 large crowds throng the temples, with their offer 
 ings and prayers ; but single straggling worship 
 ers may be found in these temples almost every 
 hour of the day. 
 
 One of the principal Chinese "joss-houses" is 
 called the "Eastern Glorious Temple." This 
 temple is largely owned and controlled by Dr. 
 Lai Po Tai, a Chinese quack doctor, who is said 
 to have accumulated a large fortune practicing 
 medicine among a class of weak-minded, easily 
 duped Americans, both men and women. In 
 the central hall of this temple we find a trio of 
 gods. The central figure is known by the high- 
 sounding title " The Supreme Ruler of the Somber 
 Heavens" and has control of the northern re 
 gions. He is pretty good at preventing confla 
 grations, and so is sometimes called the Water 
 God." He eats vegetables only. Sitting at the 
 
74 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 left hand of the Supreme Ruler of the Somber 
 Heavens is a black, ugly-looking fellow, the 
 Chinese god of war, sometimes called the " Mili 
 tary Sage." This god is worshiped in order to 
 become brave and courageous. At the right 
 hand of The Supreme Ruler of the Somber Heav 
 ens is a calm-faced image, "The Great King of 
 the Southern Ocean." This god is said to be 
 very large-hearted, almost boundless in the sweep 
 of his benevolence. 
 
 These are only a specimen of the many 
 heathen deities which adorn the Chinese temples 
 of this city and coast. No engraving or descrip 
 tion can give any adequate idea of the debasing 
 influence of idolatry. To the true Christian it is 
 utterly disgusting and abhorrent. Christianity is 
 making some weak efforts to show our Chinese 
 brethren a better way. 
 
 Now we will go down to the theaters. There 
 are two principal ones, both on Jackson Street, 
 between Kearney and Dupont, on opposite sides 
 of the street and almost facing each other. Right 
 beside the one, and just facing the other is the 
 "Foke Yam Tong ;" that is, "The Gospel Tem 
 ple," or, in plain English, "The Methodist 
 Chapel;" so we shall have a chance to compare 
 these rival institutions a Chinese theater and a 
 Methodist Chapel. 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 75 
 
 We will look into this barber-shop as we pass, 
 and see how things are done in that line. The 
 head and face are washed in warm water, but no 
 lather is used. See this performance. The head 
 is shaved, the face is shaved, the forehead is 
 shaved, the ears are scraped, and the cue is 
 braided. If a Caucasian should shave his face 
 and forehead in that way, both would soon be 
 covered with bristles. But the Chinamen are 
 not much given to beard. In China it is not the 
 custom for a boy under forty years of age to al 
 low his beard or mustache to grow long. A 
 very good custom for them, for the most of them 
 could not grow whiskers if they should try. 
 There are few exceptions to this general state 
 ment, as occasionally we see a Chinaman with 
 quite a heavy beard, who might grow a respect 
 able crop of whiskers if he should try. It is not 
 customary, however, for Chinamen to wear side 
 whiskers. Old men wear a mustache and goatee. 
 Considerable attention is paid to the cue, or, 
 (< pig-tail," as it is often called in derision. This 
 must be nicely combed and braided and left with 
 a silk tassel at the end. Chinese dandies pay 
 great attention to this part of their toilet. This 
 cue is often in the way ; workmen uniformly 
 twist it around the head, but gentry, scholars, 
 men of leisure and society, never. This shaving 
 
76 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of the head and braiding of the cue is a very 
 singular custom, but it is universal among the 
 Chinese ; and although thousands of these in 
 America would be glad to adopt our custom of 
 wearing the hair at least while in this country 
 still such is the power of custom and prejudice 
 that a Chinaman loses caste, and is tabooed by 
 his countrymen, as soon as he makes the inno 
 vation and cuts off his cue. Even those who in 
 their hearts would like to do such a thing, openly 
 ridicule the change. This shaving the head and 
 wearing the cue is not, as many people suppose, 
 a religious custom at all. It has no more to do 
 with the religion of the Chinese, their religious 
 rites and ceremonies, than has an American bar 
 ber-shop to do with the sacraments of the Chris 
 tian religion. 
 
 Newspaper writers have sometimes told their 
 readers that only Christian Chinese leave off the 
 cue and adopt the American style of dress. 
 That is a mistake. Some two or three Chinese 
 Christians have adopted the American dress 
 and haye discarded the cue, but the Chinese 
 Christians generally have not done so. The mis 
 sionaries, who understand their business rather 
 better than newspaper writers do, know that true 
 religion requires a change of heart rather than 
 a change in the cut of the hair. A number of 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 77 
 
 Chinese who are very far from being Christians 
 have also changed their dress and discarded the 
 cue. It is probable that one-half of the Chi 
 nese in America would really be glad to adopt 
 our fashions in this matter, if there could be a 
 general move in that direction. But if they 
 should .do this, on returning to China custom 
 would compel them to resume the cue and the 
 Chinese dress. Probably this cue business is 
 more in the way of Americanizing the Chinese 
 than any other one thing. So long as the cue 
 is retained the Chinese fashion of dress will be 
 retained, and these two things will forever make 
 them a distinct and peculiar people. If they 
 would adopt our customs in these things, they 
 would not be so much more peculiar than the 
 Japanese, Italians, or Portugese, and then the 
 way would be opened for further and more rapid 
 assimilation. Doubtless assimilation will come 
 in time, but the Chinese are extremely conserv 
 ative, and it takes a long time to permeate the 
 thought of a whole Chinese community with a 
 favorable notion of any change in their national 
 customs. But while they are conservative on 
 the one hand, on the other hand they are ex 
 ceedingly material and practical in all their ways 
 and modes of thought, and so this friction with 
 a higher civilization will have its influence upon 
 
78 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 them in the course of time. In all practical 
 matters, show the Chinaman a better way than 
 his own, give him time to consider it carefully 
 in all its bearings, place him in competition 
 with it, and he is altogether too human not to 
 adopt it, to some extent at least. 
 
 But we started to go from the restaurant to 
 the theater, and have spent all this time in this 
 barber-shop. Here is one theater, and there, 
 just across the street, is the other. I have vis 
 ited these Chinese theaters several times as a 
 matter of curiosity and to show the travelers of 
 the East the sights of Chinatown. But not be 
 ing well versed in such matters, I will give the 
 readers a description of them copied from the San 
 Francisco Chronicle, which corresponds with my 
 own observations as far as made: 
 
 "The Chinese are passionately fond of dram 
 atic performances. The plays generally repre 
 sent some historical train of events, extending 
 through the reign of a dynasty or an interesting 
 national epoch. Very little is left to the imagi 
 nation of the spectator, and the literal text of the 
 drama does not develop a plot with any thing 
 like the rapidity and dispatch which characterize 
 our American and English plays. The Chinese 
 play is emphatically a physical delineation of 
 events from beginning to end. The most trivial 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 79 
 
 occurrences of life are faithfully portrayed, and at 
 times very questionable and obscene practices are 
 represented, but not often. Two or three months 
 are generally consumed before all the acts of a 
 play are finished. Chinese actors are not held in 
 high estimation, and the starring system is not 
 known among them. There are two Chinese 
 theaters in this city, the most popular of which is 
 the Chinese Royal Theater on Jackson Street, be 
 tween Dupont and Kearney. 
 
 " When one of the characters in the play falls 
 upon the stage, either from the effects of a blow 
 or a fainting attack, supernumeraries at once step 
 forward and place under the head of the fallen 
 man or woman a small block of wood or other 
 substance, for a pillow. A slain person lies in 
 this way until the end of the scene, when he 
 coolly arises and walks off the stage in full view 
 of the entire audience. The stage has no flies, 
 shifting scenes, or drop curtain, but is simply an 
 elevated platform, with two doors at the rear, 
 through which the actors make their entrance 
 and exit. The orchestra occupies the rear of 
 the stage, keeping up an infernal din with gongs, 
 Chinese guitars, and fiddles, triangles and cym 
 bals, throughout the dialogue. On either side of 
 the performers, upon the stage, not less than a 
 dozen actors and attaches sit and lounge about, 
 
80 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 smoking, munching sugar-cane or sweetmeats, 
 and at times even crossing the stage while a 
 scene is in progress. The audience at a Chinese 
 theater never applauds. Occasionally a half- 
 suppressed murmur of satisfaction is heard, but 
 no clapping of hands, stamping with feet, whis 
 tles or cat-calls are indulged in. The men sit 
 with their hats on, generally posting themselves 
 upon the backs of the seats instead of on the 
 benches. Smoking and eating are constantly in 
 progress among the spectators, and the practice 
 of running in and out of the theater during the 
 play is indulged. The auditorium of the Royal 
 Chinese Theater does not compare favorably with 
 the plainest arrangements of one of our cheap 
 traveling circuses in the country. There is a 
 parquette capable of seating about six hundred, 
 and a circle or gallery where four or five hundred 
 can stow themselves. Near the stage, and ele 
 vated eight or ten feet above it, are three so-called 
 private boxes, but they are barren of any thing 
 like decoration or special comfort. On the oppo 
 site side is a small gallery for female visitors, with 
 a seating capacity of about forty persons. These 
 sit with their feet elevated upon the balcony rail, 
 and smoke and eat throughout the performance. 
 The costumes of the actors are grotesque, some 
 times hideous, in the extreme. Occasionally a 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 8 1 
 
 little dancing diversifies the play, but this is an 
 exercise never indulged in by the Chinese off 
 the stage. They can not understand why peo 
 ple should exhaust themselves in this way when 
 they can employ actors to do it for them. The 
 price of admission varies according to the time 
 of application for a ticket. Those who go at 
 eight o clock pay four bits ; at ten only two bits 
 are charged, and at an hour or two later admission 
 can be had for one bit. Judged from an American 
 stand-point, those who attend a Chinese theater 
 ought to receive a good salary paid in advance" 
 
 To this I may add, that although the Chinese 
 theatricals do not show much dancing, yet they 
 do sometimes exhibit rare feats in tumbling, 
 jumping, turning cart-wheels, etc. This part of 
 a Chinese theatrical performance is really amus 
 ing and worth seeing for once. You will notice 
 in looking into the theater, while a play is going 
 on, that both the auditorium and the gallery are 
 well filled ; a perfect sea of black hats, but not a 
 woman in the whole crowd of one thousand per 
 sons. Up there in a little side gallery may be 
 forty or fifty women and children. And that is 
 about the proprotion of the sexes in this country. 
 
 We have stayed long enough in the theater. 
 What music is that we hear across the way. It 
 sounds like a Sunday-school organ, and the tune 
 6 
 
82 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 is "Nettlcton." Some persons are evidently 
 singing a hymn, though we can not distinguish 
 the words. The Chinamen are flocking into that 
 little place across the street, seemingly curious to 
 see what new music that may be. We will go 
 in and see what is going on. Over the door are 
 three large Chinese characters, and on the glass 
 windows is written in English letters, "Foke 
 Yam Tong, " and here it says, "Methodist 
 Chapel." The room seems to be a common 
 store, now fitted and furnished as a chapel. 
 
 The walls and ceilings are nicely covered with 
 paper frescoing, and at intervals, on either side, 
 are Scripture quotations in the Chinese language. 
 Back of the speaker s platform are the Ten Com 
 mandments, also in Chinese characters. The 
 room is small, having a seating capacity of about 
 seventy-five, with a little space for standing room. 
 In the rear of this audience-room is a small in 
 fant school-room, where a school for Chinese 
 children is conducted by H. W. Stowe at his own 
 expense, he devoting his time to the work of 
 the Savior among the Chinese, and trusting to 
 the Lord to provide the necessary means. Thus 
 far the Lord has sustained him. On the little 
 platform is the organ we heard, and there sits 
 the preacher, just beginning another tune; the 
 house is now pretty well filled, and he is about 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 83 
 
 to begin some kind of service. There is a frame 
 on the stand filled with Christian hymns in the 
 Chinese language. The preacher has selected one, 
 and now he starts in. You do not understand 
 the words, but you know the tune, and so you 
 sing too : 
 
 Jesus loves me, this I know." 
 
 The Chinamen listen with a strange curiosity, and 
 wonder what all this means. 
 
 By this time the room is crowded full and 
 many are standing by the door, among them 
 some white people. That decent-looking man, 
 who stands with his hat raised, is a stranger in 
 the city, and has some respect for the Gospel of 
 Christ. That man who looks defiance, and mut 
 ters fearful curses against the missionaries and 
 against the Chinese in general, is a valiant mem 
 ber of some Anti-Chinese League, who believes 
 that this country was only made for Patrick and 
 Biddy. That seedy-looking man, who stands 
 weeping, is a poor, miserable fellow, who once, 
 in other and better days, in some village church 
 in the East, sang those same tunes and wor 
 shiped with parents, brothers and sisters at the 
 altars of Jesus. But whisky has been his ruin. 
 He is now a hopeless slave to his cruel master, 
 and even while weeping at the recollection of 
 those early days of pure joy, he is partially under 
 
84 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the influence of liquor. The Chinamen sit pas 
 sive and unmoved waiting to see what next. 
 The hymn finished, the preacher speaks a few 
 words in a pleasant colloquial style, and then all 
 stand up while he prays for God s blessing. 
 During the prayer some of the Chinamen go 
 out, evidently fearing that some secret mystic 
 influence may be exercised upon them. Others 
 remain sitting, fearing that if they stand they 
 will be numbered among the Christians. After 
 the prayer the preacher reads a few verses in the 
 Bible, and then to the best of his ability expounds 
 the Gospel of salvation. These services usually 
 last an hour, but often, and especially on Sun 
 days, they are continued for two hours ; and this 
 has been the rule for every day in the week ex 
 cept Saturdays for the last four years. 
 
 The missionary aids the native preacher in this 
 work once or twice a week, but it is the plan 
 that the native preacher shall do most of this 
 work. Rev. Hu Sing Mi, an ordained deacon, 
 transferred from the Foo Chow China Mission, 
 was the first native preacher in this chapel. 
 Next was Chow Loke Chee, the first Chinese 
 convert of the Methodist Mission in San Fran 
 cisco. Then Chan Pak Kwai, now stationed in 
 San Jose, and now Lau Hok Han. These three 
 last were all converted in connection with the 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 85 
 
 Methodist Mission in San Francisco, and have 
 given evidence of the soundness of their conver 
 sion and of their call to the work of the Master. 
 Chow Loke Chee is now in China with the Wes- 
 leyan Mission in Canton. A few years since 
 Lau Hok Han was an inveterate opium smoker, 
 and got his living in part by making cigars, and 
 partly by playing the flute at the Chinese thea 
 ter. He seems to be truly converted, and 
 preaches quite fluently, and sometimes with 
 marked effect. His seated congregation varies 
 from thirty-five to seventy-five, but his voice is 
 loud and clear, and can be readily heard by per 
 sons in the adjoining stores and by the roomers 
 and lodgers above and below, so that his actual 
 hearers will average more than a hundred. 
 
 Probably five thousand different Chinamen 
 learn something of the Gospel of Christ in this 
 chapel during the year. No other mission has 
 as yet been able to secure a chapel or preaching 
 place in Chinatown proper. It seems strange 
 that the Methodist mission does not rent the ad 
 joining store, and enlarge the chapel by one-half. 
 If the room were twice as large twice the num 
 ber would attend. This chapel preaching, though 
 not productive of immediate and palpable results, 
 is a great seed sower. On Sundays, the Chinese 
 Christians volunteer in a regular Methodist way 
 
86 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 to exhort or preach, and the native Christians 
 from the other missions come in and help, so 
 that the Sunday services often occupy nearly the 
 whole afternoon. At six o clock P. M., Sun 
 day, there is a <( Chinese Mission Sunday-school " 
 in the Chinese language in this chapel, conducted 
 altogether by Chinese, Lau Hok Han superin 
 tendent. About forty persons usually attend. 
 The only books used are the New Testament and 
 the Hymn-book. 
 
 The constant preaching of the Gospel of Jesus 
 in this Chapel has had the effect, at least, to ex 
 cite the Chinese to a little active effort to teach 
 their own peculiar national doctrines. During 
 the last few months the Chinese have employed 
 a teacher or preacher from China to read and ex 
 pound the teachings of Confucius, and the cere 
 monials of heathen worship. The theater has 
 been used for this purpose, so that in the after 
 noon, while Christian Chinamen have been ex 
 pounding the Gospel of Jesus in the " Gospel 
 Temple," a heathen Chinaman has been expound 
 ing the philosophy of Confucius and the ceremo 
 nial of idolatry in a heathen theater, on the op 
 posite side of the street. Of this Chinese preach 
 ing of Confucian philosophy The Chronicle of 
 May 30, 1876, says: 
 
 "For a long time our celestial residents have 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 8/ 
 
 been keeping a suspicious eye on the inroads the 
 Christian religion has been making in their ranks. 
 They noted with alarm the capture of some of 
 their brightest young men by the irrepressible 
 missionaries, and to stay the progress of Chris 
 tianity, and at the same time fix the love of coun 
 try firmly in the mind of the heathen horde, the 
 Six Companies have inaugurated a series of pro 
 tracted meetings of the most approved fashion ; 
 but, instead of the Bible, the law and gospel as 
 laid down is taken direct from the musty vol 
 umes of the great Confucius. These meetings 
 were commenced three weeks ago at the Luk 
 San Fung Theater, on Jackson Street, and are 
 now being held every day when the theater is not 
 engaged with rehearsals for the Chinese drama. 
 The expounder of the doctrines of Confucius is 
 one Fung Chee Pang, a man of high standing 
 among the Chinese literati, and bearing the title 
 of Kong Sung, equivalent, probably, to D. D., 
 or, LL. D. of our degrees. This Dr. Pang, as 
 he may be termed, has been in the city but a 
 short time, yet he has succeeded in stirring up 
 quite a revival among the almond-eyed horde. 
 From six hundred to one thousand people at 
 tend his lectures and meetings, and they are said 
 to be wonderfully interesting and attractive, not 
 withstanding the fact they are several hours long, 
 
88 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 lasting from eleven o clock in the morning until 
 four o clock in the afternoon." 
 
 But now, look over there. What is done in 
 that curious place across the way ? There stands 
 a man at the door, who seems to be a watchman, 
 or door-keeper, though people go in and come 
 out, without paying entrance fees. The narrow 
 hall or passage leads back some six or eight 
 feet to a thick, heavy, plank door, with a little 
 hole in it, and a man peeping through the hole. 
 There is another thick door before we get into 
 the room, also with a hole in it and a string 
 through the hole. In the passage-way a gas-light 
 is always burning, night and day. The whole 
 arrangement is very curious indeed. Let us look 
 at the sign and see what it says. Here are four 
 Chinese characters on a narrow, perpendicular 
 piece of paper: 
 
 Pay Hoy Yeah Yat 
 
 which translated into English, reads, "The gam 
 ing table is open day and night." The man at 
 the door is to draw custom, and to warn of ap 
 proaching danger. The heavy doors, with great, 
 strong cross-bars, are to obstruct and delay the 
 entrance of police detectives who may be sent to 
 arrest them. The string pulled by the man at 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 89 
 
 the door gives warning to the gamblers inside, of 
 approaching danger. Trap doors in the rear, or 
 openings in the ceiling, give opportunity to escape. 
 We shall notice a number of these places on Jack 
 son and Dupont Streets, and here is an alley lead 
 ing from Jackson to Washington Street, that is 
 literally full of them. These are all carried on 
 contrary to law, and in the face and eyes of 
 "special police." Very reliable and abundant 
 Chinese authority assures me that the "specials " 
 receive five dollars a week from each gambling 
 house for protecting them, and if by any means 
 the Police Department should order a bona fide 
 arrest and prosecution of these scamps, either the 
 "specials," or some "regular" in their interest 
 hastens to inform them in time to make their 
 escape. 
 
 A few months ago, in the course of an hour, 
 I counted eighty of these gambling dens, and 
 then did not count them all; but 8ox$5.oo= 
 $400.00 a week, or, $1600.00 a month. Besides 
 this weekly sum, each gambling house pays thir 
 teen dollars a month to certain persons supposed 
 to represent the "City Hall," whatever that 
 may be; 80 x $13 $1,040 + $i, 600 = $2,640 
 monthly corruption fee, paid by this Chinese 
 gambling fraternity. And it is a very humiliat 
 ing fact that the most, if not all of this money 
 
90 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 is paid to "white men," to persons who are 
 under solemn official obligations to arrest and 
 prosecute these criminals. The profits of the 
 gambling fraternity must be quite large, since 
 after paying so much in bribes and high rents 
 they still seem to get rich. The Chinese people 
 are passionately fond of gambling, and these vil 
 lains take advantage of this national weakness of 
 their countrymen to rob thousands of the simple- 
 minded laborers of a good share of their hard- 
 earned wages. 
 
 Of course it is very wicked of these " heathen 
 Chinee " to offer bribes for the purpose of tempt 
 ing good "Christian people," "white people;" 
 but what shall we say of these "white Chris 
 tians " who, as officers of the peace and good 
 conduct of a great city, always carry an open 
 hand to receive these bribes and protect the 
 criminals. These same men, their pockets lined 
 with bribe money which they have eagerly re 
 ceived, have been fierce in their denunciation of 
 the dishonesty and mendacity of the Chinese. 
 Well did the Chinese memorialists to President 
 Grant say, "If officers of this honorable govern 
 ment would refuse to take bribes, then unprin 
 cipled Chinamen could no longer purchase im 
 munity from the punishment of their crimes." 
 Since the present excitement on the Chinese ques- 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 9! 
 
 tion began, the exposure of this bribery system has 
 been so complete that a little vigor from the ne 
 cessity of the case has been shown, and many 
 of these gambling places have been temporarily 
 closed. I say temporarily closed, because only 
 a few of these places have been changed in form 
 to make them available for any other purpose 
 than gambling. The proprietors, reasoning as 
 "special officer" McKenzie did, "Times are bad 
 just now, but every business has its dark hour." 
 Both the bribers and the bribed are evidently 
 waiting for the present excitement to die out, 
 when they hope to reap another rich harvest. 
 
 There is one element of this Chinatown which 
 we must leave for the present, and devote the 
 whole of a subsequent chapter to a history and 
 discussion of "Chinese Women in America." 
 
 We ought not to call our trip finished, how 
 ever, without calling at Chy Lung s, on Sacra 
 mento Street, between Montgomery and Kear 
 ney, or at Chin Lee s on Kearney Street, or at 
 King Tai s under the "Palace Hotel," and see 
 their wonderful variety of Chinese Curiosities, 
 lacquered boxes, vases, tea-trays, and ivory carv 
 ings. We will now refresh our general impres 
 sions of the whole trip through Chinatown by 
 reading the following quotation: 
 
 "The Street peculiarities of the quarter are 
 
92 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 typical of its Mongolian character. The predom 
 inating colors which greet the eye are red and 
 gilt, most of the signs and insignia of business 
 consisting of bright, red letters. These signs 
 read vertically instead of horizontally, frequently 
 extending from the lintel to the threshold of the 
 door. The sidewalks on either side are crowded 
 with stalls for the sale of fruit, sweetmeats, and 
 a thousand articles familiar only to the Mongolian 
 appetite and taste. In a space not two feet wide 
 and three feet long, a cobbler finds room on the 
 sidewalk to carry on his trade. Every nook and 
 irregularity between doors and flanking entrances 
 to basements are occupied by cobblers, tinkers, ra 
 zor-sharpeners, fruit-sellers, and other curb-stone 
 merchants. Some of these pay a small rental 
 for the privileges they enjoy, but many are free 
 tenants. During the evening the leading streets 
 of the quarter are more thronged and crowded 
 by pedestrians than any other portion of the 
 city, and yet they seem to wire in and wire out 
 of each other s way without serious inconven 
 ience or collision. The theaters, the restaurants, 
 the joss-houses, and some other buildings are 
 fancifully decorated and illuminated on their bal 
 conies and upper stories during the evening, and 
 Chinese lanterns of all sizes and shapes flutter 
 and flicker in front of all public places." 
 
SCENES IN CHINATOWN. 93 
 
 In some parts of this Chinatown through 
 which we have passed are underground cellars, 
 where the poorest and vilest Chinese lodge, pre 
 senting a most wretched and revolting sight. 
 Our "special policemen," for a consideration, 
 are always ready to take visitors through these 
 dens, to show them "the Chinese as they are." 
 These good visitors go away and write up the 
 Chinese in America, giving as historical facts 
 the impressions received from such a night ad 
 venture, together with the statements of un 
 principled, corrupt men. I protest against this 
 method of studying the Chinese question. Sup 
 pose the tables turned, and curious Chinamen 
 escorted by some "kind and intelligent police 
 man" should make a raid upon American bed 
 rooms, about twelve or one o clock at night, 
 solely for the delectation of the Chinamen, and 
 so that some Chinese correspondent could write 
 sensational letters to the Pekin Gazette. How 
 would the shoe fit on that foot? One might as 
 well write up "The Americans as They Are" 
 from a visit to the Five Points in New York. 
 
 In one of these night excursions among the 
 Chinese dens of San Francisco, that came to my 
 knowledge, a "kind, intelligent, and armed po 
 liceman " acted as a guide to a party of D. D s. 
 and other holy men. The policeman pulled away 
 
94 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the apology for a curtain from before the miser 
 able hole in which a poor Chinaman was peace 
 fully sleeping. He then brought the full glare 
 of his lamp upon the face of the sleeper, and 
 called upon these good men to see where this 
 "miserable cuss was sleeping." The Chinaman 
 feeling annoyed naturally growled his dissatisfac 
 tion, whereupon the kind, intelligent, and 
 armed policeman " for the delectation of those 
 pious men, seized the poor fellow and brutally 
 pounded and punched his head with his own 
 "kind and intelligent" fist. How our civiliza 
 tion must shine in the eyes of those poor under 
 ground Chinamen ! How degraded those Chi 
 nese are ! They ought to be driven from the 
 country to make more room for the white Chris- 
 \tians, "kind and intelligent" ones! 
 
THE CHINESE AT WORK. 95 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CHINAMEN AT WORK. 
 
 LET us now look at the Chinamen in some 
 of the various industries in which they en 
 gage in this country. And first, we will look at 
 them excavating and grading railroads and turn 
 pikes over the mountains. In general, these 
 Chinamen do not seem to have such brawny 
 limbs and so much physical vigor as the Irish, 
 their competitors in this kind of labor. The 
 Chinaman does not strike his pick with the same 
 strength and vigor, nor is he quite so rapid in 
 his movements as the Irishman ; but what he 
 lacks in these respects he largely compensates 
 for by his patient, constant toil. "A continual 
 dropping will wear a stone," and so the China 
 man, by his constant, patient application in this 
 kind of labor, brings about results at the end of 
 a week or month quite or nearly equal to those 
 accomplished by his competitor of a more viva 
 cious temperament and brawny muscle. 
 
 The contractors who build these roads gener 
 ally testify that Chinese labor is more reliable 
 
g6 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 than Irish. The Irishman gets his pay on Sat 
 urday night, and too often spends the Sabbath 
 in a drunken carousal or spree, wasting his money 
 and abusing himself, so that Monday morning, 
 instead of being refreshed and full of courage 
 for his work, finds him weary from his debauch 
 ery, bruised and sore from his quarreling and 
 fighting, and discouraged by the loss of all the 
 hard earnings of the previous week s toil. 
 
 The Chinaman, on the contrary, spends the 
 Sunday literally as a day of rest; not from any 
 regard to the divine appointment not at all, 
 for he neither knows nor cares any thing about 
 that but simply, not being obliged to work, he 
 chooses to sleep, and the Chinaman has a most 
 wonderful capacity for sleeping. If wakeful, he 
 sits round and visits, washes and mends his 
 clothing, or takes his chance with a small ven 
 ture at some improvised gaming-table. The Chi 
 nese are inveterate gamblers. Thus, Monday 
 morning finds the Chinaman rested and ready 
 for his work. In fact, his calm, philosophical 
 way of laboring brought him round to Saturday 
 night without the exhaustion and wearisomeness 
 experienced by the more impetuous and irregu 
 lar Patrick. 
 
 The Chinaman also takes more kindly to the 
 rough tent or camp-life required in this kind of 
 
THE CHINESE AT WORK. 97 
 
 business than does the Irishman. Th^China- 
 man knows better how to live many in small 
 quarters. In a little tent, ten by twelve feet, a 
 half dozen or more Chinamen will find abundant 
 accommodations both for eating and sleeping. 
 The Irishmen do n t get along quite so well 
 when so closely packed. They are liable to 
 tread on each other s toes, get up a fight, and 
 disable some of their number. 
 
 In woolen mills and other factories these same 
 qualities of patient application and unvarying 
 regularity, every man in his place, give the Chi 
 naman the advantage in this department of the 
 labor market. This is especially true in manu 
 factories run by steam-power and using much 
 machinery, where, if a man is absent from his 
 place, there is so much loss of steam-power, and 
 so much useless friction of machinery. The 
 Chinamen are promptly on hand, and at their 
 place at the proper time. If one happens to be 
 sick, or necessarily absent, the Chinese foreman 
 quietly puts another man in his place, and the 
 work goes smoothly on. 
 
 These qualities of the Chinese unskilled la 
 borer make him very acceptable in many of the 
 industries of the Pacific Coast. Add to these 
 qualities the fact that the Chinaman works a 
 little cheaper than the white laborer, and we see 
 
 7 
 
98 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 plainly how it is that he is in demand, and also 
 how it is that he is hated, maligned, and perse 
 cuted by a certain class. 
 
 To this day, on the Pacific Coast, white labor 
 persistently insists upon a price which capital 
 can not pay and be able to compete with East 
 ern importations. It is only by the presence, 
 and by the employment to some extent, of the 
 Chinese that any manufacturing at all can be 
 done in California. And with all the hue and 
 cry raised against Chinese cheap labor, because 
 it drives white men from employment and ruins 
 the country, the stubborn fact still remains, that 
 California, with unusual facilities for manufactur 
 ing industries, can not, as yet, to any extent, 
 even by employing Chinese labor, send her pro 
 ducts East and compete with Eastern manufacto 
 ries on their own ground. 
 
 The constant genial climate of California, her 
 prolific soil, her endless variety and great abun 
 dance of cereals and fruits, and her extensive sea- 
 coast, ought to make her one of the great man 
 ufacturing States of the Union ; but up to this 
 date the price of labor discourages capital from 
 investing in extensive manufacturing enterprises. 
 As has already been stated in a previous chapter, 
 on fruit ranches, and farms also, the Chinamen 
 are the successful competitors of the whites. 
 
THE CHINESE AT WORK 99 
 
 The fact is, our white laborers do n t like the busi 
 ness of stooping and squatting on their haunches 
 all day picking berries, grapes, and currants. 
 
 The most of them can find employment that 
 suits them better and yields them better pay. 
 Only a few days since, I overheard a company 
 of large farmers, or ranch men, talking together , 
 over this very matter. 
 
 One of them said, "The fact is, I can not get 
 white labor to do this kind of work ; I must em- 
 ploy Chinamen or give up." Another said, he <3p<c> 
 had just the same difficulty in hoeing or weed 
 ing. White men seemed to be possessed of a 
 notion that such work was more servile than some 
 other, and so were reluctant to engage in it. 
 But the Chinaman, calm and philosophic, takes 
 kindly and naturally to the stooping and squat 
 ting position required in this kind of light man 
 ual labor. 
 
 Chinese laborers are also more easily man 
 aged than others. To every gang of China work 
 men there is a head man or "boss," who alone 
 is responsible to the employer or "big boss," as 
 they call him. If some individual workman does 
 not suit the employer, he simply tells the " China 
 boss," and the man is changed without further 
 trouble, or else is so much improved as to make 
 him acceptable. 
 
ICO THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Of course a raw Chinaman is extremely awk 
 ward at first in handling American tools, and in 
 doing things in an American way. But never yet 
 was a Chinaman so awkward in these things as a 
 raw recruit from the bogs of Ireland. Show the 
 Chinaman what you wish him to do, give him a 
 few practical illustrations, and in nine cases out 
 of ten he will do as you have shown him. 
 
 A gentleman residing in San Francisco lately 
 visiting his ranch in the country found the China 
 men walking the horses so slowly in plowing 
 that they hardly seemed to move. So he him 
 self took one team and held the plow across the 
 field, making the horses walk quite briskly. The 
 Chinamen stood by and watched the perform 
 ance, and one of them remarked, in his broken, 
 but rather expressive "pigeon English," "Him 
 heap shove them hoss. Who him be?" The 
 "China boss" answered, "Him big boss." After 
 that all the horses walked faster. 
 
 Let us now visit a Chinese laundry, and see 
 how they wash our clothes. You will find a 
 China wash-house almost anywhere in Califor 
 nia. In the wash-room you will find barrels, 
 tubs, or troughs of water, and a high, wide bench 
 or narrow table. The wash-man seizes one end 
 of a saturated garment, a linen shirt, a woolen 
 wrapper, a pair of pantaloons, or a lady s skirt, 
 
THE CHINESE AT WORK. IOI 
 
 "all the same" to him, and begins to pound the 
 table most vigorously ; this is the way the China 
 man likes to wash. It suits him best, however, 
 to go to some stream or pond ; the quality of the 
 water is a secondary consideration, the only ques 
 tion being, is it wet? In such a place the China 
 wash-man is in his glory. He pounds the near 
 est stump, log, or jagged rock, until he has 
 pounded all the buttons off, and pounded numer 
 ous holes and rents in the garment. 
 
 Some of these Chinese laundry-men have 
 learned to separate woolen from cotton clothes 
 in washing and boiling, and to wash by rubbing 
 instead of pounding. Often, however, the China 
 wash-man destroys more value of clothing than 
 the price he receives for washing. They also 
 use an enormous amount of starch and bluing, 
 so that when first home from the wash the clothes 
 look quite nice; but one day s wear often reveals 
 the disagreeable fact that the clirt was neither 
 rubbed nor pounded out, but simply covered up 
 with starch and bluing. There is also generally 
 a peculiarly disagreeable smell to clothes from a 
 " Chinese wash-house." 
 
 I know one lady, who has spent many years 
 among the Chinese, both in China and in Califor 
 nia, and yet she can not endure the smell of 
 clothes from a China wash-house." Their 
 
102 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 method of sprinkling is a novelty and a surprise 
 to an American who has never seen nor heard 
 of the process. Look at that man filling his 
 mouth with water from that large bowl ; now he 
 opens that calico dress and blows upon it from 
 his mouth a fine, beautiful spray, moistening it 
 so evenly as no other process could do. Some 
 very particular ladies, however, do not approve 
 of the method. It has been told that in the 
 kitchen the China cook sometimes moistens the 
 dough in the same way ; but such stories must 
 be recorded with that of the Phi-ladelphia Bridget, 
 who prepared most excellent hash by munching 
 it in her mouth. Both stories may be true, the 
 one quite as probable as the other. 
 
 But in spite of all objections, as fast as the 
 Chinamen learn in good faith to adopt our system 
 of rubbing and boiling clothes, they succeed in 
 getting a fair proportion of American custom, 
 and give very good satisfaction. In San Fran 
 cisco, Oakland, and Alameda, we shall find what 
 is styled "The White Man s Laundry," which 
 claims the patronage of those who wish to en 
 courage white labor and discourage Chinese im 
 migration. They ask a little higher price than 
 the average Chinaman, and yet they get a good 
 deal of patronage. There is one little draw 
 back, however, to some of these "White Man s 
 
THE CHINESE AT WORK. 103 
 
 Laundries," that is, when we happen to visit 
 them we find, in most cases, the Chinamen are 
 employed to do the work. A company of 
 "white men" own and control the business, a 
 "white man" drives the "white man s laundry 
 wagon," and a white boss superintends the work 
 men, but the Chinese do the washing 1 . This 
 same game is played in other departments of in 
 dustry. 
 
 What is boldly labeled, "Home Manufacture 
 No Chinese Employed," etc., is frequently the 
 very article which Chinamen have manufactured. 
 For instance, the mouth end of the fine Havana 
 cigars, sold at a high price, and sucked with such 
 exquisite enjoyment by the high-toned gentle 
 men of the "Anti-Chinese League," in nine 
 cases out of ten was manipulated by Chinese 
 fingers and moistened with Chinese saliva. If 
 any contagious disease is imparted by the Chi 
 nese to the white people of this country, there 
 can be but little doubt that it comes off from the 
 dirty, diseased fingers, moistened with the dis 
 eased saliva of some diseased Chinaman, right 
 directly to the mouth and tongue and palate of 
 our cigar smoker. 
 
 But how often is it asked, "What kind of 
 house-servants do the Chinese make?" Who 
 shall answer ? Here is a man who declares, from 
 
IO4 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 personal knowledge and experience, that the Chi 
 nese are the most filthy, mendacious, thieving, 
 unreliable class of house-servants in all the world. 
 In his family, at different times, a trial has been 
 made of Chinese servants; but they have been 
 so filthy that they could not be endured, so cov 
 ered with vermin as to drop a stray waif, here 
 and there, on the children s clothing, or on the 
 bed when attending to the chamber work. 
 
 Now, while I do not believe that the Chinese 
 house-servants as a class are more filthy than 
 many white and colored servants, I have no doubt 
 whatever that our witness has told the truth as 
 to the experience of his family in employing Chi 
 nese servants. Many have had a similar experi 
 ence. But, unfortunately, his specifications will 
 not sustain the charge, because in the class of 
 house-servants of all nations, are to be found 
 some equally as bad as these Chinese who have 
 been testified against. Call up another witness. 
 Here is a family equally respectable with the one 
 on the stand. Both husband and wife unite in 
 saying that they have tried all sorts, and have 
 found Chinese servants, on the whole, the most 
 satisfactory. They have employed different ones 
 during the past few years, and have never had 
 such a filthy one as mentioned by our first wit 
 ness. Nor have they been troubled as in the 
 
THE CHINESE AT WORK. IO5 
 
 former case by their reputed lying tendencies and 
 thieving proclivities. 
 
 Here comes our third and last witness, who 
 says that in his family they have tried persons of 
 all classes, colors, and languages as house-servants, 
 and have found in all classes some good and some 
 bad ones. Not every "John Chinaman" is a 
 desirable house servant. Not every "Biddy" 
 is a detestable one. If any family is so uncom 
 monly fortunate as to have secured the services 
 of an honest, clean, respectable house-servant, 
 be it Jew or Gentile, Christian or heathen, Mex 
 ican or negro, Chinaman or white man, they will 
 be wise to make no rash changes in hopes of 
 getting a better one. Such is the opinion of 
 this little book. 
 
 A good Chinese house-servant is a great com 
 fort in the family, but a filthy one, a generally 
 mendacious one, a thieving one, is a nuisance. 
 The only way to get a good one is promptly to 
 dismiss every one as fast as he develops objec 
 tionable qualities of sufficient gravity to make 
 cause for dismissal. As soon as the employment 
 agent finds out that you will not be trifled with, 
 nor imposed upon, he will do his best to furnish 
 you a good servant. If it were true that the Chi 
 nese house-servants are such an infamous class as 
 they are sometimes represented to be, it would 
 
IO6 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 seem very strange indeed that three thousand five 
 hundred of them should constantly find employ 
 ment in the families of San Francisco. 
 
 The wages paid these Chinamen is fully equal, 
 if not in advance, of what is paid in Philadel 
 phia, New York, or Boston to white or colored 
 servants for the same grade of service. In the 
 matter of house-servants, as in all other matters, 
 people generally get, or at least endeavor to get, 
 the best that their money will buy in the market. 
 If the Chinese were the only good servants or 
 even if Chinese servants were uniformly clean and 
 trusty, twice three thousand five hundred could 
 find employment in the city of San Francisco 
 alone. But if three thousand families in San Fran 
 cisco employ Chinese servants, it is simply and 
 only because, for the wages they can afford to pay, 
 they get better service than they can obtain from 
 white or colored servants. A Chinese boy soon 
 learns to cook, wash, and iron. He can do up the 
 work in the chambers. He can take up a car 
 pet, shake it and put it down again, clean win 
 dows, wash down the front steps. He can bring 
 in the coal and split his own kindlings, and often 
 is excellent in the care of small children. Some 
 of these things a white or colored servant might 
 object to. These Chinamen, however, like others 
 of the same class, are often exceedingly trouble- 
 
THE CHINESE AT WORK. ID/ 
 
 some and provoking. The lady of the house calls 
 a green boy just from China, who neither knows 
 how to do her work nor can understand any 
 thing she tells him. She patiently and carefully 
 teaches him to do her house-work after her own 
 way, hoping and expecting to keep him a long 
 time. She teaches him to speak and read, and 
 pays him wages all the time, because she expects 
 he will continue with her at moderate wages 
 after he becomes of some use. But no sooner is 
 he able to do her work without her constant pres 
 ence in the kitchen than he strikes for the high 
 est wages which his now skilled labor can com 
 mand in the market. The good woman is not 
 able to pay the price, and the boy makes off 
 without the least apparent gratitude for all that 
 has been done for him. 
 
 And the cry against the Chinamen, because in 
 family service they are underbidding white labor 
 can not be considered worthy of much attention, 
 when it is known that there has never been a 
 time in California when a wholesome, capable 
 white person, willing to do house-work, could 
 not readily find employment at better wages than 
 they could command in the Eastern States for 
 the same labor. 
 
 In reclaiming tule and swamp lands, a vast 
 amount of which work is yet to be done in 
 
. 
 
 IO8 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 California, the Chinese are exceedingly useful. 
 No other people among us seem so well adapted 
 to this kind of labor. They are accustomed to 
 ditching and irrigating the paddy fields of China, 
 and toil patiently and cheerfully in the water 
 and mud of the tule swamps of California, where 
 all other laborers refuse to work. Already their 
 labor has reclaimed thousands of acres of these 
 lands, which now are among the most productive 
 parts of this most productive State. For the 
 cultivation of tea, rice, cotton, vegetables, and 
 fruits, for which the soil and climate of parts of 
 California are well adapted, the Chinese furnish 
 the most available, reliable, and satisfactory labor. 
 
 There is one kind of unskilled labor in which 
 the Chinamen are not permitted to compete; that 
 is, grading and paving streets. This kind of la 
 bor furnishes employment for a large army of 
 workmen in San Francisco: but this work is 
 under municipal control, and it seems to be the 
 policy to employ only those who are voters, or 
 expect soon to be voters ! ! 
 
 The Chinese do nothing in the line of house 
 building, either in San Francisco or in any of 
 the principal towns of the State. It ought not 
 to be forgotten, however, that the first granite 
 block of any pretensions erected in San Fran 
 cisco was built of blocks prepared in China, 
 
THE CHINESE AT WORK. 109 
 
 shipped to San Francisco, and put up altogether 
 by Chinese labor, in 1852, known as Parrott s 
 Block, corner of Montgomery and California 
 Streets, and occupied till the present time by 
 Wells and Fargo s Express Company. 
 
 These Chinese laborers seem to have a won 
 derful faculty or ability to change from one kind 
 of industry to another. Although every man 
 prefers to stick to his own trade, and will always 
 do so as long as he can get employment, yet, if 
 a shirt-maker fails to get a job in his own line 
 he is not discouraged at the idea of learning to 
 make cigars or shoes. And there is one feature 
 of this unskilled Chinese labor worthy of notice, 
 that is, the tendency in these Chinese workmen 
 to improve, and to advance from unskilled to 
 skilled labor. The Chinamen, who at first made 
 only second-rate cigars, now make the very best 
 of " Imported Havanas." The Chinamen, who 
 at first made only coarse slippers, now make very 
 good ladies boots and shoes. Those who at first 
 only made coarse overalls, now make gentlemen s 
 fine shirts and ladies underwear. The Chinamen 
 generally, who have not been accustomed to se 
 vere manual labor, have remarkably soft hands, 
 and a very fine sense of touch, and, without 
 doubt, erelong will compete with Europeans in 
 the manufacture of watches and clocks. 
 
I IO THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Competition among the children of men is 
 healthy and inspiring, and tends to development 
 and improvement. If the Chinese are the in 
 ferior race, which they are constantly represented 
 to be if they lack in capabilities of brain power, 
 moral restraints, physical endurance, or enter 
 prising industry, the superior race in all these 
 qualities certainly has no cause to fear their com 
 petition. Brains rule the world, and always will. 
 The higher the moral standard the greater the se 
 curity and happiness of the people. Christianized 
 Anglo-Saxon brain and muscle, enterprise and in 
 dustry, need not shrink from a healthy competition 
 with any branch of the human family, and espe 
 cially need not fear to compete with heathen indo 
 lence and apathy. But if the Chinese are simply 
 our equate in intellectual and moral capabilities, 
 in push and enterprise, then the competition is 
 fair and healthy on both sides. If they are su 
 perior, which I do not believe, then the Anglo- 
 Saxon will have a chance to improve by contact 
 and assimilation. 
 
PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN. Ill 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE CONTACT OF A PAGAN WITH A CHRISTIAN CIV 
 ILIZATION ON CHRISTIAN SOIL. 
 
 ONE of the first results which we notice in 
 this contact of the two civilizations is, that 
 the Pagans learn the Christian language the 
 Americans do not learn the Chinese. The En 
 glish language is eminently the language of intel 
 lectual power and activity the language of Chris 
 tian evangelization. The heathen who, living in 
 England or America, learns to understand and 
 to speak the English language can never be the 
 same heathen that he was before. A door has 
 been opened into the shady chambers of his 
 mind and soul which, whether he wills or not, 
 lets in a constant stream of intellectual light and 
 spiritual life. Our whole language, to the pagan, 
 is full of new thoughts. It is the language of 
 progress, the language of inventions, of investi 
 gation, and of discovery. It is the language of 
 civil liberty and equal rights. It is a language 
 richly freighted with Christian faith and hope ; a 
 language full of Christian songs and prayers and 
 
112 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 experiences. A people, who, to any considerable 
 extent, learn to use the English language in this 
 acre of the world, no matter how stagnant the 
 
 t> o 
 
 civilization to which they have belonged, will of 
 necessity, by the power of the new ideas with 
 which the language is filled, be aroused to intel 
 lectual activity, to a higher and better culture, 
 and to a new spiritual life. 
 
 And the Chinese in America are learning this 
 language. It has been charged that they are not, 
 but let us see. In San Francisco alone are some 
 three thousand five hundred Chinese doing house- 
 service, in daily contact with Christian families, 
 and especially in contact with the best moral 
 forces of our civilization, the women and chil 
 dren of these families. The Chinese in San Fran 
 cisco are only about one-fifth of all the Chinese 
 in America, so that in the same ratio we may 
 reckon that there are over twelve thousand Chi 
 nese, in America, learning the language and cus 
 toms, the morals and religion of this Christian 
 civilization directly from those who are its real 
 and practical exponents. The homes of our 
 Christian civilization have thus an opportunity to 
 make their impression upon the heathen among 
 us. In these homes the Chinese can, and do 
 learn to honor and respect woman, mothers, 
 wives, sisters and daughters, as heathen nations 
 
PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN. 113 
 
 never do. The national conceit, the early edu 
 cation, and the terrible prejudices of the Chinese, 
 may prevent any very rapid change in their sen 
 timents and general conduct, but impressions are 
 made and ideas are planted which do take root 
 and grow ; and, all unknown to themselves, con 
 stant and great changes are taking place in the 
 mind and thoughts of these Chinamen. 
 
 There is an extensive commerce carried on 
 all over our western coast between these Chinese 
 and the white people. This is all done through 
 the medium of the English language: our mer 
 chants do not try to learn the Chinese language, 
 but the Chinese try to learn ours. True, they 
 mostly speak our language in a Chinese idiom, 
 but they learn our ideas and our thoughts, for 
 the spirit and tone of our civilization breathe 
 out in our language. Though on the streets of 
 Chinatown in San Francisco not one Chinaman 
 in ten can understand or speak a word of En 
 glish, still you can hardly go into a shop or store 
 in which you will not find one or two who can 
 converse more or less in our language. Many 
 of the stores employ an English teacher for the 
 young persons of their firms, and all over the 
 Pacific Coast are thousands of these Chinese of 
 all ages, who throng the mission evening schools 
 and Sunday-schools of all the Christian Churches 
 
1 14 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 opened for the express purpose of teaching these 
 Chinese our language and our religion. Now, 
 while it must be admitted and regretted that 
 many of the Chinese also learn our language from 
 the vicious, the immoral, and the profane, yet, 
 at the same time, the language does open a door 
 into their minds through which moral precepts 
 and a higher intelligence may find access. Thus 
 in the contact of the two civilizations in this 
 country, in the matter of language, we have all 
 the advantage, and this advantage is of vital im 
 portance. The heathen mind, nolens volcns, must 
 drink in the spirit and genius of our civilization 
 while acquiring the knowledge of our language 
 and of our commercial and industrial enterprises. 
 But we, rejecting his language, remain compara 
 tively unaffected by his superstitions and fossil 
 ized ideas. 
 
 The Chinese are affected by their contact with 
 our religious institutions. Although California, 
 perhaps, is not the best representative of Chris 
 tian institutions in America; although Sunday 
 beer-gardens, whisky-saloons, public processions 
 and picnics on the Sabbath are all too common ; 
 yet Christian institutions, the Sabbath and its 
 religious services and observance by the best class 
 of our people, have a powerful and healthy effect 
 on the civilization of the State. And this influ- 
 
PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN. 115 
 
 ence is felt by the Chinese. This opens their 
 eyes and enables them very soon to discriminate 
 between church-going and non-church-going peo 
 ple, and, it is needless to say, that the discrimi 
 nation is almost always in favor of the church- 
 going people. Although to the Chinaman the 
 Sabbath is not a holy and sacred day, yet he 
 soon finds it very convenient to be free from 
 service on that day, and comes to look forward 
 to it in some sort as a day of rest. 
 
 The universal recognition of one Supreme 
 God by all classes of people, the churches erected 
 for his service, the general absence of idolatry 
 in our religious faith and worship, make inefface 
 able impressions upon the heathen s mind. He 
 may not openly confess to any infidelity to his 
 idols though thousands do make such confes 
 sions. He may not seem to us to regard with 
 the least favor the monotheistic faith of this na 
 tion, but in spite of himself, his faith in his 
 wooden, tinseled gods is impaired; and the fact 
 that positive Christians have always proved his 
 truest and most reliable friends in times of trouble 
 leads him to put confidence in a "Jesus man" 
 sooner than in any other class of men in the world. 
 
 These Chinese travel on our steamers and 
 railroads ; they send letters by our mails, and 
 messages over our telegraph lines. A people 
 
Il6 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 who live in contact with all these things for a se 
 ries of years, a people, thousands of whom are 
 daily traveling on some of the public convey 
 ances of this land, and who are daily sending 
 thousands of letters and messages by our mails 
 and telegraph lines, can not ever again be satis 
 fied with the slow, clumsy, and uncomfortable 
 modes of travel, and the imperfect postal facili 
 ties which prevailed a thousand years ago. In 
 all these things the old decaying civilization is 
 beginning to feel the throbbings of a new life, 
 the result of this general contact with a higher 
 and more progressive civilzation. 
 
 It is true that in matters of dress the Chi 
 nese in America do not as yet, to any consider 
 able extent, adopt our fashions. But we must 
 remember it is contrary to the genius of the Chi 
 nese civilization to tolerate such frequent and 
 radical changes in these things as prevail in Eu 
 rope and America. In China the cut of a lady s 
 or gentleman s clothing has not changed for hun 
 dreds of years. Having long since adopted a 
 fashion which to them is at once modest and 
 comfortable, convenient and economical, they 
 have never thought of changing. They dress 
 now just as their ancestors dressed generations 
 ago, and it would be considered unfilial, not to 
 say impious, to dress in any other way. With 
 
PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN. Ii; 
 
 us it is quite the reverse of all this. Our civili 
 zation not only tolerates but encourages change. 
 Compare the dress of an American of to-day 
 with the dress of our ancestors a hundred years 
 ago. The trousers, stockings, and knee-buckles 
 worn in the days of Washington were nearly of 
 the same pattern as those worn by the Chinese 
 at that time and worn by the Chinese now, the 
 principal difference being that the Chinese wear 
 silk garters instead of knee-buckles. Should the 
 Americans now adopt the style of pantaloons 
 worn in this country one hundred years ago, the 
 Chinese would not have to change much to be in 
 fashion. But, in spite of their disinclination to 
 change, the Chinese in America have already, 
 and to a great extent, adopted a part of our 
 fashion of dress. Our felt hats are generally 
 worn by them. Most of those who have been in 
 the country any considerable time have adopted 
 our style of pantaloons, and many of them wear 
 our boots and shoes. Thus rigged, that is, with 
 shirt, vest, and coat of Chinese pattern ; hat, 
 pants, boots, and socks of American fashion, the 
 Chinaman, according to Bishop Kingsley, needs 
 only to cut off his cue, wear his hair like an 
 American, and put a collar to his white shirt, in 
 order to be the most sensibly dressed man in the 
 world. If the Chinaman s coat and vest are an 
 
IlS THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 improvement upon our own, there is good reason 
 why he should not change. 
 
 The shaven head and braided cue, which the 
 Chinaman insists upon wearing wherever he goes, 
 is the wide distinction between his fashion of 
 dress and that of an American. This custom is 
 no badge or mark of religious faith or worship, 
 but it is a badge or token of citizenship or loy 
 alty to the reigning Chinese dynasty. Shun Chi, 
 the first Emperor of the present Tartar dynasty, 
 who came to the throne in A. D. 1644, issued a 
 proclamation throughout the land requiring all 
 the people to adopt this Tartar custom of shav 
 ing the front part of the head and braiding the 
 rest of the hair into a cue, as a sign of submission. 
 There was no compulsion, however. Persons 
 who did not like the innovation were at liberty 
 to refuse compliance, the penalty being simply 
 the loss of their heads. In some parts of the 
 Empire this mandate was stoutly resisted, and 
 many actually chose to lose their heads rather 
 than adopt the new costume. Gradually, how 
 ever, the people accepted the situation, and now, 
 for more than two centuries it has become a fixed 
 and acceptable fashion in all the Empire. 
 
 Under similar circumstances probably the Amer 
 icans would have adopted the same costume. 
 And, indeed, only a hundred years ago, the gen- 
 

 PAGAN AND CHRSTIAN. 1 19 
 
 tlemen of quality and fashion in America, without 
 official mandate, adopted and -wore the cue. And, 
 since the Americans have shaken off their cues 
 during the first one hundred years of our national 
 life, perhaps the Chinese in America may shake 
 off theirs during the next one hundred years. Or, 
 if their influence is stronger than ours, they may 
 induce us to go back and put our cues on again. 
 This custom, though of itself a very small sim 
 ple matter, does more to keep the Chinaman 
 from adopting our forms of civilization than any 
 thing else, simply because it always keeps him a 
 Chinaman. So long as he holds on to this custom, 
 just so long will he persistently cling to all his 
 other national characteristics. He may change 
 somewhat in thought and feeling and character, 
 but the change will be slow and always in spite 
 of himself. So long as that cue dangles down 
 his back and about his heels, or is twisted around 
 his head, so long he carries with him a proud 
 consciousness that he is a subject of "The Great 
 Flowery Middle Kingdom," and. .his universal 
 answer to every new idea presented to his mind 
 is, Our Chinese custom is not so." When he 
 cuts off his cue, by that act he in some sort de 
 nationalizes himself, and cuts loose from his serv 
 itude to his national customs, and feels free to 
 adopt at once any new thing or idea that com- 
 
120 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 mends itself to his judgment. But since the 
 Chinaman may not be admitted to the right of 
 suffrage in this country, when he cuts off his cue 
 and denationalizes himself he becomes a waif, 
 in the world, without a people and without a 
 country. His own countrymen taboo and scorn 
 him, and American society is rather slow to 
 adopt him. He has cut loose from China, and 
 is not admitted to the full rights of citizen 
 ship here. 
 
 But if every Chinaman who should acquire a 
 fair knowledge of our language, our Government 
 and its institutions; who would adopt our customs 
 of dress and modes of life, and who would take 
 the oath of allegiance, if every such Chinaman 
 might be admitted to the right of suffrage and 
 be invested with all the privileges and immuni 
 ties of American citizens, thousands of them 
 would quickly and gladly embrace the opportu 
 nity. Such a regulation, if possible to be made, 
 might not be dangerous; but to open the ballot 
 indiscriminately to Asiatic immigrants, as we 
 most unfortunately have done to European im 
 migrants, would soon complete the national ruin 
 which our present vicious system of suffrage now 
 threatens. Unfortunately for the prosperity and 
 perpetuity of our free institutions, in placing our 
 few legal restrictions around the ballot box, we 
 
PAGAN AND CHRSTIAN. 121 
 
 seem to have forgotten the essential qualifica 
 tions of good voters; namely, intelligence, so 
 briety, and virtue. The only necessary legal qual 
 ifications for voters in our country at the present 
 time are three: first, a human animal; second, 
 the human animal must be twenty-one years old; 
 third, the human animal must be of the mascu 
 line gender, Chinamen and Indians excepted. 
 There are no other limitations. 
 
 The European immigrant often votes either in 
 the interest of Popery or infidelity. The China 
 men, if admitted to the ballot on the same con 
 ditions as the European, would vote en masse for 
 that man or that party which would serve their 
 selfish purposes most and best. Rather than to 
 extend the right of suffrage thus unconditionally 
 to the Asiatics, it would be a thousand times bet 
 ter for the preservation of the liberties and institu 
 tions of our country to limit the right of suffrage 
 from this Centennial year onward to Arnerican- 
 born citizens only ; and only to such of those as 
 should possess a good moral character, and be 
 able to pass a creditable examination in the fun 
 damental branches of education, including a 
 knowledge of our Government and its institu 
 tions. As it is, the Chinamen are often cursed 
 and abused because they are not voters and citi 
 zens, and they are cursed all the more when one 
 
122 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of them ventures to express a desire to become 
 naturalized, and assume the responsibilities and 
 enjoy the full privileges of an American citizen. 
 
 It will be wise and well for the American 
 Christian public to examine this Chinese ques 
 tion calmly and thoughtfully in the light of past 
 history and present providential indications. 
 Hitherto the contact of paganism with a Chris 
 tian civilization has taken place, for the most 
 part, in heathen countries by the introduction of 
 a few missionaries of the Christian religion, a 
 few merchants and traders, a few travelers and 
 consular officials, and the officers and crews of 
 vessels from Christian lands. 
 
 In every such conflict paganism has always had 
 the advantage of having the government and es 
 tablished usages and institutions of the country, 
 the multitude of the people, and the prevailing 
 language on its side. Christian civilization has 
 been obliged from the nature of the case, to con 
 tend with fearful odds ; her representatives have 
 been comparatively few, and some of these have 
 not been of the best class, and some have repre 
 sented the lower vices and grosser evils which still 
 curse Christian civilization, rather than the virtue, 
 the intelligence, the progressive spirit, the diviner 
 faith and purer practices which prevail in, and are 
 the glory of, more highly civilized and enlightened 
 
PAGAN AND CEIRISTIAN. 123 
 
 nations. But actual demonstration, though on a 
 small scale, and weakened by some imperfections, 
 never fails to make an impression, even upon the 
 unwilling mind; and so, the fast-sailing ships, the 
 great steamers with their mighty engines, the im 
 mense ware-houses and palatial residences of 
 Christian merchants in heathen lands, the gen 
 erally honest discharge of consular and diplom 
 atic duties by the official representatives of a 
 higher civilization, all these things, though at 
 first regarded with seeming indifference or ill-con- 
 
 o o 
 
 cealed jealousy and prejudice, never fail to make 
 the impression upon the pagan mind of superior 
 intelligence and superior power. And the power 
 of truth, the power of a new emotion is om 
 nipotent. 
 
 The missionary of the Gospel goes forth to 
 pagan and heathen lands without prestige, with 
 out official position or influence, without the sup 
 port which wealth and power always give; and 
 yet, in all the victories which Christian civiliza 
 tion has hitherto achieved over pagan civiliza 
 tion, the simple Christian missionary w r ith the 
 messages of the Gospel as his sole armor, has al 
 ways been a mightier factor than sailing-vessels, 
 steam-ship companies, princely merchants, or 
 official dignitaries. Since the dawn of the Chris 
 tian era, the Gospel of Jesus has been the grand 
 
124 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 inspiring force in all progressive civilization. An 
 open Bible, read and respected by the people, is 
 a sure and certain sign of energy and enterprise, 
 industry and intelligence, material wealth and 
 moral power. 
 
 It has been reserved for this nineteenth cent 
 ury and this Republican Government of these 
 United States of America, to witness the first 
 great experiment of aggregated paganism in act 
 ual contact with the best form of Christian civil 
 ization which the world has ever seen, on Chris 
 tian soil, in the midst of a Christian people, 
 with Christian institutions, and under the regula 
 tions of a powerful Christian Government. If 
 Christian civilization fails here, it commits delib 
 erate suicide; for here it certainly has all the ad 
 vantage. Here paganism is a stranger, meek, 
 ignorant, helpless, docile, teachable. In such a 
 presence and under such circumstances, we might 
 expect to see the effete forms and foolish su 
 perstitions of paganism rapidly melt and pass 
 away like the morning dew before the rising sun. 
 Here paganism comes in contact with the genius 
 and spirit of our institutions. Here the idol 
 worshipers mingle with a people who reject 
 idolatry as foolish, superstitious, and contemp 
 tibly absurd; and who claim to worship the 
 one only true and living God, the Creator of 
 
PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN. 125 
 
 heaven and earth. Here the servile subjects of 
 an absolute imperialism come in contact with a 
 system of political economy, and with principles 
 of government which hold as fundamental that 
 "all men are created free and equal," and that 
 every man has a natural and inalienable right to 
 life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Here 
 an effete, decaying civilization, which glories in 
 preserving all things as they were which looks 
 upon all new inventions and improvements, upon 
 all progress in the arts and sciences as unwelcome 
 innovations to be discouraged, comes in contact 
 with a young, fresh and vigorous civilization 
 which has no respect for any thing simply on ac 
 count of its antiquity, but brings all things to 
 the practical test of actual experiment, and " se 
 lects the fittest." A civilization that has run in 
 the same old rut for ages, here comes in contact 
 with one that is constantly striking out for itself 
 new paths, new methods, and new fields of op 
 eration. 
 
 If our civilization were perfect; if the great 
 fundamental principles of our government were 
 strictly adhered to in all departments of its ad 
 ministration ; if all the people conducted them 
 selves according to the accepted standard of mor 
 als, or even to the required legal standard; if 
 Christianity itself universally manifested in its 
 
126 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 spirit and work the pure teachings and exam 
 ple of Jesus, there can be but little doubt that 
 the heathen would behold and wonder, admire 
 and embrace. If such is not to any great ex 
 tent the result thus far, the fault may perhaps, 
 lie rather in the imperfect manifestation of a 
 Christian civilization than in any inability or un 
 willingness of the heathen to change. History 
 teaches the impossibility of continuing in statu 
 quo for a long period, two distinct and often con 
 flicting forms of civilization under one and the 
 same government, in the same country, and at 
 the same time. Constant contact, mutual fric 
 tion, a better acquaintance with each other, al 
 ways modifies the points of difference and tends 
 gradually to bring the two distinct forms of civ 
 ilization into one. 
 
 The tendency of the lower, according to its 
 measure of power, is to corrupt, weaken, and 
 poison the higher and better ; while it is the tend 
 ency of the higher and better, according to its 
 measure of power, to arouse, vitalize, energize, pu 
 rify, and uplift the lower and the decaying. And 
 this process is taking place to-day in the contact 
 of the Chinese with the Christian civilization of 
 the United States* 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 127 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CHINESE WOMEN IN AMERICA. 
 
 HEATHENISM always degrades woman; 
 and the civilization of China for thousands 
 of years has rested upon a heathen idolatrous 
 basis. There, woman before marriage has no 
 rights outside the will of her parents, and no 
 rights outside the will of her husband after mar 
 riage. Custom, however, demands that every 
 respectable girl of suitable age shall be married. 
 Early marriages are universal. Old bachelors 
 arc common, but elderly maiden ladies, a most 
 useful and worthy class of people in any coun 
 try, are entirely unknown in China. Marriage 
 is the privilege, duty, and fate of Chinese girls. 
 But the courtships leading to marriage, the be 
 trothal, the arrangements for the marriage festivi 
 ties and life settlement are all conducted for the 
 children by the parents or guardians, with the 
 help of a middle-man or go-between. 
 
 The Chinese maiden, before marriage, is kept 
 in seclusion and ignorance. The principal lesson 
 she has to learn is obedience. She is not sent to 
 
128 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 school. She never mingles in promiscuous so 
 ciety; never receives personal attention or let 
 ters of correspondence from any young gentle 
 man whatever; never listens to the voice of a 
 lover ; never receives upon her waiting lips the 
 blissful pledge of plighted troth. She is be 
 trothed by her parents when quite young, often 
 under ten years of age. In this important mat 
 ter of marriage the girls of China have no choice, 
 no voice. Their wishes, preferences, and affec 
 tions are never consulted. Although our young 
 people would rebel against the introduction of 
 such a custom among us, yet it is doubtful 
 whether the system of boy and girl courtship 
 which prevails in this country results in any 
 better life settlements than those arranged for 
 the inexperienced young people of China by 
 their parents, who can use their judgment un 
 moved by fancy and romance. 
 
 In China, parents may sell their daughters for 
 debt, and husbands may sell their wives. This 
 may not be a very common custom, but instances 
 occur frequently in all parts of the country. One 
 instance in particular came under my notice in 
 the country near Foochovv. A man professed to 
 be inquiring after Gospel truth, and finally re 
 quested baptism and admission into the Church. 
 A few days before the time set for his admission 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 1 29 
 
 he came and said, "There is one little matter 
 that troubles me, and I want to have it settled 
 before I am baptized. The woman I am now 
 living with is the wife of one of my neighbors. 
 He owed me some .forty dollars, and being una 
 ble to pay, he offered me his wife to satisfy the 
 debt. I needed a wife, and the woman was 
 quite willing to make the change in her circum 
 stances, and we have been living happily together 
 for more than two years. What now shall I do in 
 the case?" He was advised to go home and 
 study carefully those parts of the Gospel which 
 seemed to have a particular bearing upon his 
 case. In a few "weeks he returned and reported 
 the matter all settled. He had sent the woman 
 back to her husband, and had forgiven the debt. 
 The population is so great and the poor are 
 so numerous that many are unable to meet the 
 expenses of a family, and are thus deterred from 
 taking a wife. And since all girls that are per 
 mitted to live must be provided with husbands, 
 or else they are sold to infamy, it is sometimes 
 thought best not to let them live at all. Infant 
 icide of girls is practiced, to some extent, in all 
 parts of the Empire, and in some sections to an 
 alarming extent. On the birth of a daughter it 
 is not a very unusual custom among the poor for 
 the father to drown the little helpless one in a 
 
I3O THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 tub of water prepared and waiting for the pur 
 pose. Sometimes, instead of destroying the 
 child it is sold to some old procuress, who 
 brings the girl up to a life of shame and infamy. 
 The ranks of that class of women are mostly 
 recruited in this way. The courtesans of China 
 are generally slaves to the cupidity of their own 
 ers. They are bought and sold, moved from 
 place to place, and compelled to carry on their 
 vile traffic for the benefit of their masters. 
 
 The general condition of the women among 
 the poor is miserable in the extreme, as may be 
 inferred from the following conversation, which 
 took place a few years since in Foochow between 
 a missionary lady and one of these women: 
 
 Missionary Lady. How many children have 
 you?" 
 
 Chinese Woman. Two ; one twenty and the 
 other ten years old." 
 
 M. L. Are your children girls or boys?" 
 
 C. W. "Both are boys." 
 
 M. L. "Have you no girls?" 
 
 C. W. " Not now ; I have had five girls, but 
 they are all dead." 
 
 M. L. "How is that?" 
 
 C. W. " We were too poor to bring them up, 
 and my husband drowned them as soon as they 
 were born." 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 131 
 
 M. L. "How could you do such a wicked 
 thing?" 
 
 C. W. "Because girls are better dead than 
 alive. I wish I had been drowned." 
 
 Such is the wail of women in heathen lands. 
 There are two classes of family women in China, 
 the large-footed or field woman, who is expected 
 to do heavy manual labor in the fields, like the 
 men ; and the small-footed woman, who is ex 
 pected to be all helpless and useless, just like 
 the fine ladies of other countries. The more 
 effectually to secure that desired result, she is 
 left without education, and her feet are bound 
 and cramped and deformed until she is unable 
 to stand or walk without great difficulty. 
 
 Although no one seems to know exactly the 
 origin of this barbarous custom, or the exact time 
 of its introduction, it has come to be a general 
 custom throughout all the Empire. It is not con 
 fined to the nobility or to the rich ; but is seen alike 
 in the mansion of the wealthy and the hovel of the 
 poor. It is considered a mark of ladyship, and 
 in matrimony, a small-footed girl is considered a 
 little better match than a field girl. Any fam 
 ily, however, that can afford the expensive lux 
 ury of a lady can have one by binding the feet 
 of their daughter and making a lady of her. 
 The process of binding the feet usually takes 
 
132 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 place when the little girl is between three and 
 eight years of age. The toes are turned under; 
 the foot is pulled as nearly straight with the leg 
 as possible, and then, commencing at the toes, 
 a long, narrow cloth bandage is wound tightly 
 around the foot to the ankle and a little above. 
 The poor child suffers intense pain for a number 
 of weeks. The growth of the foot is checked. 
 The ankle sometimes becomes disjointed ; the foot 
 and lower part of the limb become sadly de 
 formed. To Christian people this seems a most 
 inhuman and barbarous custom. But 
 
 " O wad some power the giftie gie us 
 To see oursel s as ithers see us! 
 It wad frae monie a blunder free us, 
 
 And foolish notion." 
 
 I remember that while in China this custom 
 came up for discussion in the native Church. 
 A Christian family was conforming to the cus 
 tom and binding the feet of the daughter. The 
 Chinese Church members, both men and women, 
 were called together, and the missionaries and 
 their wives explained the Christian view of this 
 barbarous practice. The Chinamen, in defense of 
 their conduct, referred to the fact that the dress 
 and social position of the small footed women are 
 widely different from the dress and social position 
 of the field women, and that a large-footed woman 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 133 
 
 dressed in the fashion of a small-footed woman 
 would be regarded as a disreputable character; 
 that the girl in question belonged to a family in 
 which the practice of binding the feet had always 
 prevailed, and that now to disregard it would ne 
 cessitate a total change of dress and social rela 
 tions, and would reduce the daughter to the class 
 of field-women, or would cause her to be consid 
 ered as a common prostitute. 
 
 One old Chinese sister brought a rather unex 
 pected ad hominem argument. She produced 
 certain numbers of Harper s Monthly containing 
 fashion plates of lady s clothing^ when long, slim 
 waists were popular. The old lady said she had 
 heard that the tight lacing among the Christian 
 people in America and England was very inju 
 rious to health, contracting the lungs, inducing 
 disease, and often resulting in premature death. 
 She claimed that binding the feet, though pain 
 ful at first, did not injure the health, and while 
 she did not approve of either custom, she was 
 free to say that she thought the heathen barbarism 
 less sinful than the Christian barbarism. Was 
 she correct? 
 
 There are about three thousand Chinese women 
 in San Francisco, and about as many more in all 
 other parts of the country, making a total of 
 about six thousand Chinese women in the United 
 
134 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 States. A very small number, indeed, for a 
 population of one hundred and fifty thousand. 
 And the case is still worse when we come to 
 know that of the Chinese women now here, not 
 one in ten is considered or treated as a legal 
 wife. It is quite doubtful whether five hundred 
 Chinamen have brought their first wives to this 
 country. There may be that number of second 
 wives or concubines, but real first wives are a 
 rare article among the Chinese in America. Oc 
 casionally some wealthy Chinaman has brought 
 his wife and servants to San Francisco. I have 
 seen, perhaps, a half-dozen small-footed women 
 in this country, but their number is very small in 
 deed. The feet of little girls doomed to a life of 
 prostitution are never bound. The boat population 
 never bind the feet of their daughters, and it is 
 from one or the other of these sources that nearly 
 all the Chinese women in America have come. 
 Of the six thousand Chinese women in Amer 
 ica more than nine-tenths are of that unfortunate 
 class that have been sold into a hopeless bondage 
 worse than death. There is nothing connected 
 with this whole subject of Chinese immigration 
 so objectionable, so revolting, so wicked, as this 
 woman question. The women are bought in 
 China; bought from the dealers there; bought 
 from poor families in the city and country ; 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 135 
 
 bought from the boat people; and, when the 
 market of supplies is scarce, then girls and young 
 women are stolen from homes of comparative 
 comfort and virtue, and sold and shipped across 
 the ocean to this Christian land, to be_sold_ agaih 
 to minister to the lusts of wicked men for the 
 profit of their more wicked masters. They are 
 coaxed and flattered and promised rich husbands, 
 fine clothes and plenty of money, if they will 
 come to America willingly. If they are still un 
 willing to come, they are punished, tormented, 
 and forced to come. The trade is carried on by 
 a class of Chinese villains who employ old hags 
 of women to go back and forth between China 
 and California, and bring these women and girls 
 across the ocean. During the passage they are 
 taught what story to tell, if, on arriving in San 
 Francisco, they should happen to be arrested and 
 questioned as to their family relations and modes 
 of obtaining a livelihood. They are to say that 
 they have come to join their husband or brother 
 or father or friend, who is in the interior, or 
 they have come to engage in the seamstress s 
 trade. They are to call the procuress mother or 
 elder sister, according to the respective ages of 
 the several parties and the circumstances of the 
 case. They are made to believe that the Amer 
 icans who interest themselves in their behalf and 
 
136 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 try to free them from their horrid condition, are 
 themselves /women-dealers} who are seeking to 
 reduce them to a slavery and service far more 
 cruel than that in which their present masters 
 liold them. So ignorant, so stupid, so destitute 
 of any consciousness of their own personal and 
 individual rights in themselves are these women, 
 that they really consider themselves bound to do 
 service as common prostitutes, for the benefit of 
 the man who has paid money for their purchase, 
 lest he should lose by his investment. 
 
 These women and girls are bought in China for 
 from one hundred to two hundred and fifty and 
 three hundred dollars, and are sold here quite reacl- 
 ily for from three hundred to six hundred dollars, 
 and sometimes more. Quite a number of Chinamen 
 have purchased these girls for secondary wives or 
 concubines, and live together with them in strictly 
 family relations. This is such an improvement 
 upon general and promiscuous intercourse that, for 
 the present, so far as the Chinese in America are 
 concerned, we are rather inclined to approve the 
 practice as the lesser evil. Frequently a kind of 
 attachment springs up between some visitor and 
 one of these girls, and he being unable or unwill 
 ing to pay the sum demanded, induces her to 
 run away with him. The owner finds some diffi 
 culty in claiming his property in our courts, and 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 137 
 
 so associations of Chinese villains and cut-throats 
 have been formed for the purpose of protecting 
 the owners of women and girls in their property 
 rights, and of doing any other villainous business 
 that comes to hand. 
 
 The San Francisco press know these men by 
 the term of "Highbinders." The name of the 
 principal association or company is "Hip Yee 
 Tong, " "The Temple of United Justice." None 
 but the Chinese would ever think of using so 
 good a name for such a nefarious business. But 
 with them the more devilish the business, the 
 more heavenly the name by which it is called. 
 For each Chinese woman brought into the coun 
 try, and sold into prostitution under the protec 
 tion of the "Hip Yee Tong," the sum of forty 
 dollars is levied as a fund with which to carry on 
 its operations, and to pay the desperadoes who 
 execute their orders. A small weekly or monthly 
 tax is also levied upon each woman for the same 
 purpose. According to a multitude of Chinese 
 statements during the past few years, and accord 
 ing to direct evidence before the Senate investi 
 gating committee, a part of this blood-money 
 goes into the pockets of special policemen. 
 Some of these men have become rich from these 
 fees and gamblers bribes. The Chinese women 
 have been taken from the steamers to some room 
 
138 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 or barracoon in Chinatown, and kept under the 
 surveillance of a special policeman until the fees 
 were paid and sales made. 
 
 We have heard dark hints of a room, called 
 "The Queen s Room," where the girls and 
 women were critically examined after the fashion 
 of African slave-dealers not many years ago. I 
 can not write these things without expressing my 
 deep indignation at this barbarous, this villainous 
 conduct of these wicked Chinamen ; but no lan 
 guage that I can use can adequately express the 
 deep disgust and utter abhorrence which all de 
 cent people must feel towards these white men, 
 belonging to a Christian civilization, who have 
 enriched themselves by aiding and abetting this 
 abominable traffic. Some of these men are now 
 very loud-mouthed in denouncing Chinese immi 
 gration, and exposing Chinese villainies, while 
 they themselves are parties to, and profit by this 
 woman traffic, the sum of all Chinese villainies. 
 
 It has been the practice to sell the women for 
 a term of years. An agreement answering to a 
 bill of sale, written on red paper, stating the 
 amount of money paid by the purchaser, and the 
 length of service he had a right to claim, has 
 been given to the victim. But finding our laws 
 very severe against buying or selling human be 
 ings, during the last few years, they have modi- 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 139 
 
 fied the form of this bill of sale into a kind of 
 agreement between the purchaser and the victim 
 herself, by which she is made to acknowledge 
 the receipt in her own hands of a certain sum of 
 money from the purchaser, for which she agrees 
 to prostitute her body for his profit for a specified 
 number of years. She is also made to state that 
 she, with her own hands, pays the money over 
 to her former owner, to pay him or her, as the 
 case may be, for borrowed money. Here is a 
 translation of one of these bills of sale : 
 
 " AN AGREEMENT to assist the woman Ah Ho, be 
 cause coming from China to San Francisco she became 
 indebted to her mistress for passage. Ah Ho herself asks 
 Mr. Yee Kvvan to advance for her six hundred and thirty 
 dollars, for which Ah Ho distinctly agrees to give her 
 body to Mr. Yee for service a sja prostitute for a term of 
 four years. There shall be no interest on the money. Ah 
 Ho shall receive no wages. At the expiration of four 
 years Ah Ho shall be her own master. Mr. Yee Kwan 
 shall not hinder nor trouble her. If Ah Ho runs away 
 before her time is out, her mistress shall find her and re 
 turn her, and whatever expense is incurred in finding and 
 returning her, Ah Ho shall pay. On this day of agree 
 ment Ah Ho with her own hands has received from Mr. 
 Yee Kwan six hundred and thirty dollars. If Ah Ho 
 shall be sick at any time for more than ten days, she 
 shall make up by an extra month of service for every ten 
 days of sickness. Now this agreement has proof this 
 paper received by Ah Ho is witness. TUNG CHEE. 
 
 "Twelfth year, ninth month and fourteenth day." 
 (About middle of October 1873.) 
 
I4O THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 And here is another, both of them procured 
 and translated by myself and used in court to se 
 cure the conviction of the offenders ; afterward 
 given as evidence before the " Senate investigating 
 Committee," and quoted in full in Mr. Sargent s 
 speech in the United States Senate, May 2, 1876. 
 
 "AN AGREEMENT to assist a young girl named Loi 
 Yau. Because she became indebted to her mistress for 
 passage, food, etc., and has nothing to pay, she makes 
 her body over to this woman, Sep Sam, to serve as a 
 prostitute to make out the sum of five hundred and 
 three dollars. The money shall draw no interest, and 
 Loi Yau shall serve four and one-half years. On this 
 day of agreement Loi Yau receives the sum of five hun 
 dred and three dollars in her own hands. When the 
 time is out, Loi Yau may be her own master, and no 
 man shall trouble her. If she runs away before the time 
 is out, and any expense is incurred in catching her, then 
 Loi Yau must pay the expense. If she is sick fifteen days 
 or more she shall make up one month for every fifteen 
 days. If Sep Sam shall go back to China, then Loi Yau 
 shall serve another party till her time is out. If in such 
 service she should be sick one hundred days, or more, 
 and can not be cured, she may return to Sep Sam s place. 
 For a proof of this agreement, this paper, Loi YAU, 
 " Dated 2d } sixth month of the present yearS* 
 
 In the Summer of 1873, a Chinamen by the 
 name of Yat Sang assisted three young Chinese 
 women to escape from a den of prostitution and 
 to find their way to the Methodist Mission House, 
 916 Washington Street. Yat Sang proposed to 
 marry one of the girls, and certain of his ac- 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 141 
 
 quaintanccs proposed to marry the other two. 
 The girls accepted the propositions. The men 
 procured licenses, and were married according 
 to the ordinance of God and the laws of Califor 
 nia. A few weeks after Yat Sang and his wife 
 came in great terror to the Mission House and 
 asked for protection. 
 
 The former owner of his wife, failing to col 
 lect her value, had brought the case before the 
 dreaded "Hip Yee Tong Society," and one of 
 their destroying angels had demanded the return 
 of the girl or three hundred and fifty dollars. 
 Unable to pay the money, and unwilling to give 
 up the woman, Yat Sang had been dragged be 
 fore the associated villains in their secret council 
 chamber and given three weeks in.which to choose 
 whether to return the woman, or her moneyed 
 value, three hundred and fifty dollars, or to be as 
 sassinated. Two of Yat Sang s friends were pres 
 ent and witnessed the proceedings. After consul 
 tation with certain lawyers, I assisted Yat Sang 
 in having eight of the leading " Hip Yee Tong" 
 men arrested on a charge of conspiracy to ex 
 tort money. The case was tried in the Police 
 Court. To the credit of the Chinese merchants 
 I may say that more than fifty of them called 
 me to a private interview, and encouraged me to 
 go on, promising to aid me in every possible 
 
142 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 way. Of their own accord they employed the 
 best legal counsel in the city to aid the Prosecut 
 ing- Attorney of the Police Court. But for some 
 unaccountable reason the Prosecuting Attorney 
 refused to allow Mr. M Alister, the counsel em 
 ployed by the Chinese merchants to aid him, to 
 take part in the prosecution; refused to bring 
 forward the official records of the Society which 
 had been seized with the men, and which con 
 tained the names of each of the eight defendants 
 as officers of the (< Hip Yee Tong. " His whole 
 conduct showed that he did not wish a convic 
 tion, and would not have it if he could prevent it. 
 However, Yat Sang and his two friends testified 
 to the facts as above mentioned. The defendants 
 each simply denied the same, and claimed that 
 they did not belong to the Hip Yee Tong, and 
 brought forward two Chinese witnesses to testify 
 for each defendant, that they were all good and 
 true men. To the astonishment and disappoint 
 ment of all respectable people who had noticed 
 the case, the jury rendered a verdict of acquittal. 
 With that Prosecuting Attorney and that jury 
 must rest the responsibility of neglecting the op 
 portunity then offered to break up one of the 
 most fearful and notorious bands of desperadoes 
 known among the Chinese in America. It was 
 commonly reported by the Chinese, and believed 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 143 
 
 by many other than the Chinese, that the Pros 
 ecuting Attorney had been consulted by the agents 
 of the conspirators; some of the defendants con 
 fessing that the whole affair had cost the Hip 
 Yee Tong Society" ten thousand dollars. 
 
 During the progress of the trial the following 
 editorial appeared in the San Francisco Evening 
 Bulletin : 
 
 CELESTIAL DEPRAVITY. 
 
 "Two Chinese merchants of acknowledged 
 respectability and influence, who have long been 
 residents of San Francisco, and are conversant 
 with the customs and manners of the American 
 people, called at this office to-day and voluntarily 
 explained a system of securing women for pros 
 titution as practiced by their countrymen. It 
 appears that Hip Yee Tong & Co. inaugurated 
 the base traffic here in 1852, in a small, un 
 ostentatious way, and as time progressed, in 
 creased their facilities, and by each steamer 
 brought more and more from China, and com 
 mitted them to a life of shame. Most of the 
 women were kidnaped and brought hither by force. 
 In 1863, the six companies, with other leading 
 Chinese merchants, succeeded in partially check 
 ing the importation of Chinese women, and re 
 turned many who were detained here home, ex 
 pending many thousand dollars in the good work. 
 
144 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Three years afterward, one Choy Poy established 
 a restaurant and vile retreat on Jackson Street, 
 between Dupont and Stockton, and Hip Yee 
 Tong began business again. These two villains, 
 Poy and Tong, made a common cause of the 
 war against the law, and by uniting their strength 
 created a force of fifty, then one hundred, and 
 finally three hundred fighting men, exclusive of 
 superintendents, which represents their power in 
 number to-day. These men are armed and 
 otherwise equipped for war against Celestials who 
 attempt to interfere with the illegitimate traffic 
 carried on in the dens of infamy, or who may be 
 otherwise obnoxious. Thus it is, that the cute 
 fellows who evade the laws of this land manage 
 to suppress any interference by brother Celestials 
 of a moral tone and honest pretentious to de 
 cency. As soon as the China steamer arrives, 
 carriages are sent to the wharf to remove the 
 females imported to Hip Yee Tong s house, 
 where they are stored, as goods in ware-houses, 
 until the owners or owner comes forward and 
 pays the forty dollars charges, with the under 
 standing that in the case of a default the woman 
 will be sold to pay expenses. Our informants 
 state that Hip Yee Tong has imported over six 
 thousand women to San Francisco, and realized 
 from his sales about two hundred thousand dol- 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 145 
 
 lars. Hitherto, the respectable Chinese have 
 dreaded to complain against these infamous slave 
 dealers, for fear of terrible revenge by the lat 
 ter; but now, learning that Rev. Mr. Gibson will 
 co-operate with any legitimate movement look 
 ing to the abolition of the nefarious practices of 
 the wicked Hip Yee Tong and Choy Poy, the re 
 formed Chinaman takes fresh courage, and longs 
 to begin a crusade against them. There is no 
 reason why the authorities of the city, if so dis 
 posed, can not suppress the traffic in Chinese 
 women now and forever, and thus blot out 
 a stain." 
 
 Soon after this affair, ten Chinese women, on 
 arrival at San Francisco, found means to reach 
 the Methodist Mission House and asked to be 
 sent back to China. I reported the case to the 
 Chinese merchants, and they promptly furnished 
 the money to pay the passage back, and assured 
 me that they would do the same for every woman 
 or girl who wished to go. They even went so far 
 as to prepare a great placard, which they wished 
 to be carried through Chinatown by an Ameri 
 can, stating, in large Chinese characters, that any 
 Chinese woman or girl who would get to the 
 Methodist Mission and desire to return to China, 
 should be provided with a passage. This action of 
 the Chinese merchants is in striking and favorable 
 
 10 
 
146 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 contrast to the action of certain lawyers and po 
 litical demagogues who have ever been ready 
 to aid Chinese villains and desperadoes in taking 
 advantage of all technicalities in order to defeat 
 the ends of justice, and who now are most offi 
 cious in the Anti-Chinese movement. 
 
 In 1872 the Legislature of the State of Cali 
 fornia passed a law creating a Commissioner of 
 Immigration, with power to examine immigrants, 
 and to forbid the landing of those whom he 
 should find to be criminals, or lewd persons, or 
 afflicted with contagious diseases. Under the 
 provisions of that act the Commissioner forbade 
 the landing of twenty-two Chinaese women from 
 the steamer Japan, which arrived here in August, 
 1873. The women dealers, by the help of law 
 yers of a certain class, obtained a writ of habeas 
 corpus, and brought the women on shore before 
 Judge Morrison of the Fourth District Court. 
 When the women were brought to the City Hall, 
 and placed in the Mayor s waiting-room until the 
 time of opening the court arrived, a scene of 
 perfect confusion took place. The women, either 
 through fear or anger, or instigated by some cun 
 ning Chinese rascal, began to cry and moan, 
 then to scream and yell, striking their breasts 
 and pulling their hair and rolling on the floor in 
 apparently the greatest agony and suffering. 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 147 
 
 Rev. Mr. Condit and myself, passing by, were 
 called in to pacify them, but the more we tried 
 to pacify them the louder they wailed and 
 screamed. The clerks came pouring out of their 
 offices, judges came from their chambers, crowds 
 rushed in from the streets, some amused, some 
 incensed, and all able to say that they never saw 
 the like before. The case was adjourned until 
 the next day, and when the girls were removed 
 to the county jail another scene ensued. Great 
 strong policemen were obliged to take them up 
 by force and hoist them into a wagon as they 
 would sheep or calves. The next day they were 
 brought into court and examined. They each 
 and all denied being prostitutes ; had come to 
 find their husband, brother, etc. It may be 
 interesting to the reader to know just what these 
 women did testify, and so we will give a part of 
 the testimony in Judge Morrison s Court as re 
 ported in a San Francisco paper. 
 
 "THE TALES OF THE INNOCENTS. 
 
 The attorney for the petitioner proposed 
 to examine a number of the women and ascer 
 tain from them their condition, and their pur 
 pose in coming to this country. Low Ying 
 was called. Miss Ying ascended the stand 
 with a timid air. She testified, through an 
 
148 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 interpreter, that she was twenty years of age. 
 She was unmarried, but expected soon to be. 
 She had come here to marry. Her husband to 
 be, resided on Jackson Street. She did not know 
 where Jackson Street was, however. Her mother 
 lived here also on Jackson Street, and had writ 
 ten a letter to her to come to San Francisco 
 and get married to a man whom she had chosen 
 for her. That was the Chinese way of doing 
 such things. The witness had been here many 
 years ago, when very young, and had returned 
 to China. Low Ying was then permitted to re 
 tire to her seat, confident that she had satisfied 
 every one present of her perfect innocence. 
 
 "TWO BLOOMING BRIDES. 
 
 "Ah Lim was the next innocent called. She 
 was but nineteen years of age. She had been 
 married in China. Her husband had come to 
 this country years ago. She had found it hard 
 work to exist in her native land without her hus 
 band s helping hand, and she had conceived the 
 idea of coming here and joining him. She did 
 not know exactly where he was, but she was 
 confident that she would find him. Di Hee, a 
 corpulent feminine, with a very prominent fore 
 head and a very insignificant face, waddled to 
 the stand. She wore a profusion of gaudy wax 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 149 
 
 flowers in her hair, and spoke in a very childish 
 voice. She was sweet sixteen. She was married, 
 and had come here, like the preceding witness, to 
 hunt up an errant husband, who was floating 
 around town somewhere, she did not know where. 
 When asked how she was going to find him, she 
 answered through the interpreter, Just let me 
 go once, and see how quick I ll find him. 
 
 AN INDIGNANT INNOCENT. 
 
 "Ah Fung, a damsel of nineteen Summers, 
 answered the questions put to her in a very de 
 fiant manner and with a terseness rarely found 
 in a witness. She had a husband in China, but 
 had come out to see what kind of a country this 
 was, anyway. She had an elder sister here, whom 
 she was about to join. She had always been re 
 spected in China for her virtue and her general 
 exemplary character. She was so tortured with 
 questions respecting her life in China and her 
 family, that at one time she petulantly exclaimed, 
 Why do you ask me so many questions? My 
 husband would not dare to bother me so. Ah 
 Hong, aged nineteen, came here to meet her 
 husband, who had left China some years ago. 
 She, like the rest, did not really know who her 
 husband was, but she was just as confident as 
 the rest that she could find him very easily if she 
 
150 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 had an opportunity. Rev. Otis Gibson, who, 
 from his observations, took no stock in the virtue 
 of the innocents, testified to having lived ten 
 years in China, during which time he became 
 conversant with the customs and manners of the 
 people there. He explained the difference be 
 tween Chinese courtesans and the respectable 
 females. The courtesans generally wore gar 
 ments of a loud color, and flowers in their hair ; 
 whereas the respectable females were simply and 
 modestly attired. He had noticed while seated 
 in the court- room, that the women present wore 
 garments which undoubtedly disguised their true 
 character. He had seen glimpses of gaudy gar 
 ments beneath their outer dress, and he had no 
 doubt that if they were examined they would be 
 found to be arrayed in gaudy dresses. On cross- 
 examination, he testified that there were about 
 two thousand Chinese women in San Francisco ; 
 a very small proportion of whom, about one 
 hundred, were married, the remainder being 
 either prostitutes or mistresses for Chinamen who 
 had wives in China. 
 
 MR. QUINT INVESTIGATES. 
 
 A long discussion ensued respecting the pro 
 priety of examining the women to ascertain 
 whether the Reverend gentleman s surmises were 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 15 I 
 
 correct. The judge remarked that the women 
 wore very wide sleeves, and thought that there 
 would be no indelicacy or impropriety in gazing 
 clown their sleeves. Judge Quint performed the 
 operation upon several of the women, and found 
 that they all wore some dress of gaudy color and 
 material beneath their outer garment, exactly as 
 Mr. Gibson had stated." 
 
 During the trial another scene took place, de 
 scribed in the city papers as follows : 
 
 THE JUDGE DRIVEN FROM HIS BENCH. 
 
 " At this juncture, one of the women among 
 the crowd jumped to her feet and gave an awful 
 screech, and then the rest of them joined in the 
 infernal chorus. Mr. Locke, the attorneys and 
 the deputy sheriffs all tried to quiet them, but 
 they would not be comforted. They put their 
 handkerchiefs to their faces and bellowed at the 
 top of their lungs. Their wails rang through the 
 City Hall, bringing the clerks from the various 
 city departments, and even attracting the people 
 upon the streets. Judge Morrison stuffed his 
 fingers in his ears, and retired to his chambers, 
 and Court was suspended fifteen minutes before 
 order could be restored. The Chinese inter 
 preter said that between their cries, the women 
 were expostulating against being kept in prison, 
 
152 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 saying that they had not killed any body, stolen 
 any thing, or set fire to any thing, and saw no 
 reason why they should be kept in prison. The 
 crowd which gathered around seemed greatly 
 amused at the frantic demonstrations of grief. 
 Some of the women appeared in danger of shak 
 ing themselves to pieces by the violence of their 
 grief, and others slid down on the floor, and rock 
 ing back and forth, emitted ear-splitting screeches. 
 It was noticed, when they were at last quieted, 
 that nearly all their eyes were dry, few tears hav 
 ing actually been shed. From this the specta 
 tors concluded that it was but a clever dodge on 
 the part of the women to gain the sympathy of 
 the Court. 
 
 "At this point Judge Morrison remarked 
 that it was strange that the husbands these 
 women claimed to have had not presented them 
 selves. It would be very satisfactory to him to 
 have these husbands come forward and see their 
 wives. Mr. Quint promised to look some of 
 them up. He was not aware that they would 
 be permitted to see their wives. A witness was 
 then asked by the Court what number in a hun 
 dred of the Chinese women here are respectable 
 married women. The witness replied rather 
 drolly : I can not say how many in a hundred ; 
 one or two in a thousand. 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 153 
 
 "IN SEARCH OF A HUSBAND. 
 
 "A fat, jolly-looking Chinaman was then pro 
 duced as the husband of one of the women. Mr. 
 Ryan proposed that this man be placed among a 
 half a dozen of his countrymen, to see if his re 
 puted wife could pick him out. Mr. Quint ob 
 jected; but Judge Morrison said that it was a 
 good suggestion, and ordered that it be carried 
 out. The Chinaman was placed in a row with 
 five others, and the woman he claimed as his 
 wife brought into the court-room and told by the 
 Chinese interpreter to pick her husband out. She 
 scanned the row, the fat Chinaman rolling his 
 head and endeavoring to catch her eye, and 
 finally he nodded his head at her. 
 
 The Court. "That won t do; I saw him nod 
 his head to her. 
 
 " Mr. Ryan (excitedly). Yes, and he stepped 
 out of the line. 
 
 "The woman had been so decidedly informed 
 that she at last approached the Chinaman. 
 
 Mr. Quint. I think there was a selection. 
 
 "The Court held otherwise, however. 
 
 "Mr. Ryan (to Mr. Quint). Got any more 
 husbands ? 
 
 "Mr. Quint. We have not had time to look 
 around for them. 
 
154 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Judge Morrison. The Court will give you 
 an opportunity. 
 
 "Further hearing was continued until eleven 
 o clock to-day. When the women were being 
 taken to the van to be driven to the jail it took 
 all the persuasive eloquence of the Chinese inter 
 preter to prevent another howling exhibition." 
 
 Judge Morrison sustained the Commissioner of 
 Immigration and remanded the women back to 
 the Steamship Company to be returned to China. 
 Immediately after Judge Morrison s decision was 
 announced, Messrs. Edgerton and Quint obtained 
 a writ of habeas corpus from Chief Justice Wal 
 lace of the Supreme Court, upon the allegation 
 that the women were illegally detained by the 
 Captain of the Japan. The writ was executed in 
 the nick of time, just as the steamer was about 
 to leave the wharf, and the women were escorted 
 back to the County Jail, where they remained 
 until the Supreme Court of the State of Califor 
 nia sustained the ruling of Judge Morrison, and 
 the women were the second time remanded back 
 to the steamer. But the women dealers and 
 their unprincipled lawyers then applied to the 
 United States District Court, procured another, 
 the third writ of habeas corpus, and the case was 
 tried before that tribunal. That Court reversed 
 the decision of Judge Morrison and of the 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 155 
 
 Supreme Court of the State of California, pro 
 nounced the law under which the Commissioner 
 of Immigration had refused permission to these 
 women to land to be unconstitutional, and or 
 dered the women to be allowed their freedom. 
 By consent of the counsel on both sides, one 
 woman was held, and an appeal taken to the 
 United States Supreme Court, in Washington. 
 The other women were at once disposed of in 
 the various brothels of Chinatown. One of them 
 found her life unendurable, and has now for more 
 than a year been an inmate of the Asylum for 
 Chinese women in the Methodist Mission House 
 in San Francisco. After a delay of nearly three 
 years the Supreme Court of the United States 
 gave its decision, sustaining the ruling of the 
 United States District Court pronouncing the law 
 under which the women were prevented from 
 landing unconstitutional. 
 
 In San Francisco Chinatown certain narrow 
 streets or alleys are largely given up to dens of 
 prostitution. Formerly, the girl who acted as 
 decoy stood in the open front door inviting pas 
 sers-by to enter. But when the police, goaded 
 by public sentiment, were compelled to make a 
 feint of suppressing these places, they were al 
 lowed to make little openings in their front door 
 about eight by ten inches large, covered by a 
 
156 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 movable slide. Here the poor girl who acts as 
 decoy sits or stands, tricked out in silks and 
 daubed with paint, inviting all passers-by, with 
 out regard to age, race or color, to enter. On 
 one occasion I heard a policeman say to a Chinese 
 courtesan, "You must close your front door; you 
 may invite as many people as you please through 
 your window; but I can t let you stand in the 
 door any more." That is about the extent of 
 the police effort to check Chinese prostitution. 
 Some of these dens are said to be devoted to 
 the accommodation of white visitors, and others 
 more exclusively for Chinese patrons; and strange 
 to say, the whites are accommodated at cheaper 
 rates than the Chinese. In plying their vocation, 
 if these girls fail to attract, or refuse to receive 
 company and make money,- the old mistress, 
 whom they call "mother," beats and pounds 
 them with sticks of fire-wood, pulls their hair, 
 treads on their toes, starves them, and torments 
 and punishes them in every cruel way. Case after 
 case of this kind has escaped their clutches and 
 found refuge in the Methodist Mission House. 
 They have sometimes come with arms, legs, and 
 body bruised, swollen and sore, from the inhuman 
 treatment received because they failed to make 
 money for their vile mistress. Girls in the act 
 of escaping have been caught and forced back by 
 
CHINESE WOMEN. 1 57 
 
 white men feed by the infamous wretches who 
 conduct this dreadful business. 
 
 There is no doubt that the municipal gov 
 ernment could stop this traffic, and suppress 
 this whole system of public prostitution among 
 the Chinese, and whites also, if it desired to do 
 so. The trouble is, that a majority of those who 
 compose our municipal government consider pub 
 lic prostitution a necessary evil, rather to be reg 
 ulated than to be suppressed, and hence no ener 
 getic effort has been made in this city to suppress 
 this evil. To wage a war against Chinese pros 
 titution while granting immunity to all others 
 is as absurd as it is unjust. No wonder that 
 the president of one of the six companies said 
 to Mayor Bryant in answer to his vigorous con 
 demnation of Chinese prostitution, "Yes, yes; 
 Chinese prostitution is bad. What do you think 
 of German prostitutes, French prostitutes, Span 
 ish prostitutes, and American prostitutes? Do 
 you think them very good?" If the Chinaman 
 had been versed in the Gospel of Jesus he might 
 have well answered, "First cast out the beam out 
 of thine own eye ; and then shalt thou see clearly 
 to cast out the mote out of thy brother s eye." 
 
158 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MISSIONARY EFFORT AMONG THE CHINESE IN 
 AMERICA. 
 
 THE coming of so many idolaters to this 
 Christian land has brought new and grave 
 responsibilities upon the Christian Church. The 
 heathen,* for whose conversion to Christianity 
 the Church has long been praying the heathen 
 to whom the Church has occasionally sent a repre 
 sentative, a messenger, a missionary of the blessed 
 Gospel one hundred and fifty thousand of those 
 very heathen, God has now, by his most won 
 derful providence, brought to these Christian 
 shores, to these United States of America. There 
 is reason to believe that the Church at large in 
 America has not clearly appreciated the situa 
 tion ; has not correctly interpreted providential 
 indications; has not carefully measured the re 
 sponsibility which God has thrust upon her. 
 While the principal attention of the Church has 
 been directed to the far-away "pagodas and ze 
 nanas and decaying heathenism of India," and 
 she has been sending her sons and daughters in 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 159 
 
 force to preach the Gospel to the waiting Hin 
 doos subjects of a Christian government God 
 himself, in spite of the counsels of men, has 
 been bringing Chinese heathen in tens and scores 
 of thousands, and planting them upon this Chris 
 tian soil. And these heathen, without let or hin- 
 derance, have here erected their temples and al 
 tars of idolatry, and have instituted in the heart 
 of all the towns and cities of the Pacific Coast the 
 worship of gods made with men s hands. Now 
 and then, here and there, a voice of warning has 
 been raised. The providential indications of a 
 providential demand upon American Christians 
 to expend their effort more largely upon China 
 and the Chinese have been plainly pointed out. 
 But the ear of the Church has been dull of hearing. 
 The popular current has been turned in another 
 direction, and lately it has even been suggested 
 that the most efficient way to evangelize the four 
 hundred millions of Chinese heathen is to mass 
 the combined missionary force of the world upon 
 the heathenism of India! 
 
 On the Pacific Coast, where these Chinese 
 idolaters have gathered in force, Protestant Chris 
 tianity has had its hands and heart full in trying 
 to reach and save the English-speaking people 
 who have rushed to this new El Dorado. The 
 country has been, and still is, comparatively 
 
160 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 new. Society has been somewhat unsettled. 
 Adventurers and persons of questionable charac 
 ter from all lands have flocked to California. The 
 excitements incident to the discovery of new and 
 rich mines of gold and silver have kept the peo 
 ple in a restless, feverish state of mind. Until 
 quite recently, the majority of the people have 
 not been permanent residents in any fixed local 
 ity ; but have been transient, moving now here 
 and now there, all hoping and intending to make 
 a little fortune and then go home ; for these rea 
 sons the whole Pacific Coast has been, and still 
 is, to a great extent, missionary ground. The 
 Church, instead of depending upon her members 
 in California to do aggressive missionary work, 
 has found it necessary to expend men and money 
 in gathering the scattered members of her com 
 munion together, and organizing them into 
 Churches throughout the land. The great ex 
 pense also attendant upon all aggressive opera 
 tions in California has had a tendency to retard 
 the Church in her efforts to reach the heathen 
 among us. And yet the Christian people of 
 California, and the Church at large, have not been 
 altogether unmindful of their obligations to these 
 idolaters, nor altogether indifferent to the prov 
 idential opportunities which God has placed in 
 their way. 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. l6l 
 
 Very early in the history of California as a 
 State ; very early in the history of this Chinese 
 immigration ; at a time when the Chinaman was 
 welcomed by all classes, as early as 1852, through 
 the agency and influence of Rev. William Speer, 
 the Christian people of San Francisco, of all de 
 nominations, joined together and purchased a 
 property and erected a substantial building on the 
 corner of Stockton and Sacramento Streets, for 
 the use of a Protestant mission among the Chi 
 nese in America. The property was owned and 
 controlled for a time by a committee of citizens, 
 but was finally passed over to the Presbyterian 
 Board of Missions on condition that the Board 
 should assume the mortgage and continue the 
 mission. Mr. Speer had been a missionary to 
 the Chinese in Canton, from which city and sur 
 rounding country all the Chinese in the United 
 States have come and was the first Christian 
 Missionary to the Chinese in America. In Can 
 ton he had acquired the dialect of the Chinese 
 .who had come to California, and was able to con 
 verse with them quite fluently in their own lan 
 guage. By his intellectual ability and beautiful 
 Christian Character, Mr. Speer won the respect 
 and esteem of all classes in California, and en 
 joyed the almost unbounded confidence of the 
 
 Chinese people. He was indefatigable in his 
 ii 
 
162 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 labors ; not only in direct methods of evangelism, 
 but in all ways, devoted himself with untiring en 
 ergy to the work of developing, enlightening and 
 blessing these heathen among us. For a while 
 he edited and published a newspaper in the Chi 
 nese language for free circulation among the Chi 
 nese people, and in 1856 he prepared a memorial 
 of some forty pages, and also other pamphlets, 
 to the Legislature of California, reviewing the 
 whole Chinese question, and pleading for a re 
 duction of the excessive and class taxation, then 
 imposed upon Chinese miners. 
 
 In 1853 Mr. Speer organized a small Chinese 
 Church the first in America ; but on the failure 
 of his health and departure for the East, the 
 Church was disbanded, some of the members re 
 turning to China ; and two or three who remained 
 took their Church letters and joined the First Pres 
 byterian Church in San Francisco. In 1859 R CV - 
 A. W. Loomis took charge of this mission, re 
 organized the Church, and has continued in 
 charge until now. During the last few years he 
 has been most efficiently aided by Rev. I. M. 
 Condit and wife. Mr. Loomis had spent seven 
 years as missionary to the Chinese in Ningpo, 
 and consequently had some acquaintance with 
 the character of the Chinese and their written 
 language, but the spoken dialects of Ningpo and 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 163 
 
 Canton are so widely different that Mr. Loomis 
 was compelled to commence and study the Can 
 ton dialect de novo. This he has done with con 
 siderable success, and by his uniform gentlemanly 
 conduct, as well as by his recognized scholarly 
 ability, commands the esteem and respect of all 
 who know him. Though quiet and unostenta 
 tious, he is widely and favorably known among 
 the Chinese population as their friend and coun 
 selor. This Presbyterian mission under Dr. Loo- 
 mis and Mr. Condit is the oldest and one of the 
 strongest and most successful missions of the 
 Christian Church among the Chinese. Regular 
 religious services in the Chinese language are 
 held at the Mission House on Sundays and on 
 Wednesday evenings. These services are well 
 attended by the members of the Chinese Church, 
 their friends, and the scholars of the evening- 
 schools, and on Sunday evenings enough stran 
 gers come in to fill the house; but the Mission 
 House is too far removed from Chinatown proper 
 to attract the crowds of indifferent, careless hea 
 then from their lazy rambles on the street. Up 
 to this time, this mission has not succeeded in 
 obtaining a suitable place for street or bazaar 
 preaching to the Chinese. Dr. Loomis and Mr. 
 Condit, however, have been faithful and persist 
 ent in visiting among the Chinese in their shops 
 
164 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 and factories, and sometimes find a favorable op 
 portunity to converse with the workmen. 
 
 Great embarrassment attends this method of 
 preaching the Gospel to this people, and one 
 great and urgent need of this mission to-day is a 
 chapel in Chinatown for the constant preaching 
 of the Gospel. Several native Christian colpor 
 teurs are constantly employed in different parts 
 of the State, distributing Christian books and 
 conversing with the people. The missionaries 
 also make occasional visits to different parts of 
 the country, preaching to the Chinese as op 
 portunity offers. This Mission conducts a large 
 and flourishing evening school in San Francisco, 
 for teaching the Chinese our language and relig 
 ion, and has a number of branch schools in differ 
 ent parts of the State, with a total average at 
 tendance of one hundred and eighty-five. It has 
 lately also opened an Asylum or Home for res 
 cuing poor, distressed Chinese women, some 
 thing after the plan adopted by the Methodist 
 Mission some years previous. Some twenty-five 
 women have already sought refuge and help in 
 this Home. Three of these, at their own request, 
 have been sent back to China. Five have been 
 married. There is also a school for children, 
 sustained by an undenominational society of la 
 dies, but standing in closer relationship, perhaps, 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 165 
 
 with this mission than with any other. It was 
 established by the late Mrs. C. H. Cole, and 
 continued under her care up to the time of her 
 death, on the /th of January last. Her last report 
 shows forty-one children in this school, twenty of 
 whom were born in California. Mrs. Cole deserves 
 favorable mention as a woman of deep piety and 
 sublime faith ; endowed with a vigorous intellect, 
 and highly cultivated ; she had a varied experi 
 ence in life s battle, but manifested a wonderful 
 patience and cheerfulness under a weight of cares 
 and sorrow. Now she rests in heaven. Eighty 
 Chinese have become members of this Church, 
 five of whom have died and seven have been dis 
 missed to Churches in China. Respecting these 
 who are in regular standing, the testimony of 
 those who know them is explicit and unhesitat 
 ing. They are faithful, exemplary, active Chris 
 tians. Besides these members of the Mission 
 Church, forty-six Chinese have been received into 
 other Presbyterian Churches; namely, three at 
 Marysville, four at San Leandro, four at Santa 
 Barbara, nine at San Jose, twelve at Sacramento, 
 and fourteen at Oakland. Besides those who 
 have become Church members, there are con 
 nected with this mission about fifteen who are 
 believed to be Christians, but have not yet been 
 baptized. We can count, therefore, among the 
 
1 66 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 results of missionary effort, as sustained by the 
 Presbyterian Church, one hundred and forty souls 
 hopefully converted and saved. 
 
 The following brief account of the Baptist 
 missionary work appeared quite lately in a San 
 Francisco paper, and has been indorsed by Rev. 
 Mr. Francis as a correct and satisfactory ac 
 count of the Baptist work among the Chinese in 
 America: 
 
 As early as 1854 a mission was started in 
 Sacramento by Rev. J. L. Shuck, who had been 
 a missionary at Canton, but was then pastor of 
 the Baptist Church in that city. He built a 
 chapel and organized a Church of converted Chi 
 nese, but when he returned to the East the work 
 ceased. Among his converts was Wong Min, 
 who, on returning to Canton, attracted the atten 
 tion of missionaries there by his earnest and 
 eloquent street preaching, and became pastor of 
 a native Baptist Church in that city. He died 
 about two years ago, greatly lamented, but left 
 a son, a very promising preacher, to take up the 
 work that he laid down. The present Baptist 
 Mission, located at 829 Washington Street, was 
 begun in 1870. It is now in charge of Rev. 
 John Francis. It is sustained by an annual ex 
 penditure of about two thousand five hundred 
 dollars. The average attendance at its school is 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. l6/ 
 
 about one hundred, and it has the name of about 
 one hundred and twenty-five Chinese upon its 
 rolls. It has a library of five hundred volumes, 
 in Chinese and English. Fifteen have been re 
 ceived into Baptist Churches through its efforts, 
 of whom five are members of the first Church in 
 this city, and seven of that in Oakland. There 
 are now six inquirers and three candidates for 
 baptism. Three Christian Chinese connected 
 with this mission have died. The first of these 
 was probably the first of his nation who, on this 
 continent, received Christian burial. This mis 
 sion has a branch at Portland, Oregon, which 
 has been remarkably successful. Dong Gong 
 preaches to his countrymen there a man who 
 was thrown into the river at Canton by his own 
 father because he would not renounce the Chris 
 tian faith. It may be that in days past the Bap 
 tist Churches of the State have failed to yield to 
 this mission all the sympathy and support that it 
 needed and deserved, but in their last conven 
 tion the expressions of confidence and of inter 
 est were as hearty as could be desired. 
 
 One of the men who have died from this mis 
 sion was Mr. Fung, who came from China for 
 the express purpose of preaching the Gospel to 
 his countrymen in California. He was an elo 
 quent speaker of the Chinese language, and held 
 
168 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 large audiences on the street to listen to his 
 proclamation of the doctrines of Jesus. Rev. Mr. 
 Graves, Baptist missionary from Canton, while 
 in this country for his health, spent some six 
 months in active missionary work among the 
 Chinese in San Francisco. Rev. Mr. Simmons, 
 also from the Baptist Mission in Canton, spent 
 about two years in charge of this mission work. 
 These gentlemen, having acquired a knowledge 
 of the Canton dialect in China, were able to con 
 verse and preach fluently in the language of the 
 Chinese here. This made their labors especially 
 efficient. 
 
 I can not refrain from referring just here to 
 what seems to be blindness on the part of the 
 Baptist Missionary Society in America. The 
 First Baptist Church of San Francisco, a large 
 and commodious building, one of the first, and for 
 a long time one of the most popular Protestant 
 Churches on the Pacific Coast, was situated on 
 Washington Street, just on the verge of China 
 town. As the Chinese population increased and 
 began to swarm on Washington Street, this 
 church became less and less available for the use 
 of an English-speaking congregation, but every 
 day became better and better adapted for a Chi 
 nese Mission House better located for this pur 
 pose than the property that any other Church 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 169 
 
 had been able to secure. The trustees of the 
 Church, and the Baptists of San Francisco saw 
 the providential indications, and, while regretting 
 the necessity of leaving their temple of worship 
 and commencing anew in some other locality, 
 they rejoiced that their house might still con 
 tinue to be a temple of the living God, and be 
 used as a strong fortress of the blessed Gospel 
 to stay the tide of heathenism and idolatry which 
 was beginning to surge all around it. The prop 
 erty was valued at $35,000; but the trustees, 
 willing and anxious to do their part in this good 
 work, offered the property to the Baptist Mission 
 ary Society for a Chinese Mission, at $25,000. 
 But the Society strangely, and, as it seems to us, 
 blindly, declined to accept the offer and under 
 take the work. The heathen themselves became 
 purchasers, and what was lately the First Bap 
 tist Church of San Francisco is now a crowded 
 Chinese tenement house, full of all manner of 
 filthiness, shame, and sin. Where but lately was 
 the altar of the living God, now smokes the in 
 cense of idolatry. That sacred temple where 
 once the voice of prayer and praise to God was 
 heard, now echoes with idolatrous chants and 
 bacchanalian songs. Instead of standing firm 
 against these incoming hosts of idolatry and sin, 
 the Church of Christ has beaten an ignominious 
 
I/O THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 retreat, has surrendered without a struggle one 
 of her strongest fortifications, and retreated in 
 disorder before the swarming hosts of idolatry 
 a burning shame, a standing reproach to Chris 
 tianity in general, and to the Baptist Missionary 
 Society in particular. Perhaps that Society 
 thought that it could do more toward Christian 
 izing the Chinese in America by sending the 
 money and men to India, than by expending 
 their strength directly upon the Chinese here ! 
 
 The following account of the work done by 
 the Congregationalists was prepared by Rev. W. 
 C. Pond, Secretary of the California Chinese Mis 
 sion of the Congregationalist Church : 
 
 "The California Chinese Mission, Auxiliary 
 to the American Missionary Association, is the 
 organization under which the Congregational 
 Churches prosecute their work among this peo 
 ple. The Central Mission House is at No 5 
 Brenham Place, overlooking the Plaza. It has 
 schools also on Mission Street near Twelfth, and 
 in Bethany Chapel, Bartlett Street near Twenty- 
 fifth. Besides these, it has schools in Los An 
 geles, Oakland, Oroville, Sacramento, Santa Bar 
 bara, and Stockton. During the year ending 
 September I, 1875, more than 1,800 Chinese at 
 tended these schools for a longer or shorter pe 
 riod. The average enrollment, month by month, 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. I/I 
 
 is now about four hundred and seventy-five, and 
 the average attendance exceeds three hundred. 
 Most, but not all, of those who are believed to 
 have become Christian! in connection with this 
 work are enrolled as members of the Congrega 
 tional Association of Christian Chinese, a society 
 organized about two years ago. The conditions 
 of membership, as expressed in the constitu 
 tion drawn up by the Chinese themselves, are 
 as follows: Any one who desires to become a 
 member of this Association must forsake idolatry 
 and all bad habits and must prove himself to 
 be a follower of Christ. He must bring refer 
 ences from one or more members. His name 
 must be brought before the Society a week be 
 fore he can be admitted, and he is received upon 
 a vote of two-thirds of the members. Eighty- 
 seven have joined this society. Thus far but 
 one has proved himself untrue. In most cases 
 these converts have not been received into the 
 Church till they have been in this Association 
 instructed and tested about six months. Seven 
 teen have united with the First Congregational 
 Church in Oakland, and twenty-eight with the 
 Bethany Church in this city. In connection 
 with the schools in other parts of the State, about 
 fifteen Chinese have given their teachers reason 
 to believe that they have become sincere Chris- 
 
1/2 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 tians, so that the total number of converts in 
 connection with this mission is about one hun 
 dred and two." 
 
 The Congregationalists have not established a 
 mission house, and do not support an Amer 
 ican missionary, devoting his whole time to the 
 study of the language and care of the work, 
 but have established quite a number of evening 
 schools for instructing the Chinese in the English 
 language, after the plan adopted by the Presby 
 terian and Methodist Missions. These schools are 
 doing a good work and producing happy results. 
 Rev. William C. Pond, Pastor of the Bethany 
 Church, has general supervision of these schools. 
 
 EPISCOPAL MISSION. 
 
 One of the principal workers in this mission 
 work, and superintendent of the school con 
 nected with the Church of the Advent, Mr. Will 
 iam R. Wadsworth, makes this statement con 
 cerning its history : 
 
 "The Church in this diocese and in Ne 
 vada and Oregon are under great obligations to 
 Rev. O. Gibson, a missionary of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, who, in 1868, called upon 
 the rectors of the several Churches in our city, 
 San Francisco, and advised the opening of 
 Chinese mission schools. The Church of the 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 173 
 
 Advent, Rev. H. D. Lathrop, D. D., Rector, 
 was the first to enter the field, and the school 
 then opened has been continued with zeal and 
 vigor until now, not only on Sundays, but also 
 one evening in the week. The Episcopal Church 
 has now called a Chinese, who has been five 
 years in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and has been 
 admitted as a candidate for the ministry in the 
 Central Diocese of Pennsylvania, under Bishop 
 M. A. De Wolfe House, to work as a missionary 
 among his own people in connection with the 
 schools of Trinity and Advent, and possibly 
 Grace Church, San Francisco." 
 
 THE METHODIST MISSION. 
 
 In June, 1868, the writer, who had been for 
 ten years missionary to the Chinese in Foochow, 
 China, was appointed missionary to the Chinese 
 of the Pacific Coast. After a close examination 
 of the whole field, in August, 1868, he issued a 
 circular containing a statement of the case and 
 proposing a plan of operations. We quote from 
 the circular: 
 
 "Whatever may be our theories with regard 
 to the migration of the Chinese to our shores, 
 the plain facts are these : 
 
 " ist. We have already some sixty thousand 
 of that race among us. 
 
174 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 "2d. Every arrival from China increases the 
 number. 
 
 "3d. The manifest tendency of the late Reci 
 procity Treaty between China and the United 
 States, which has received the unanimous sanction 
 t)f both Houses of Congress, and the approval of 
 the President and his entire Cabinet, is to stimu 
 late and increase immigration from China. 
 
 " Already, then, it is too late to inquire how 
 we may shut out this incoming tide of Asiatics. 
 The question of the hour is, and it is an im 
 portant one, How may this strange element of 
 our population be made to aid in the develop 
 ment of the resources of our country and to add 
 to our national prosperity, while we, on our 
 part, introduce t/iem to our higher civilization 
 and to our holier faith ? Will not a system of 
 education in the English language be an efficient 
 means of accomplishing this desired result ? As 
 a knowledge of our language becomes common 
 among them, may we not look for these results ? 
 
 " 1st. The Chinese will gradually lose their 
 clannish proclivities, and more readily adopt our 
 customs, our civilization, our country, and our 
 religion. 
 
 " 2d. This being accomplished to any consid 
 erable extent, the more respectable class of Chi 
 nese will, with their legitimate wives and chil- 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 175 
 
 dren, begin to settle in this country as the land 
 of their permanent adoption. 
 
 3d. Being a thrifty, economical, industrious, 
 and peaceful people, they will aid greatly in the 
 development of our national resources, and add 
 millions of dollars to the aggregate wealth of the 
 State, which otherwise, as now, will be carefully 
 shipped back to their native land. 
 
 4th. The reports of those who return, and the 
 correspondence of those who remain, together 
 with the influence of civilization and Christianity 
 in that land, will gradually arouse the stagnant 
 mind of that vast people, till China shall gladly 
 exchange her foolish superstitions and wicked 
 idolatry for the pure virtues and holy faith of our 
 heaven-born Christianity, and the higher civiliza 
 tion which always follows in her train. 
 
 "In a work of such magnitude and of such 
 promise, every Church organization, every wise 
 student of political economy, every lover of our 
 country, every worshiper of God, will certainly 
 feel an interest and be willing to aid its progress." 
 
 In the same month, August, 1868, in his re 
 port to the Annual Conference, he said: "I have 
 found in all the State (outside of the Presbyte 
 rian mission of San Francisco) one Chinese Sun 
 day-school only in successful operation, teaching 
 the Chinese the English language. That school is 
 
1 76 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 in the Sixth Street Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 Sacramento, and was organized in 1866 by three 
 Christian women, Mrs. Carly, Mrs. Heacock, and 
 Mrs. Sweetland, under the pastorate of Rev. M. 
 C. Briggs, D. D. That school stands at the 
 head of a system of Chinese Sunday-schools I 
 hope to organize in many places on this Coast 
 during the coming year." In December of the 
 same year, 1868,. he issued another circular, from 
 which we quote : 
 
 " i. That the plan of operations, as indicated 
 in the card and in the circular lately published, 
 is a system of gratuitous or cheap education in 
 the English language. 
 
 "2. That Sunday and evening schools in 
 San Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, and Santa 
 Clara, in which about two hundred Chinamen 
 are weekly learning to read and write our lan 
 guage, have already been organized. 
 
 11 3. That our plan proposes a general system 
 of such schools on all this Coast, wherever it is 
 practicable to organize them. 
 
 "4. That we believe that these schools will 
 be the means of introducing the Chinese to our 
 best citizens, of acquainting them with the spirit 
 and genius of our institutions, and leading them 
 gradually to adopt our higher form of civilization 
 and our purer faith. 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 1/7 
 
 "5. That we believe that these schools will 
 tend to cultivate a healthy public sentiment in 
 .our own communities toward the Chinese, thus 
 securing for that people among us a treatment 
 more in harmony with the real spirit of our civ 
 ilization than they now receive." 
 
 In the conference report on the Chinese work 
 written by Rev. M. C. Briggs, D. D., August, 
 1869, it is said: "In August, 1868, our excellent 
 brother, Rev. Otis Gibson, who had spent ten 
 laborious years in the mission field of Foochow, 
 China, came to us charged by the Missionary 
 Board with the care and management of this 
 great interest. Brother Gibson at once perceived 
 that Christian effort among the Chinese, in order 
 to be successful in the new conditions surrounding 
 them, must mainly be put forth through the me 
 dium of the English language. He was further 
 convinced that formal instruction would have to 
 be given to adult Chinamen, for the most part, 
 in Sabbath and evening schools. With a prompt 
 ness and energy worthy of special commenda 
 tion, he set about exploring the extended field, 
 stirring up the zeal of the Churches, and organ 
 izing Sabbath and evening schools in every avail 
 able place. Thus what had been demonstrated 
 as practicable in a single instance was made a 
 great and truly glorious work, marking the 
 
i;8 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 opening up of the most inviting opportunity ever 
 offered to a Christian people to labor for the 
 salvation of the heathen. By means of circulars, 
 correspondence, and personal appeals from the 
 pulpit and platform, Brother Gibson has succeeded 
 in procuring the establishment of schools in San 
 Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, San Jose, 
 Santa Clara, Grass Valley, Nevada, Marysville, 
 and Santa Cruz ; also one in Salem and two in 
 Portland, Oregon. These schools are sustained 
 by Churches of different denominations, to whose 
 pulpits our missionary has been given the freest 
 access. This movement, so full of promise and 
 hope, is but the beginning of a work which ap 
 pears destined to spread throughout our country. 
 Heretofore we have aimed at the conversion of 
 the heathen through the medium of their own 
 tongue, to us foreign and exceedingly difficult 
 of acquisition, and beside their own altars, with 
 the associations of paganism unimpaired. Now, 
 the preparatory work of translation having been 
 extensively done, an unerring providence is send 
 ing them to our shores to be evangelized by the 
 use of our own language beside Christian altars, 
 and amid the associations of the Church of the 
 living God. Never before did the Lord vouch 
 safe such an opportunity to the zeal and fidelity 
 of his Church ; and the interest which pro- 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 1/9 
 
 fessed Christians, whether ministers or laymen, 
 evince in it, is one of the most satisfactory tests 
 of the quality of their religious life. It is the 
 abiding conviction of your Committee, that every 
 minister, every Sabbath-school teacher, every 
 professed friend of Jesus, and every Church in 
 its corporate capacity, should instantly awake to 
 the urgency of this work of God divinely com 
 mitted to our hands." So much about the in 
 auguration of the system of Chinese schools for 
 teaching the heathen our language and our re 
 ligion. 
 
 In striking contrast, and in plain contradiction 
 to the foregoing facts and. figures will appear the 
 statement of Rev. L. T. Townsend, D. D., pro 
 fessor in Boston Theological School,, author of 
 Credo," "Lost Forever," "God-Man," etc., 
 who has lately published a pamphlet entitled 
 "The Chinese Problem." In his preface he 
 claims to have enjoyed, while on this Pacific Coast 
 in 1875, " rare opportunities for gaining informa 
 tion," and to have "made the matters involved 
 in this pamphlet objects of as critical study as 
 the case would then allow." But unfortunately 
 Dr. Townsend, never having visited any of the Chi 
 nese Missions in California, nor having made the 
 acquaintance of a single missionary to the Chi 
 nese in this country, has written more eloquently 
 
l8o THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 than correctly, a chapter on Christian Missions 
 among the Chinese in America. On page sixty- 
 eight of his pamphlet, we read, "As early as 
 1852 or 1853, Rev. S. V. Blakeslee proposed to 
 introduce the Chinese of California to the truths 
 of the Scriptures by teaching them English, in 
 stead of teaching their teachers Chinese. The 
 times not being ripe for such a move, efforts 
 were abandoned, in the main, until 1870, when 
 General C. H. Howard visited California, under 
 the direction of the American Missionary Asso 
 ciation, and established several schools upon es 
 sentially the same plan as that originated by Mr. 
 Blakeslee. If we are not mistaken, this method 
 is the one also employed in both the Baptist and 
 Methodist mission schools." 
 
 Now, whatever it may be that Rev. S. V. 
 Blakeslee proposed to introduce, the fact is, he 
 introduced nothing and as to the Baptists and 
 Methodists employing the same plan or method 
 as that originated by Mr. Blakeslee, and adopted 
 by General C. H. Howard, the fact is, that the 
 Methodists and Baptists, and the public gener 
 ally, never heard of Mr. Blakeslee in connection 
 with this plan till Dr. Townsend brought out his 
 articles in Zioris Herald, 1875-76; and instead 
 of the Methodists adopting General Howard s 
 plans, General Howard himself adopted the plan 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. l8l 
 
 already inaugurated and in successful operation in 
 most of the Protestant Churches of the Pacific 
 Slope, some two years before the advent of Gen 
 eral Howard to this coast. We have no com 
 plaint to make just here and now against a 
 Methodist divine who ignores his own Church 
 as well as the Baptists and Presbyterians, and 
 chooses to write the "Chinese Problem" from 
 the stand-point of a single individual. But the 
 Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists, would 
 be grateful indeed, when receiving even a passing 
 notice, if the facts should be examined before 
 the statements are made. A mistake once set 
 afloat upon the popular currents of the day, is 
 difficult of correction. 
 
 On page thirty-five of that pamphlet, we re 
 gret to notice one or two more of that class of 
 mistakes, that are so surprising to those who are 
 acquainted with the facts. Mr. Townsend says: 
 "Of the Presbyterian Mission-school of San Fran 
 cisco, which does its teaching in the Cantonese 
 dialect, a recent visitor says, The house was 
 densely packed. I should say there were eight 
 hundred Chinese, mostly young men, who inva 
 riably expressed interest in the services, which 
 were conducted without sensational effort to ex 
 cite wonder at the cost of solemnity. Printed 
 hymns, part in English, part in Chinese hung on 
 
1 82 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the walls. My eyes beheld with astonishment 
 the earnestness displayed by these naturally un- 
 demonstrative Chinese as they applied themselves 
 to their books. It is a pity that the author 
 did not have time to call at the Presbyterian 
 Mission House, where he would have learned at 
 once that that mission, just like all others, does 
 its preaching in the Canton dialect, and its school- 
 teaching wholly in the English language; and he 
 would also have learned that instead of eight 
 hundred Chinese students in the school at any 
 one session, the Mission House can not accommo 
 date more than one hundred and fifty or two hun 
 dred scholars at any one time. Five or six hun 
 dred Chinese sometimes gather together in the 
 English Churches at the anniversary of one of 
 the schools, when the scholars of all the schools 
 attend, but to say that eight hundred Chinese 
 scholars were in attendance at one time at any 
 regular Chinese mission-school is putting the case 
 considerably stronger than the facts will warrant. 
 While traveling through the country, endeav 
 oring to arouse the Churches to a sense of the re 
 sponsibility to the heathen in their midst, the 
 writer also gathered funds towards the erection 
 of a central Mission House in San Francisco, and 
 on Christmas-day, 1870, by the help of the Parent 
 Missionary Society, of the Methodist Episcopal 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 183 
 
 Church, and the contributions received in Cali 
 fornia, he was permitted to dedicate to the 
 cause of Christian Missions among the Chinese 
 in America, the commodious and well-furnished 
 Methodist Mission House, 916 Washington Street. 
 The lot is fifty-six feet front on Washington 
 Street, and one hundred and thirty-seven and a 
 half feet deep, with a narrow street on each side, 
 giving three fronts, and admirable facilities for 
 liirht and ventilation. The Mission House is 
 
 o 
 
 fifty-six by seventy feet, three stories above the 
 basement. The basement brings in a monthly 
 revenue of about sixty dollars. On the main 
 floor are three school-rooms, nineteen by thirty- 
 five feet, with folding-doors between, so that all 
 can be thrown together whenever desirable. On 
 the second floor are two fine school-rooms, with 
 folding-doors between, now used on Sundays as 
 a Chapel, also a tenement for the assistant mis 
 sionary. The third floor of the building was de 
 signed and is used for a female department, which 
 is managed and its current expenses largely met 
 by the " Woman s Missionary Society" of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church on the Pacific Coast. 
 On the other side of the building is a comfort 
 able parsonage for the family of the superintend 
 ent, and also a number of pleasant rooms for 
 rent, or for the accommodation of assistant 
 
1 84 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 teachers. The whole cost of this valuable prop 
 erty, including furnishing, has been about thirty- 
 two thousand dollars ; and all bills have been 
 promptly paid when due. No debt has been incur 
 red, and so no interest money has ever been paid. 
 On the day of dedication, Rev. H. M. Scuddcr, 
 D. D., made a short, spirited address, and said 
 among other things : 
 
 "My sympathies are strong for this move 
 ment. I congratulate my Methodist brethren 
 upon the success of this enterprise. I feel no 
 envy, no jealousy ; I care not for denomina 
 tional lines ; in this great work we are one. I 
 especially congratulate Mr. Gibson, through whose 
 labors and influence, Christian effort for the up 
 lifting and saving of the heathen among us has 
 been quickened into a new life, and directed 
 into a new but practical channel in all the Prot 
 estant Churches of the Pacific Coast, and through 
 whose push and energy and perseverance this 
 beautiful and commodious Mission House has 
 been erected. More especially so, as I under 
 stand that this building, standing as it does on a 
 hill, can look out all over the city and into every 
 man s face and say, I am an honest building, 
 my bills are all paid. 
 
 The evening schools were at once opened, and 
 have been continued ever since, increasing slowly 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 185 
 
 but certainly in numbers and influence from year 
 to year. The first year the average attendance 
 was twenty-five; last year, eighty. The schools 
 are opened in the evening because most of the 
 Chinese are employed during the day, and the 
 evening is the only time they can spare to attend 
 school. The scholars are of all ages from eight 
 to thirty-five years, and of all grades of intellect, 
 from exceedingly stupid to exceedingly keen and 
 intelligent. I have known a few of these schol 
 ars, by faithful, constant study in these evening 
 schools for three or four years, to become quite 
 as intelligent as thousands of white boys of the 
 same age with far better advantages. The schol 
 ars of this Mission-school now occupy four pleas 
 ant school-rooms, employing five teachers. The 
 teachers receive twenty-five dollars a month sal 
 ary. The scholars are graded as far as possible 
 into classes and uniform class-books are used. 
 Of course, the primary classes are always the 
 largest. The book used in the primary classes 
 is an illustrated lesson book, entitled, "Jacobs s 
 Reader," prepared expressly for the deaf and 
 dumb. The more advanced classes study Arith 
 metic, geography, grammar, and history. Relig 
 ious instruction is interspersed in all the lessons 
 as far as practicable, and the school is always 
 closed with Christian song and prayer. This is 
 
1 86 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the only Chinese school in which the scholars 
 are expected to pay tuition. The nominal sum 
 of one dollar a month is charged, but it is left 
 optional with the pupil whether to pay or not. 
 The first year about two hundred and thirty dol 
 lars were received in this way; the last year 
 four hundred and forty-six dollars. The follow 
 ing account of the Anniversary Exercises of this 
 mission school, written by Miss Lizzie K. Persh- 
 ing, of Pittsburg, will give the reader a general 
 idea of the result, so far as education is con 
 cerned, not only of this school, but also of other 
 mission schools, for they are all much alike in 
 their processes and results: 
 
 ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. 
 
 "On last Wednesday evening, the Powell 
 Street Methodist Episcopal Church was crowded 
 on the occasion of the Fourth Anniversary of the 
 Chinese Mission School, O. Gibson, Superintend 
 ent. The audience was composed principally of 
 Chinamen with a sprinkling of Americans. At 
 seven o clock, the exercises were opened with 
 prayer by Rev. E. Z. Simmons, of the Baptist 
 Mission. 
 
 The programme consisted of music, declama 
 tions, and original addresses, by the pupils of 
 the school. There was no attempt at brilliancy, 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. l8/ 
 
 but we were strongly impressed with the appro 
 priateness of the selections. The time and labor 
 of the teachers had evidently not been devoted to 
 getting up an exhibition; but each one who took 
 part in the entertainment had learned something 
 which would be of permanent benefit to him. 
 The labor which must have been expended in 
 committing to memory the speeches and dia 
 logues, and acquiring so good a pronunciation of 
 a foreign language, certainly speaks well for the 
 zeal of the pupils and the patience of the teach 
 ers. Although, with one or two exceptions, the 
 exercises were all good, we were especially 
 pleased with the Conversation in History, and 
 the original addresses. The Conversation in 
 History, was by six young men. The first told 
 us of the discovery of America; the second talked 
 to the audience about the American Indians ; 
 the third told what he had learned of the early 
 settlement in this country ; the fourth spoke 
 of the Revolutionary war; the fifth gave a few 
 brief sketches of the heroes of the Revolution; 
 the last recited a short account of the late war 
 and the abolition of slavery. This conversation 
 was not misnamed. The young men talked to 
 us in an easy, conversational manner. The lan 
 guage of their sketches was simple, and they 
 evidently understood what they were talking 
 
1 88 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 about. We are sure that they are all prepared 
 to converse intelligently on the main points in 
 the history of the country which they have made 
 their temporary home. 
 
 "The original addresses were four in number, 
 and were, Mr. Gibson assured us, written by the 
 young men who delivered them. The thoughts 
 were entirely their own ; he had merely made 
 some correction in grammatical construction, as 
 all our teachers do for their English pupils. No 
 candid mind could doubt the truthfulness of 
 this statement; for, although the addresses con 
 tained many good things and gave evidence of 
 careful study and earnest thought, the majority 
 of the ideas were unmistakably Chinese. Lee 
 Tong Hay gave an interesting sketch of his life 
 and first impressions of California. Chow Loke 
 Chee treated us to some good thoughts upon 
 the theme, The Gospel, the Hope of China. 
 Chan Pak Kwai told of some things in this 
 country which have greatly interested him ; such 
 as the exclusive use of machinery, the free school 
 system, the good and just laws (which he quaintly 
 remarked, he should like very much if they 
 were only executed according to their true mean 
 ing ), and best of all the glorious religion of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 "Ma See spoke of some things in this coun- 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 189 
 
 try which he did not like. In a modest way he 
 struck some hard blows at the evils which are 
 permitted to exist here. Some of the officers 
 of the law might have listened with profit to 
 a few of his remarks. We did not feel our usual 
 pride in our country and government, as we 
 heard him tell how he had been puzzled at find- 
 iug here some things whose existence in a civil 
 ized, Christian land may well be perplexing to 
 a heathen mind. The feature of the evening 
 was a Chinese hymn, sung by the author, Hok 
 Han, to a Chinese tune. The musician first 
 played his tune on the flute, and then sang to an 
 organ accompaniment by George Howe. The 
 tune seemed somewhat peculiar* to the ear of an 
 outside barbarian, but it was exceedingly well 
 executed, and the feeling with which it was sung 
 and the gracefulness of the few, evidently invol 
 untary, gestures was charming, and it won a 
 hearty encore. At the conclusion of the enter 
 tainment, Rev. O. Gibson, the efficient superin 
 tendent of the school, made a few appropriate 
 remarks, after which, Rev. Dr. Loomis, of the 
 Presbyterian Mission, offered an earnest prayer. 
 The Doxology was then sung and the audience 
 dismissed with the benediction." 
 
 This mission has also a school in San Jose, 
 with an average attendance of fifteen, and one 
 
190 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of about the same average attendance in the 
 Chapel, 620 Jackson Street, San Francisco, sup 
 ported and conducted by Mr. Stowe. The day 
 school at Sacramento, attendance about twenty, 
 has been discontinued for the want of funds. The 
 Girls Boarding-school of this Mission numbers 
 twenty-four. The total average attendance upon 
 all the secular schools of this Mission is about 
 one hundred and forty, average attendance at the 
 Sunday-schools about two hundred. These Chi 
 nese schools, in all the Missions and Churches, 
 are proving to be powerful agencies in molding 
 the changing civilization of the Chinese in Amer 
 ica. A large majority of the Chinese who have 
 embraced the Christian religion have been devel 
 oped in these schools. And, although the schol 
 ars do not all become avowed Christians, yet they 
 nearly all lose faith in their idols, and in theory 
 embrace the doctrine of one true and living God, 
 the Creator and preserver of all things. 
 
 The following is a quotation from an original 
 address in the English language by a young man 
 of this latter class, named Ma See: 
 
 "To my mind it is very evident that no one 
 has any right to drive the Chinese from this 
 country; nor any right to prevent the Chinese 
 from still coming here, if they wish ta come. 
 If this world was created by the one universal 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 19! 
 
 God ; if it belongs to God ; if men are all cre 
 ated equal; if all men come from one family; 
 if these things be so, and they are so, then the 
 Chinese, of course, have the same right to come 
 to this land, and to occupy this land, that the 
 people of any other nation have. For America 
 is not given to Americans alone, China not to 
 the Chinese alone, England not to the English; 
 but all these countries are given to one universal 
 race of man, which is sent here below to live. 
 Therefore, no white, no black, no Irish, no Chi 
 nese is excepted ; but every one of Adam s sons 
 under the mission of God has a natural right to 
 tread the soil of any part of this world, and es 
 pecially of these United States of America." 
 
 The following is from an original address of 
 Chan Pak Kwai, an active Chinese Christian at 
 the anniversary of the school : 
 
 I like the laws of this country because they 
 give equal rights to all men, great and small, 
 rich and poor, white or black. I like these laws 
 if only they were executed according to their 
 true meaning. . . . Races and nations differ 
 according to their kind and degree of civilization. 
 The principal element of a true civilization is a 
 Christian education. . . . But of the many good 
 things I have found in America I value the Chris 
 tian religion most of all. . . . And the most 
 
192 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 precious thing in the Christian religion is this, 
 That God so loved the world that he gave his 
 only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
 St. Paul says, For the earnest expectation of 
 the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the 
 sons of God. Did Paul know one thousand 
 eight hundred years ago that we Chinamen would 
 to-day be waiting for the sons of God to manifest 
 to us the doctrine and spirit of Jesus the great 
 Savior; waiting for the sons of God to make 
 known to us, to proclaim to us, to manifest, to 
 example before us, the glorious Gospel of the Son 
 of God? Now, I am happy, knowing that Jesus 
 died for me, even for me. 
 
 Although large numbers of Chinese attend 
 these evening and Sunday-schools, and many of 
 them make commendable progress; yet compared 
 with the whole population, the number is exceed 
 ingly small. And one discouraging feature in 
 regard to those who do attend is the fact that 
 just as. fast as these boys and young men ac 
 quire a sufficient knowledge of our language to 
 make themselves readily understood in common 
 conversation, they are at once removed from 
 school and placed in business. As yet none of 
 the scholars have developed a thirst for a higher 
 education. Fung Noi, of the Presbyterian Mis- 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 193 
 
 sion, advanced further in this direction than any 
 other Chinese scholar of the Pacific Coast. He 
 advanced eagerly until he commenced the study 
 of algebra, philosophy, and chemistry, when he 
 gave up the pursuit, and is now wholly absorbed 
 in Chinese commercial transactions. 
 
 There is, however, this satisfaction, that in the 
 slow, constant friction of the two civilizations, 
 every little helps. The little smattering of the 
 English language which these scholars acquire 
 opens up in their minds a door through which new 
 forms of thought and expression, new ideas are 
 constantly entering; and these new ideas are 
 slowly, silently, but none the less surely, chang 
 ing and molding the civilization of the heathen 
 among us. The total average attendance upon 
 all the Chinese Sunday-schools of the Pacific 
 Coast, including the Presbyterians, Methodists, 
 Baptists, Congregationalists, and Episcopalians, 
 is about one thousand, and the average attend 
 ance upon the evening-schools during the week 
 is about seven hundred and fifty, but the attend 
 ance of many is so irregular and uncertain that 
 this average attendance will involve a total roll- 
 call of about three thousand. Mr. Pond s statis 
 tics of the Congregational schools give a roll-call 
 six times the average attendance, but probably 
 he included every transient scholar and visitor. 
 
 13 
 
194 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 I do not attach much value to great numbers of 
 transient scholars, and would rather find my esti 
 mate of average attendance and roll-call too small 
 than too large. The scholars of these schools 
 are scattered all over the Pacific Coast, and every 
 where carry with them pleasing memories of the 
 Christian man or woman who first taught them 
 to speak our language. Thus good seeds are 
 being sown upon the minds of this generation, 
 which will doubtless bring forth a harvest of 
 fruitage in the next. 
 
 The regular Sunday services of the Methodist 
 Mission at the Mission House are a Bible and 
 catechism-class in the English language at eleven 
 o clock, A. M ; preaching services in the Chi 
 nese language at twelve M, attendance from forty- 
 five to seventy; Girls Bible-class at two P. M., 
 attendance twenty-five; general Sunday-school 
 at six P. M., attendance eighty; general class- 
 meeting at eight P. M., attendance twenty to 
 thirty. Besides the Sunday services and the 
 Wednesday evening prayer-meeting, Miss Tem- 
 pleton conducts a Tuesday evening prayer-meeting 
 with the girls of the Asylum; and Mrs. Gibson 
 conducts a Thursday class and prayer-meeting with 
 Chinese women not connected with the Asylum. 
 
 In this mission forty-four Chinese have pro 
 fessed the Christian faith, have been baptized 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 195 
 
 and received into the Methodist Church, of which 
 number fifteen have been women or girls in the 
 Asylum. Of these Christian women seven are 
 now legally married, all but one to Christian 
 Chinamen, thus forming, in a small way, a pat 
 tern and nucleus of the Christian home among the 
 Chinese. 
 
 The first Quarterly Conference of this mission 
 Church was held December 25, 1875. Quarterly 
 Love-feasts had been held for more than a year 
 previous. These Love-feasts have been seasons 
 of unusual interest. As many as forty have tes 
 tified in an intelligent and feeling manner of the 
 grace of God in their salvation ; and about the 
 same number have joined in the communion. 
 Between the testimonies given, the Chinese Chris 
 tians break out in appropriate songs and hymns, 
 sometimes in the Chinese language, and sometimes 
 in the English. Occasionally one is overcome 
 with emotion, and breaks down with weeping 
 and tears, while trying to tell what the Savior 
 has done for his or her poor soul. Christian 
 visitors not understanding a word of the testi 
 monies given, often enter into the spirit of the 
 meeting, and express themselves as interested 
 and profited by the services. There are at pres 
 ent ten enrolled inquirers or probationers con 
 nected with this mission. Outside of the mission 
 
196 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 proper a number of individual Chinamen have 
 been baptized and received into the Methodist 
 Churches of the Coast, that have never been 
 reported to the mission. Rev. J. B. Hill bap 
 tized one; Rev. J. L. Burchard, Marysville, one; 
 Rev. M. C. Briggs, D. D., Sacramento, one; 
 Rev. F. F. Jewell, D. D., two. Other instances 
 have occurred where the names are now forgot 
 ten, and the same is true of other denominations. 
 The number of such baptisms in all the Churches 
 is probably not less than twenty. 
 
 Besides these services in the Mission House, 
 this mission daily (except Saturdays) opens the 
 Chapel, 620 Jackson Street, for preaching in the 
 Chinese language to the passing crowds who are 
 willing to enter. This is the only mission which 
 has been able to secure a chapel preaching-place 
 in Chinatown proper. This chapel "Foke Yam 
 Tong " "The Gospel Temple" is now \vell 
 known to the Chinese population as the place 
 where any day at two o clock P. M. they can 
 hear about the Jesus religion. Here, annually, 
 for the last four years, many thousands of Chinese 
 have heard something about the Gospel of Christ ; 
 and we can but hope and believe that some of 
 this good seed has fallen upon good ground and 
 will, in God s own time, bring forth fruit, some 
 thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred fold." 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 197 
 
 The mission also conducts a Sunday-school in 
 this chapel, all in the Chinese language, Lau 
 Hok Han, the Chinese preacher being the super 
 intendent. The average attendance is about 
 forty. The Testament and hymn-book are the 
 only books used. 
 
 Besides the denominational Christian work of 
 the various Churches, there is a " Chinese Young 
 Men s Christian Association," embracing all the 
 members of Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist 
 Churches, and all their friends whom they can 
 induce to join. Each Church or Mission has its 
 branch, and joined together they form the one 
 association, having its officers from the different 
 Churches, the office of President rotating among 
 the branch associations. Mr. Lee Tong Hay, 
 who, as President of the Chinese Young Men s 
 Christian Association, signed the memorial to 
 President Grant, is a valuable member of the 
 Methodist Church. This association is organized 
 upon the same plan with such associations among 
 Americans, having both " active and associate" 
 members, and gathering them from all denomi 
 nations. Any Chinaman of good moral character, 
 willing to forsake idolatry, and desiring to associate 
 with Christians, may become an associate mem 
 ber, having all the privileges of other members, 
 except the right to vote. Rev. Dr. Loomis says 
 of it : " This association continues to maintain 
 
198 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 a vigorous life. It has members and branch as 
 sociations widely scattered over the country. 
 Their Constitution contains a very good creed, 
 and their rules are wholesome and well enforced. 
 Their rooms are a pleasant resort, and at least 
 three times each week resound with the voices of 
 devout praise and earnest supplication. During 
 the holidays they hold meetings in rotation with 
 the brethren of the different missions, and also 
 go out upon the streets to sing and exhort. 
 
 SUMMARY, MAY, 1876. 
 
 Total average attendance upon all the Mission evening 
 
 schools for Chinese (about), .... 750 
 
 Total Roll Call (about), 2,500 
 
 In Sunday-schools (average), ..... 1,000 
 
 Roll Call, 3,000 
 
 TOTAL NUMBER OF CHINESE CHRISTIANS BAPTIZED IN AMERICA. 
 
 Presbyterian Mission, ....... 80 
 
 Presbyterian Churches, ...... 46 
 
 Methodist Mission, ....... 44 
 
 Methodist Churches, ....... 5 
 
 Congregational Churches, . . . . . .45 
 
 Baptist Mission (San Francisco), .... 15 
 
 Baptist Mission (Oregon), . . . . . . 15 
 
 Episcopalian Churches, ...... I 
 
 Scattering (not reported), ...... 20 
 
 Probationers or Catechumens, ..... 100 
 
 For every professing Chinese Christian we 
 may safely reckon as many as ten or fifteen more 
 Chinamen, who from the same influences have 
 been led to renounce anfl despise idolatry and in 
 
MISSIONARY EFFORT. 199 
 
 theory, at least, embrace the Christian doctrine 
 of one God, the Father of all. The number of 
 such results of missionary labor^can not be less 
 than four or five thousand. 
 
200 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MISSIONARY WORK AMONG THE CHINESE WOMEN 
 IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 TO any one personally acquainted with the 
 facts of the case, or to any one who has 
 read the chapter of this book on the condition 
 and character of Chinese women in this country, 
 it needs not be said that Christian effort for their 
 salvation, from any human stand-point, presents a 
 herculean and almost hopeless task. And, in 
 deed, for many long and weary years nothing 
 at all was undertaken for their welfare. The 
 Churches which had entered this mission-field 
 confined their labors exclusively to the men and 
 boys. There were but few respectable Chinese 
 women in the country, and these, according to 
 Chinese custom, were kept secluded, beyond the 
 reach of schools or chapels, or pastoral visits of the 
 missionary. The Chinese courtesans did not de 
 sire any instruction ; but if they should desire it, 
 their wicked masters would never consent that 
 they should be instructed. Even if allowed to 
 receive instruction, and still be kept in their 
 
MISSIONARY WORK. 2OI 
 
 hopeless misery and vile bondage, the instruc 
 tion itself would seem a pitiful mockery. So 
 Christianity gathered up her skirts and passed by 
 "on the other side." 
 
 It was left for the Methodist Mission to inau 
 gurate a Christian work among these Chinese 
 women, which has brought that mission promi 
 nently before the public in every discussion of 
 this constant "Chinese Problem." 
 
 The writer maintained that no missionary 
 work among a heathen people which should ig 
 nore or neglect the women of the population, 
 could expect permanent prosperity. That to neg 
 lect the women in the ministrations of the Gospel 
 to the Chinese would only tend to strengthen 
 them in their heathen ideas that women have no 
 souls and no personal rights in themselves, out 
 side the will of their parents, husbands, or mas 
 ters. Something must be done ; but just what 
 to do, and how to do it were tough questions. 
 One or two Chinese women had already escaped 
 from their cruel servitude, and through the kind 
 offices of Mr. Loomis, of the Presbyterian Mis 
 sion, had found an asylum in the Home of the 
 "San Francisco Ladies Protective and Relief So 
 ciety." In 1869-70 Mrs. Cole made some visits 
 among these women in their rooms and tene 
 ments, and reported that there probably were 
 
202 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 others who would like to escape, if they knew 
 how to get away, or where to go. 
 
 With these general principles, and these par 
 ticular facts, as a guide, the writer determined to 
 connect a Female Department" with the mis 
 sion work of which he had charge. In July, 
 1870, a circular and plan of the proposed Metho 
 dist Mission House was published, in which it 
 said, "The third floor is designed for a Female 
 Department," and the following appeal was 
 made to the Methodist women on the Pacific 
 Coast : 
 
 " In California, Oregon and Nevada we have a 
 large heathen population. They are our neigh 
 bors. They live in our cities and towns; some 
 of them work on our farms and in our factories, 
 and as servants are members of our families. 
 Surely the duty is ours, in obedience to the 
 command of our Divine Savior, to endeavor to 
 bring these heathen, providentially in our midst, 
 to the saving knowledge of Christ. Among 
 these heathen people are many women, and the 
 number is constantly increasing. They live here 
 practicing all their idolatrous customs. They 
 die here, and are buried as the brute that per- 
 isheth. 
 
 "A society called the Women s Missionary 
 Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church on 
 
MISSIONARY WORK. 2O3 
 
 the Pacific Coast/ was organized August, 1871, 
 in San Francisco, having for its especial object, 
 the elevation and salvation of heathen women on 
 this coast. And we now take this means to urge 
 upon all the Methodist women on the western 
 slope of the continent to join with us in this ard 
 uous work, by forming branch societies. Situ 
 ated as we are, on the western confines of our 
 country, separated only by the ocean from the 
 vast heathen hordes of Asia, it is a matter of 
 self-preservation (if we do not have any higher 
 motive) that we endeavor to Christianize this for 
 eign element that is being brought in our midst. 
 None can do this work so well as we, and if we 
 neglect it what fearful consequences will ensue, 
 both to us and to our children after us, are be 
 yond the bounds of the most vivid imagination. 
 
 " Will you then, sisters of the Church, aid us 
 in this work ? Not only for self-preservation, 
 but for the higher and holier reason that Christ 
 has commanded that the Gospel be preached to 
 all nations. 
 
 " (Signed) MRS. E. M. PHILLIPS, Pres. 
 
 " F. A. MORRILL, Rec. Sec y. 
 " M. E. M LEAN, Cor. Sec y." 
 
 The building was completed and formally 
 opened December 25, 1870. But the four fine 
 rooms designed for a Female Department" lay 
 
204 E CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 idle and unoccupied for nearly a year. In the 
 mean time, the "Women s Missionary Society" 
 undertook a day-school for girls, but the effort 
 was not a success. The little girls did not care 
 to come, and the older ones cared still less. The 
 mothers did not encourage them to attend. The 
 teacher was obliged to go out, and bring the girls 
 to school in the morning; often compelled to 
 wait for them to eat breakfast, dress, etc., and 
 then she must go home with them again at the 
 close of the school. Miss Williams was the faith 
 ful and devoted teacher of this school It was 
 an experiment, but it was not encouraging. 
 
 October 20, 1871, a note was sent by Captain 
 A. Clark, of the Police Station, asking the writer 
 to call at the station to see a Chinese woman, 
 who refused to talk with Chinamen, but intimated 
 that she wished to see a missionary, or "Jesus 
 man." He answered the call, and found a poor 
 wretched, stupid, forlorn looking woman an apol 
 ogy for a human being, who gave her name as 
 Jin Ho, and simply said, "Do n t take me back to 
 Jackson Street." The poor thing had escaped 
 from a vile den on Jackson Street, leaving all 
 her tinseled jewelry and gay trappings behind 
 her ; had run some six or seven blocks down to 
 the foot of the street, and had deliberately thrown 
 herself into the cold waters of the bay, choosing 
 
MISSIONARY WORK. 2O5 
 
 rather a watery grave than longer to endure 
 her life of slavery, shame, and sorrow; desiring 
 thus to end a pilgrimage upon which no ray of 
 light ever shone, no star of hope ever beamed. 
 A colored man with a long boat hook rescued 
 her from drowning, and a policeman brought her 
 to the station. 
 
 After a few minutes conversation with the 
 writer she desired to be taken to the Mission 
 House. While on the way she frequently mur 
 mured in Chinese, "Don t take me to Jackson 
 Street," "Don t take me to Jackson Street." 
 In six months from that time "Jin Ho" was so 
 changed and improved that those who saw her 
 at the Police Station did not recognize her. She 
 remained about a year in the asylum, then did 
 service in a Christian family, professed faith in 
 the religion of Jesus, was baptized and received 
 into the Methodist Church, and afterward mar 
 ried a Mr. Jee Poke, a good substantial China 
 man, a member of the Congregational Church, 
 with whom she is now living in peace and com 
 fort, with none to molest nor make afraid, She 
 is now clothed and in her right mind, and en 
 joys a good hope of eternal life through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. Such was Jin Ho ; and such is 
 Jin Ho now, the first Chinese woman that sought 
 refuge in the Asylum of the Methodist Mission. 
 
206 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Jin Ho was the representative of a class. Others 
 soon followed, and it was found necessary to se 
 cure the appointment of a lady missionary whose 
 whole time should be devoted to teaching and de 
 veloping in every way these poor waifs upon the 
 bosom of society. Miss Laura S. Templeton, 
 of Sacramento, was selected for this important 
 work, and commenced her labors in January, 
 1873. She has proved to be the right person in 
 the right place. 
 
 The report, September, 1874, says: 
 At the beginning of the conference year there 
 were fourteen women and girls in the Asylum. 
 Of these two have married Christian Chinaman. 
 The close of the year finds eighteen in the Asy 
 lum. Three or four of these profess faith in 
 Christ, give evidence of a change of heart and 
 life, and are candidates for Christian baptism. 
 They all attend school, taught by Miss Laura S. 
 Templeton, an experienced and efficient teacher, 
 and an earnest and devoted Christian worker. 
 The girls read, write, and study each forenoon. 
 The afternoon is devoted to sewing and fancy 
 work, the proceeds of which clothe the women 
 and meet the incidental expenses of the school, 
 such as books, paper, etc. Most of the girls 
 are ambitious to learn and have made consider 
 able progress in their studies. Two have been 
 
MISSIONARY WORK. 2O/ 
 
 baptized, and we trust are earnest followers of 
 Jesus." 
 
 The ladies closed their report of that year 
 with this touching and eloquent appeal: 
 
 "It does seem that safety for our own chil 
 dren and succeeding generations would prompt 
 us to endeavor to elevate and Christianize the 
 heathen among us. And of all the darkened 
 and enslaved ones, the Chinese woman s fate 
 seems the most pitiful. Kidnaped when per 
 haps mere children ; sold into a strange country ; 
 brutally treated; with nothing to look forward to 
 but to be cast into the street to die, when health 
 fails, which is almost sure to happen in a few 
 years; beaten and abused, they often seek refuge 
 in suicide. Shall not the members of our Church 
 show to these poor creatures that the love of 
 Jesus constrains them to seek the oppressed and 
 downtrodden, to lead them to him who asked 
 not what were our former sins, but whose condi 
 tions were, Sin no more? " 
 
 So many of these women and girls escaped 
 from their servitude and found refuge in the Asy 
 lum, that the Chinese women traders, the "Hip 
 Yee Tong Society" became alarmed, and used 
 all their skill and devilish cunning and moneyed 
 power to thwart the designs of the mission. 
 They used every possible care and watchfulness 
 
208 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 that no woman should escape. They reported 
 false and fearful stories to the poor ignorant 
 women and girls regarding the mission and the 
 treatment the girls there received. As soon as 
 a poor thing had fairly escaped their clutches 
 and found safety in the mission, these wolves 
 have sent their emissaries, day after day, in 
 sheep s clothing, claiming to be brothers, cou 
 sins, or particular friends of the fugitive girl, and 
 asking an interview of only a few minutes. If 
 the interview was granted, these villains would 
 use every art possible to them in the range of 
 persuasion and promises to induce the woman 
 to return. If promises failed, then threats and 
 superstitious imprecations would be used, fright 
 ening the ignorant women to tears. 
 
 If the woman refused to go with them, or if 
 these miscreants were denied an interview with 
 her, they have frequently secured the services of 
 "shyster lawyers, " seven times meaner than them 
 selves, and through them procured a writ of ha 
 beas corpus upon Mr. Gibson, or some of the lady 
 managers of the Asylum, or upon Miss Temple- 
 ton, the teacher of the school, for the immediate 
 production of the woman in Court. Nine times 
 during the last five years has this trick been 
 played, each and every time by the women-trad 
 ers, in efforts to get possession of the women for 
 
MISSIONARY WORK. 2Og 
 
 the purpose of selling them into the country be 
 yond the hope of escape. 
 
 These Chinese villains, and more villainous 
 whites, have taken advantage of the sacred right 
 of habeas corpus, and by false swearing have de 
 ceived and prostituted our courts of justice to 
 become aids and abettors to this abominable 
 traffic. 
 
 The writer has often freely expressed his opin 
 ion of these contemptible lawyers and mock court 
 performances, and on one occasion was openly 
 reprimanded in court session by the Judge on the 
 bench, for remarks which the judge had heard 
 that Mr. Gibson had made in his own house. The 
 morning paper thus commented upon the affair : 
 
 * SHREWD CELESTIALS. 
 
 " THEY SET THE MACHINERY OF THE LAW IN MOTION AND 
 GAIN THEIR INFAMOUS POINT. 
 
 Upon the arrival of the China steamer Colo 
 rado on Monday, the police officer boarded her 
 and took into custody eight Chinese women sup 
 posed to have been imported for immoral pur 
 poses. The women were taken before the Police 
 Court, where six of them testified that they had 
 come here of their own free will, to meet their 
 husbands and live with them. They were al 
 lowed to go their ways. 
 
210 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 "The remaining two said that they had been 
 purchased at Hankow by a Chinese slave importer, 
 for two hundred dollars each, and were under a 
 contract with him to serve three years as prosti 
 tutes in this country. They were sent to the 
 Chinese Mission House on Washington Street for 
 safe keeping. The procurer went to a lawyer, 
 and induced him to sue out a writ of habeas 
 corpus for the possession of the women. On the 
 following day two deputy sheriffs invaded the 
 Mission House and poked the writ under the nose 
 of the Rev. Dr. Gibson, who has charge of the 
 institution. The reverend gentleman was filled 
 with righteous indignation, and expressed his 
 opinion in forcible terms. His language was re 
 ported to Judge Morrison, who reprimanded him 
 when the case came up in court. 
 
 "THEIR LOVERS TO THE RESCUE. 
 
 "During the hearing on the writ a Chinese 
 procurer, named Ah Po, testified that one of the 
 detained damsels was his wife. Another China 
 man appeared and testified that the other woman 
 was sent out here by his mother to become his 
 wife, and that he yearned to marry her and be 
 happy. He procured a letter from his mamma 
 
MISSIONARY WORK. 21 I 
 
 \ 
 
 to substantiate what he said, and proceeded to 
 read it to the Judge, who was visibly impressed 
 with the tender sentiments expressed therein, al 
 though he had some difficulty in comprehending 
 the dialect. The women were then placed upon 
 the stand. They corroborated the statements of 
 the men so faithfully as to leave no doubt that 
 they had been carefully instructed. 
 
 "THE HAPPY RESULT. 
 
 " Under this showing the Judge was compelled 
 to set them at liberty. Mr. Gibson suggested 
 that they be sent to the Magdalen Asylum, but 
 Judge Morrison said he had not the power to 
 commit them to that institution. The sweet 
 Tartarian maids were given over to the lovers 
 they had braved the seas to meet, and in ten 
 minutes they were safely ensconced in a China 
 town den of infamy." 
 
 On one occasion, having been called to the 
 court-room to answer a writ of habeas corpus, 
 while passing through the room in open court, 
 a tall, hard-looking man, a stranger, about fifty 
 years of age, stopped Mr. Gibson in the middle 
 of the floor, when the following colloquy took 
 place : 
 
 Stranger (in low fierce tones). "What is your 
 name?" 
 
212 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Answer. "Gibson. What is yours ?" 
 
 Stranger. "Quint. I hear you have some 
 things to say to me about these Chinese cases." 
 
 Answer. Yes ; but outside the court-room is 
 the proper place for me to talk with you." 
 
 Stranger. "I ll teach you, Gibson, to be careful 
 iv hat you say about counts and lawyers." 
 
 Answer. And 1 7/ teach you that Gibson will 
 say what he pleases without asking you. Do your 
 best." 
 
 Mr. Quint was the lawyer for the Chinese 
 women-traders, and probably at his instigation 
 the Judge had reprimanded the writer for his 
 strictures upon our lawyers and court processes. 
 The same Quint is a strong Anti-Chinese man now ! 
 In every case of habeas corpus except one, the 
 women have requested permission to return to 
 the Mission and have been so returned. In the 
 case of two girls, taken directly by the police from 
 the steamer to the Mission, and brought into 
 court by writ of habeas corpus, and immediate 
 arrest the same afternoon, the girls requested to 
 follow the China woman who had brought them 
 across the ocean. 
 
 As soon as Judge Morrison came to under 
 stand the audacious game these heathen were 
 playing he declined so far as possible to issue 
 writs, and more than once has severely repri- 
 
MISSIONARY WORK. 213 
 
 manded the lawyers who have aided in thus pros 
 tituting his court. 
 
 These Chinese villains have been persistent. 
 When all other measures have failed, then some 
 Chinese women have been hired to come to the 
 Mission, claiming to have been greatly abused, 
 and asking to be admitted to the Asylum, simply 
 for the purpose of influencing the women to 
 leave. In most cases the deceivers have ex 
 posed themselves. In cases of suspicion the sus 
 pected woman has been provided with a room, 
 out of the sight and hearing of the Asylum girls, 
 and one day of solitude has convinced her that 
 she had better go back to her den. 
 
 But in spite of all these obstacles in their 
 path, these poor women and girls have been con 
 stantly finding their way by some means or other 
 to the Mission. During the last three years, 
 seldom less than twenty, and some of the time 
 as many as twenty-six have been inmates of the 
 institution , boarded, clothed and schooled by 
 the " Women s Missionary Society of the Metho 
 dist Episcopal Church of the Pacific Coast." Sev 
 enty-five different women have shared for a longer 
 or shorter time the privileges of the Asylum. 
 Ten, at their own request, have been sent back 
 to China. Fifteen have become professed Chris 
 tians, have been baptized and received into 
 
214 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church. Seventeen 
 have been married ; seven of which number are 
 married to Chinese Christian men, and live in 
 their own Christian homes. A few have gone 
 out to take care of themselves by sewing, etc. 
 Twenty-two are now in the Asylum, a number 
 of whom are inquirers or probationers in the 
 Church, though not yet baptized. During the 
 last three years quite a number of Chinamen, 
 who have formed an attachment to some girl 
 whom they have been visiting, have either pur 
 chased her of the old woman, her mistress, or 
 from her master, or, if unable to pay the sum 
 required, have induced the girl to run away, and 
 have brought her to the Mission, wishing to 
 keep her here a few weeks or months, and then 
 marry her out, covered with the protection which 
 the Mission tries to extend to all those who have 
 been its inmates. 
 
 These cases became so numerous and trouble 
 some that the managers found it necessary to 
 make some strict regulations. And now for all 
 such cases, the conditions of admittance are as 
 follows : A written agreement, signed by both 
 the man and the woman, fixing the time of re 
 maining to at least one year; binding the man to 
 furnish necessary and comfortable clothing for 
 the woman, and at the end of the year, if the 
 
MISSIONARY WORK. 215 
 
 woman still wishes to follow him, he shall pay 
 the Women s Missionary Society" sixty dol 
 lars, or five dollars per month, for the board and 
 instruction of the girl, and shall also procure a 
 license and become married according to the laws 
 of the State. There have been some ten or fif 
 teen cases of this kind, and every year the num 
 ber increases. 
 
 But to the poor woman or girl who comes as 
 Jin Ho did, to escape a life of shame and sorrow, 
 the doors of this Asylum are always open. One 
 or two instances may be interesting to the gen 
 eral reader. About midnight one Sunday in 
 December, 1872, when all in the Mission House 
 had retired except the writer, the door-bell rang 
 violently. The door was opened and a Chinese 
 girl in dirty, ragged clothes rushed hurriedly in 
 and closed the door quickly behind her as though 
 fearful of pursuit. She immediately started to 
 run up-stairs. I stopped her and inquired what 
 she wanted? She replied in Chinese, "I want 
 to go to the school for Chinese girls, my mother 
 whips me all the time, and I have run away from 
 her, let me go to the school before they catch 
 me." She showed her arms, all black and blue 
 from the beatings received from her so-called 
 mother. Sing Kum has now been in the mission 
 about three years and a half. Her mistress made 
 
2l6 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 desperate efforts to get her away, but only suc 
 ceeded in getting herself fined one hundred dol 
 lars for beating the girl. Sing Kum has learned 
 to speak, read, and write the English language 
 quite correctly; has made some progress in 
 arithmetic, geography, grammar, and history ; 
 is learning to read and write her own native lan 
 guage, and, best of all, she has learned the story 
 of Jesus and his love, manifesting a change of 
 heart and life and devotion to Christ worthy of 
 imitation. She is already employed as assistant 
 teacher to teach the new beginners the first les 
 sons of our language, and is developing rare 
 adaptation for the work. We hope and trust 
 she may be the honored instrument of doing 
 much good among her poor country-women in 
 America. 
 
 Little Yoke Yeen is another instance, but of 
 somewhat different circumstances. She came to 
 the Mission August I, 1874. She came alone, 
 though only ten years of age, and was so small 
 that she could not reach to ring the bell. For 
 tunately for her, some kind-hearted white boy 
 saw her difficulty and rang the bell for her, and 
 so she was safely inside before her master came. 
 She did not at first complain of abuse; but sim 
 ply said she wanted to go to school. She had 
 no father, no mother, no brother, nor sister, in 
 
MISSIONARY WORK. 2 1/ 
 
 all this land. Her master had bought her in 
 China and brought her to this country some two 
 years previous. She was a servant now, but her 
 master was the owner of two or three houses of 
 prostitution, and intended to put her into one as 
 soon as she was a little older. She had learned 
 about the mission-school for Chinese girls, while 
 standing with her mistress and other Chinese 
 women looking at the procession of July Fourth. 
 One of the women had pointed out the house to 
 the others, and little Yoke Yeen took notice and 
 determined to escape and ask admission. She 
 was so young and bright and interesting that her 
 advent made quite an excitement at the Mission 
 House. But in a few hours her master came in 
 great anger and excitement. He was told that 
 he might see her and persuade her to go back 
 with him if he could ; but, that he would not be 
 allowed to use any force or authority over her. 
 If she chose to remain she should do so. He 
 saw her and persuaded and promised her jewelry, 
 candies, and silks, and biggest thing of all, a 
 rich husband, the owner of a big store. But 
 little Yoke Yeen was proof against all his prom 
 ises and persuasions. She clung closely to the 
 friends in the mission, and answered firmly, "No, 
 I do not want to go back with you ; I want to 
 stay here." The man went away in a rage, 
 
218 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 threatening that he would get her back if it cost 
 him a thousand dollars. But the ladies took her 
 down to the Probate Court, and, after Judge 
 Myrick had heard the whole story, he very 
 promptly appointed the missionary teacher of 
 the girls school, Miss Laura S. Templeton, legal 
 guardian and mother of the little one. Since 
 then the master has made no further trouble. 
 Miss Templeton, though still a young lady, has 
 a family of nine young Chinese girls, over whom 
 the law has placed her as guardian mother. 
 
 Little Yoke Ycen is now the pet and pride 
 of all the girls in the school, behaves well, is 
 improving finely, and gives promise of making a 
 useful and happy woman. She now tells that 
 her mistress used often to bind her fingers tightly 
 crossed between chopsticks and pinch the inside 
 of her cheeks to punish her. 
 
 On the 8th of August, 1875, a police officer 
 brought a girl (Ah Fook), nineteen years of age, 
 to the Mission House. She had been in this 
 country four years. She was beaten by her mas 
 ter and mistress, while a quilt was thrown over 
 her head to stifle her cries; but a policeman 
 heard the blows and suppressed screams, rescued 
 the girl, and took her to the station house; 
 whence she was brought to the Asylum. Her 
 arms, cheeks, and head were badly bruised, and 
 
MISSIONARY WORK. 2 19 
 
 when asked on her arrival, what she wanted, she 
 answered: "I want to die." 
 
 When she was washed, and dressed in clean 
 clothing, she proved to be a good-looking, bright 
 girl. Four clays afterward a friend of her master 
 procured a writ of habeas corpus, and had Ah 
 Fook taken before the judge of the Fourth Dis 
 trict Court, who, after hearing her story, had her 
 returned to the Mission House, where she said 
 she wished to go and stay till she died. June 
 25, 1876, this same Ah Fook, having given evi 
 dence of Christian faith and life, was baptized 
 and received into full membership in the Church. 
 She now enjoys this life and a good hope of 
 eternal life in heaven. Mrs. E. C. Gibson has 
 had the general management and chief responsi 
 bility in this Woman s work, and to her, more 
 perhaps than to any other single human instru 
 mentality, is the very gratifying success of this 
 department of the work attributable. 
 
 As already stated, this society was peculiarly 
 fortunate in the selection of a missionary, Miss 
 Laura S. Templeton. And the constant devo 
 tion, faith, and zeal of the officers and managers 
 of this society, composed of such ladies as Mrs. 
 C. Goodall, Mrs. R. M Elroy, Mrs. J. R. Sims, 
 Mrs. J. T. M Lean, Mrs. E. Burke, and others 
 of the same class of choice spirits, have been 
 
220 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 prime factors in all the anxieties, toils, and re 
 sponsibilities which, by the blessing of Almighty 
 God, have produced the results now chronicled. 
 The following is Sing Kum s story of her life, 
 written by herself, and published by request in 
 the California Advocate. 
 
 " LETTER BY A CHINESE GIRL. 
 
 4 Miss B, You ask me to write about my life. 
 I can not write very well, but will do the best I can. 
 "I was born in Sin Lam, China, seventeen 
 years ago. My father was a weaver and my 
 mother had small feet. I had a sister and brother 
 younger than myself. My father was an indus 
 trious man, but we were very poor. My feet 
 were never bound ; I am thankful they were not. 
 My father sold me when I was about seven years 
 old ; my mother cried. I was afraid, and ran 
 under the bed to hide. My father came to see 
 me once and brought me some fruit; but my 
 mistress told me to say that he was not my fa 
 ther. I did so, but afterward I felt very sorry. 
 He seemed very sad, and when he went away 
 he gave me a few cash, and wished me pros 
 perity. That was the last time I saw him. I 
 was sold four times. I came to California about 
 five years ago. My last mistress was very cruel 
 to me ; she used to whip me, pull my hair, and 
 
MISSIONARY WORK. 221 
 
 pinch the inside of my cheeks. A friend of 
 mine told me of this place, and at night I ran 
 away. My friend pointed out the house. I was 
 very much afraid while I was coming up the 
 street ; the dogs barked, and I was afraid my mis 
 tress was coming after me. I rang the bell twice, 
 and when the door was opened I ran in quickly. 
 I thank God that he led me to this place. I 
 have now been here nearly three years. I am 
 very happy, for I do not have those troubles 
 which I had before. I have kind friends, but 
 most of all, I am thankful that Jesus died to 
 save me. God has given me the Bible to read, 
 which teaches me that Straight is the gate and 
 narrow is the way that leadeth unto life. I was 
 very bad before I came here. I used to gamble, 
 lie, and steal. Now I love Jesus, and by God s 
 help I will try to be obedient, and do those 
 things which will please him. 
 
 " Yours, truly, SING KUM. 
 
 " SAN FRANCISCO, January 4, 1876." 
 
 As we have already seen, Mrs. H. C. Cole 
 opened a day-school in Chinatown for Chinese 
 girls and boys, in May, 1869, and continued to 
 the time of her death, January I, 1876. The 
 Presbyterian women soon followed the example 
 of their Methodist sisters, and in April, 1873, 
 organized a Woman s Missionary Society for the 
 
222 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 express purpose of doing missionary work among 
 the poor heathen women in our midst. 
 
 In March, 1874, they opened a Home" on 
 the same general plan as that already in success 
 ful operation in the Methodist mission, in which 
 thirty different women have found refuge for a 
 longer or shorter time, three of whom have been 
 returned to China, and five have been married. 
 There are ten now in the "Home." 
 
 Mrs. Condit, of this mission, and Miss Cum- 
 mings, the teacher, have done a deal of hard 
 work and very disagreeable labor in visiting 
 among these women in their rooms and tene 
 ments, and, through a Chinese woman as inter 
 preter, have conversed much with the women 
 about their present condition and future hopes, 
 and have tried to tell them something of Jesus 
 and heaven. 
 
ANTAGONISMS. 223 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ANTAGONISMS 1855 AND 1856. 
 
 IN the early days of its history every body 
 came to California to hunt for gold. The 
 Chinese heard wonderful tales from ship-captains 
 and sailors about the rich mines of gold and sil 
 ver on this coast waiting to enrich the first 
 comer. They readily caught the fever, and came 
 to try their luck in digging for the precious met 
 als. Like all other people they only came with 
 the intention of finding a fortune and returning 
 to their native land to enjoy it. People from 
 the North and from the South, from the East 
 and the West, of our own land, and people from 
 Europe came with precisely the same intentions. 
 The outcome, so far as the realization of their 
 original intentions is concerned, has been about 
 the same, on an average, with the Chinese as 
 with other people. The Chinese gave the name 
 of "The Golden Mountains" to California, in 
 cluding in that name, the whole Pacific Coast of 
 the United States, and by that name California 
 is still known among the Chinese. 
 
224 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 At first the Chinamen were well received in 
 California. At that time there was no Burling- 
 game Special Treaty, and yet nobody questioned 
 the right of the Chinese to come to the United 
 States without special treaty stipulations. They 
 were a novelty, a wonder, and a study, to which 
 peculiar interest was attached. Their coming to 
 this country was regarded as the opening up of 
 intercourse and commercial relations between 
 our country and the Orient, which, in the near 
 future, would be of incalculable benefit both to 
 them and to us ; a benefit to us, by bringing 
 within our reach a large share of the commerce 
 of Asia a commerce which has always enriched 
 the nations that have controlled it; and a benefit 
 to them by bringing them in contact with a 
 higher and better civilization than their own, 
 and thus infusing new ideas and new life into the 
 sluggish thought of the nation, and energizing 
 and giving new direction to the stereotyped in 
 dustries of the land. \ They were received by 
 our leading citizens wfth marked consideration. 
 Governor Burnett sent them a special address of 
 welcome. In the grand jubilee and procession 
 on the occasion of the admission of the State 
 of California into the Union, the Chinese, by 
 special invitation, took a part. In the Fourth 
 of July procession, 1852, the Chinese also formed 
 
ANTAGONISMS. 225 
 
 a prominent part. Their display of numerous 
 fanciful flags and banners of the finest workman 
 ship of their people was the occasion of much 
 favorable comment. 
 
 In January, 1853, at the conclusion of a lecture 
 on China, delivered in San Francisco by Rev. 
 Mr. Speer, the Hon. H. H. Haight offered a set 
 of resolutions, which were unanimously adopted 
 by a large and influential meeting: 
 
 "Resolved, That the present position of the 
 Oriental nations is fraught with the most pro 
 found interest to the Christian world, and that 
 we, as citizens of California, placed by the won 
 derful leadings of Providence so immediately in 
 contact with one of the most ancient, intelligent, 
 and populous of these nations, hail with peculiar 
 satisfaction the signs of the times ; and that 
 we feel an imperative obligation to employ our 
 money, our influence, and utmost effort for the 
 welfare of that vast portion of the human fam 
 ily our elder brethern the people of China. 
 
 "Resolved, That we regard with pleasure the 
 presence of great numbers of these people among 
 us, as affording the best opportunity of doing 
 them good, and through them, of exerting our 
 influence upon their native land." 
 
 But in a little while antagonisms arose. The 
 Chinaman s style of living was found to be less 
 15 
 
226 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 artificial and costly, more primitive and simple, 
 and cheaper than the white man s style, and so 
 he could afford to work a little cheaper than the 
 white man. 
 
 "The Annals of San Francisco," written in 
 1854, says: 
 
 "In short, there is a strong feeling, prejudice 
 it may be, existing in California against all 
 Chinamen, and they are nicknamed, cuffed about, 
 and treated very unceremoniously by every other 
 class. Yet they are generally quiet and indus 
 trious members of society, charitable among 
 themselves, not given to intemperance, and the rude 
 vices which drink induces. " 
 
 The white man demanded four and five dol 
 lars a day for unskilled labor. The Chinaman 
 was willing to work for half that pay. This was 
 the Chinaman s sin. High-priced labor com 
 menced a war against him, maintaining, with 
 vehemence, that "cheap labor is a curse to any 
 country." From that time to this the antagon 
 ism of the races has been kept up, and the war 
 has been fought mostly on this battle-ground. 
 Other things have been dragged into the discus 
 sion, but the weighty charge of the opposition 
 to Chinaman has been the cheap-labor cry. Pol 
 iticians, not statesmen, have always been found 
 ready and willing to fan the sparks of ignorant 
 
ANTAGONISMS. 22 7 
 
 bigotry and prejudice to a flame, exciting hatred 
 and animosity against this people, leading to fre 
 quent acts of violence, bloodshed, and murder, 
 and to sundry enactments of special class legis 
 lation, both State and municipal, for the express 
 purpose of afflicting these strangers among us. 
 
 The Legislature levied a capitation tax of 
 fifty dollars on each Chinamen entering the State. 
 Also a foreign miner s tax of four dollars a 
 month was levied upon all Chinese miners. Not 
 content with this, which was quite sufficient to 
 prevent any considerable immigration from China 
 to this country, the opposition, headed by polit 
 ical demagogues, clamored for an increase of tax 
 ation upon this people, with a view not only of 
 checking further immigration, but also in the 
 hope and purpose of driving those already here 
 back to their own country. At that time the 
 majority of the Chinese of the country were in 
 the mining regions. 
 
 In 1855, the Legislature passed an Act in 
 creasing the foreign miner s tax, from, and after 
 October I, 1855, to October I, 1856, to six dol 
 lars a month; and from October I, 1856, to Oc 
 tober i, 1857, to eight dollars a month; and so 
 on, increasing the license two dollars a month 
 from the 1st of October each year, and provid 
 ing that no foreigner should be permitted to 
 
228 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 hold or to work in any mining claim unless he 
 should pay his monthly taxes. This action of the 
 Legislature was intended to accomplish the re 
 moval of all the Chinese from the mining regions. 
 It provided that all foreigners, not eligible to be 
 come citizens of the United States, residing in 
 any mining district in the State, should be consid 
 ered miners, and subject to this tax. This meant 
 that every Chinaman, whatever might be his oc 
 cupation, residing in the mining districts of the 
 State, should pay first four dollars a month, then 
 six dollars a month, then eight dollars a month, 
 then ten dollars a month license tax, and so on, 
 increasing the tax two dollars a month each year. 
 till all should be compelled to leave. It provided 
 that any person or company employing these 
 foreign miners should be held liable for the pay 
 ment of this tax. 
 
 In this state of things Rev. Mr. Speer, of 
 whom mention has already been made, came 
 boldly to the front and pleaded the cause of the 
 Chinaman, not advocating nor stimulating in 
 creased immigration, but defending those already 
 here against the many highly colored and false 
 charges made .against them. "The Chinese 
 Question," at that time, 1856, as given by Mr. 
 Speer, in his memorial to the Legislature, can not 
 fail to be interesting and suggestive to the reader. 
 
ANTAGONISMS. 229 
 
 After reading Mr. Speer s answer to the charge 
 that the Chinese in America are all coolie slaves, 
 it seems amazing that the public press of Cali 
 fornia, the religious press not always excepted, 
 has constantly and persistently applied this false 
 and debasing title to all Chinese laboring men, 
 implying thereby, and creating the impression 
 in all the world, that they are slaves and not 
 freemen. 
 
 Mr. Speer s memorial said: 
 
 "The Hindoostani word coolie is one of those 
 inflicted upon the Chinese, in whose language it 
 has no equivalent, and who have no caste or class 
 which it represents. It would be justly held de 
 grading to style an English laborer, of whatever 
 occupation in China, a coolie, and it is not right 
 to attach to the Chinese the odium of a social 
 debasement which is peculiar to another country, 
 to other institutions, and to another and most 
 dissimilar people. Chinese immigrants here are 
 just what any other people are laborers, cooks, 
 boatmen, farmers, carpenters, stone-masons, brick 
 layers, shopkeepers, book-binders, weavers, tea- 
 packers, gardeners, and just what an equal num 
 ber from any other land might be expected to 
 present in the variety of their occupations. Some, 
 that speak English best, have been scholars in 
 missionary schools, or employes in foreign Hongs. 
 
230 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Here and there is a literary man, though rarely 
 seen, and his accomplishments unappreciated. 
 Then, there is an abundance of the vilest classes, 
 the gambler, the infamous female, and others 
 who prey upon the unfortunate, the unwary, or 
 the wanton of their countrymen. 
 
 "Again, they were not brought here by capi 
 talists, cither Chinese or others. The very mis 
 taken notions of our own people in respect to 
 this subject arose from not understanding, as was 
 natural enough, the nature of their Companies. 
 When the Chinese visit any other province of 
 their own country in considerable numbers, it is 
 their custom to have a common quarters, or ren 
 dezvous, which they style an Ui Kun, that is, a 
 gathering place, or company s house. It is like 
 a club-house, in being supported wholly by vol 
 untary contributions, and in the provision of 
 food and lodging at their cost. And so when 
 they voluntarily migrate to any foreign country, 
 in Asia or America, they at once contribute to 
 erect a house. Agents or superintendents are 
 elected, who register the members and manage 
 the concerns. Servants are employed to take 
 care of the building, cook the food, and attend 
 the sick. Provision is made for the interment 
 of the dead, repairs of tombs, and the semi 
 annual worship of the spirits. And beyond all 
 
ANTAGONISMS. 231 
 
 this, rules are agreed upon for the government 
 of the club or company; and these are adopted 
 and repealed at pleasure in the most democratic 
 manner. The members are no more slaves 
 than the members of an American fire company, 
 or any other voluntary association, governed by 
 rules established by the majority, and electing 
 their own officers at regular periods. They have 
 all declared that they have never owned, imported 
 or employed any slaves." 
 
 To the general class of objections that the Chi 
 nese are no pecuniary benefit to California, that 
 they interfere with American labor, and that they 
 carry or send all their earnings out of the country. 
 Mr. Speer answered fully, and again we quote: 
 
 The Chinese on landing in San Francisco 
 usually remain there but a few days. The per 
 manent residents in the city do not number above 
 a few hundreds. They then proceed by the 
 steamers to Sacramento, Stockton, Marysville, 
 and other points on the Sacramento and San 
 Joaquin Rivers. They are guided very much by 
 the information and opinions of those who have 
 been in the country the longest, and had most 
 experience here in the mines. And it may be 
 remarked that their deference to those in whom 
 they can confide is one of the most remarkable 
 traits in their character. 
 
232 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA, 
 
 "The amount of pecuniary benefit derived by 
 steamers, sailing vessels, stages, wagons, and 
 such conveyances of passengers and goods by 
 land and water, can scarce be computed. On the 
 river steamers they have traveled by hundreds 
 on a single vessel, particularly during the period 
 when their direct immigration has been the most 
 large. Allowing each individual of the fifty- 
 three thousand arrivals and twelve thousand de 
 partures but a single trip at seven dollars, and 
 each of those here one downward and one up 
 ward trip during their residence till now, which 
 will not seem too great on the whole, since many 
 of them make repeated journeys in a single year, 
 and we see this interest benefited over a million 
 of dollars in passage money. 
 
 "The foreign groceries which they import 
 from their own land, and the American groceries, 
 clothing, and other merchandise consumed by 
 them annually, would pay towards the sailing 
 and steam vessels, in freight, fully in proportion 
 to their comparative population. The drayage 
 in cities and towns has come in for its share of 
 support. I have made some inquiries as to the 
 profits of wagoners and stages. A gentleman, 
 well acquainted with the former business in Sac 
 ramento, tells me, the Chinamen employ, on 
 an average, about fifty teams. The number of 
 
ANTAGONISMS. 233 
 
 loads each month is about three hundred and 
 twenty. I think the loads average forty dollars 
 each. The stages probably carry out and in to 
 the city about sixteen Chinamen a day; they 
 pay from five to ten dollars each person. With 
 regard to the amount of goods which they buy 
 here, it is difficult to give any kind of an esti 
 mate, but it will count up at least many thousands 
 of dollars. If we understand the calculation, 
 these teamsters have a revenue of twelve thou 
 sand eight hundred dollars a month, or one 
 hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred dol 
 lars annually. A Marysville merchant estimates 
 the number of teams employed there, not alone 
 in Chinese freights but also in merchandise for 
 their use, as at least twenty-five to thirty a 
 week. This, for twenty-five a week, would 
 amount at the rate given, to fifty thousand dol 
 lars a year. These facts afford some ground for 
 conjecture as to the amounts that reach this hard 
 working class, whose employment brings them 
 to all parts of the mining region. And there 
 are some who have become rich through the 
 
 o 
 
 profits derived from Chinese customers." 
 
 After giving an exhaustive discussion as to 
 the numbers of Chinese then in the mining re 
 gions of the State, their employment, etc., the 
 writer of the foregoing extracts sums up the 
 
234 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 various annual expenditures of the Chinese min 
 ing population, as follows : 
 
 " For mining claims, implements, and water, $2,400,000 
 For boarding, ..... 5,760,000 
 
 For clothing, ...... 800,000 
 
 For boots and shoes, . 800,000 
 
 For miscellaneous items, .... 320,000 
 
 Total ordinary outlays annually, . $10,080,000" 
 
 The above table does not include rents paid 
 by the Chinese in the different parts of the State, 
 nor the license and poll taxes, nor the customs 
 on imports. Surely so much money spent in a 
 young State must be of some pecuniary benefit. 
 We give further testimony. 
 
 "In El Dorado County," says the Mountain 
 B.enwcrat, "the Chinese rarely interfere with the 
 miners. They generally work in old deserted 
 claims, where they can not realize more than from 
 two to three dollars a day, and seldom this much. 
 When they get a good claim they buy it and 
 pay liberally for it. Business in some of the 
 small mining camps in our county would be 
 wholly suspended during the Summer months 
 were it not for them. They are content to work 
 laboriously for two dollars a day, and work 
 claims which no others wojald. They make good 
 hands, and are frequently hired by the miners. 
 We have heard but little complaint against them 
 by the miners, and the feeling which has existed 
 
ANTAGONISMS. 235 
 
 against them, and which was greatly exaggerated, 
 is fast wearing away. They are a sober, quiet, 
 industrious, inoffensive class of men, and in our 
 opinion are a great benefit to our county. They 
 pay annually into our treasury, for licenses alone, 
 from sixty to eighty thousand dollars a sum 
 we can not afford to lose. They pay our mer 
 chants promptly for every article they buy. They 
 attend to their own business, and are rarely en 
 gaged in brawls. The mines they work would 
 be unproductive were it not for them, being too 
 poor to pay others for working them. Where is 
 the miner in our county who would toil from 
 early morn till dewy eve for two dollars a 
 day, with no prospect of obtaining more ? A 
 Chinaman will do it cheerfully, but others will not. " 
 
 One quotation with regard to the practice of 
 collectors of the " miner s tax " will be sufficient. 
 
 "A foreign miner s tax collector may be a 
 good man, and be honest and lenient; but his 
 commission does not hinder him from being the 
 opposite; it really tends to make him so. He 
 may exercise fiendish cruelty, and plead the ne 
 cessity of doing his duty. I was sorry to have 
 to stab the poor fellow ; but the law makes it 
 necessary to collect the tax ; and that s where I 
 get my profit. He was running away, and I 
 shot to stop him. I didn t think it would hit. 
 
236 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 I took all the dust the rascal had. There were 
 seven of them besides him, and they did n t pay 
 me last month. 
 
 Such outrageous conduct was the fault of the 
 system itself, and some of the papers spoke out 
 manfully against it. The Nevada Journal said: 
 
 4 There is a species of semi-legalized robbery 
 perpetrated upon the Chinese. Many of the 
 collectors are gentlemen in every sense of the 
 word; but there are others who take advantage 
 of their position to extort the last dollar from 
 the poverty-stricken Chinese. They date licenses 
 back, exact pay in some instances for extra trou 
 ble in hunting up the terrified and flying China 
 men, and, by various devices, fatten themselves 
 upon the spoils thus obtained. The complaints 
 of the injured and oppressed find no open ear, 
 for is it not declared by the Supreme Court, the 
 highest tribunal in the land, that their oaths are 
 not to be regarded? Of what avail are their 
 complaints, uttered not with the solemnity of an 
 oath ? Under this state of things the life of a 
 Chinaman in California is one of hardship and 
 oppression." 
 
 There were also bogus collectors, a set of vag 
 abonds, who made their living by putting off 
 spurious receipts of mining tax, poll and road 
 taxes. Mr. Speer heard one of these vagabonds 
 
ANTAGONISMS. 237 
 
 address another of his clan, thus: "I had no 
 money to keep Christmas with, but went among 
 the Chinamen, and sold them to the amount of 
 nine dollars counterfeit receipts." 
 
 These shocking abuses lead on to lynch law 
 and murder, and scenes that have made (( Cali 
 fornia" a fearful by-word in all the country, and 
 doubtless have deterred thousands of desirable 
 families from planting in this State homes of in 
 dustry and virtue. These have not been deterred 
 by the fact of the presence of the Chinese, but 
 from a well-founded fear of that lawless class, 
 who, by brute force and false oaths, trample upon 
 the rights and endanger the peace and prosperity 
 of law-abiding citizens. 
 
 The North Californian, published in Oroville, 
 delivered the following: 
 
 As we have once said, so do we now repeat, 
 that we are ready to sanction any honorable 
 measure to prevent our country from being over 
 run with fresh hordes of Asiatics, but we pro 
 test against the application of the rack and 
 thumb-screw to the poor unassuming Mongolians 
 now among us. 
 
 "For two years past, a very large portion of 
 the gold taken from the mines has been the pro 
 duct of Chinese labor; and the traders in mining 
 localities can attest that a very small portion of 
 
238 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 this has ever been carried out of the country, 
 the assertions of city editors to the contrary 
 notwithstanding. Chinese labor has literally kept 
 alive the trade of most of the mining towns dur 
 ing the past season. The richer mines all 
 claimed or owned by the whites have been 
 poorly supplied with water; little work has been 
 done, and little gold has therefore been drawn 
 from this quarter. But all the time the patient, 
 plodding Johns have been delving among the rocks 
 and ravines of the foot-hills in places where a 
 white man would starve, rather than work at all. 
 
 "John Chinaman always has a little money; 
 because he must and will work, whether he earns 
 much or little. He must have cash or starve, 
 for he can t get trusted for his food, and so he 
 comes down with the dust. In this way, and 
 by means of the oppressive tax which he pays 
 for the privilege of laboring, he contributes more 
 to sustain trade, and support a government 
 which refuses him the least protection, than 
 many worse specimens of humanity of a more 
 favored race, who affect to sneer at him as being 
 no better than a brute. Let justice be done 
 though the heavens fall, and let it be done to 
 John Chinaman." 
 
 .The following extract from an address to 
 Governor Bigler in 1856, by Lai Chan Chuen, in 
 
ANTAGONISMS. 
 
 239 
 
 behalf of the Chinese merchants, is interesting as 
 forming a part of the history of the antagonisms 
 of that date: 
 
 "It is objected against us that vagabonds 
 gather in places and live by gambling. But 
 these collections of gamblers, as well as the dens 
 of infamous women, are forbidden by the laws 
 of China. These are offenses that admit of a 
 clear definition. Our mercantile class have a 
 universal contempt for such. But obnoxious as 
 they are, we have no power to drive them away ; 
 and we have often wished these things were pre 
 vented, but we have no influence that can reach 
 them. We hope and pray that your honorable 
 country will enact vigorous laws, by which these 
 brothels and gambling places may be broken up ; 
 and thus worthless fellows will be compelled to 
 follow some honest employment ; gamblers to 
 change their calling; and your policemen and 
 petty officials also be deprived of opportunities 
 of trickery and extortion. Harmony and pros 
 perity would then prevail ; and the days would 
 await us when each man could find peace in his 
 own sphere of duty." 
 
 In April, 1856, the law increasing the foreign 
 miner s tax, two dollars a month each year, was 
 repealed, and the tax placed again at four dollars 
 a month. 
 
240 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 To Mr. Speer s indefatigable services the Chi 
 nese were largely indebted for this action in 
 their favor, and though long absent from them, 
 he stills holds a green spot in the memory of 
 those Chinaman who were in California in the 
 troublous times of 1855 and 1856. 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 24! 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN, WHICH? REPLY TO 
 
 FATHER BUCHARD 1873. 
 
 IN the early days of California, the antago 
 nisms between the whites and Chinese were 
 developed mostly in the mining regions, and have 
 continued with more or less bitterness until now, 
 the hostility always being most active during the 
 canvass for State and general elections. But as 
 the years passed, the Chinese were found to be 
 indispensable in developing the agricultural and 
 manufacturing interests of the State. The un 
 skilled labor in most of the manufacturing estab 
 lishments of California has always been done by 
 the Chinese, simply because the industries could 
 not be carried on and pay white labor the price 
 it demanded. The same is true, to a great ex 
 tent, of the fruit-raising and farming interests of 
 the State. This imperative demand has brought 
 numbers of the Chinese into the agricultural dis 
 tricts of the State; while the laundry business, 
 the manufacturing of cigars, slippers, coarse shoes 
 
 and boots, under-wear, and overalls, and the 
 16 
 
242 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 pressing demand for house-servants, all these in 
 dustries have furnished employment for a large 
 and constantly increasing number of Chinese in 
 San Francisco and all other parts of the State. 
 Their presence and competition has helped to 
 reduce the high price of labor, which at first pre 
 vailed in the country. 
 
 But this very fact, while a necessity to the de 
 velopment of the State, has created the constant 
 hostility and opposition of unskilled white labor, 
 and this unskilled white labor has not only shown 
 a good deal of muscle in abusing Chinamen, but 
 it has always been able to find plenty of advo 
 cates and defenders, sometimes in aspiring politi 
 cal demagogues, and sometimes in the priests and 
 ministers of our holy religion. The Chinese have 
 had no minister of their government in Washing 
 ton, no consul at American ports, no official rep 
 resentative in all the land. Cowards have taken 
 advantage of these facts to denounce the Chinese 
 in the press and in the forum. Thus stimulated, 
 bad boys and worse men committed frequent acts 
 of violence upon these defenseless strangers. 
 The police were not always prompt to arrest the 
 offenders, the press was sometimes slow to re 
 buke them. 
 
 A marked lull, however, in this active hos 
 tility to the Chinese is noticeable in the year 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 243 
 
 1868 on the arrival of Mr. Burlingame, as envoy 
 extraordinary from China to America and Eu 
 rope. Then, for a time, the hoodlum abstained 
 from his most delightful pastime, and newspaper- 
 writers and political speech-makers ceased their 
 tirade against the Chinese, and vied with each 
 other in glorifying Mr. Burlingame and his mis 
 sion, and attaching a far-reaching significance to 
 this unprecedented political movement of the 
 Chinese government. Leading citizens of San 
 Francisco sat down side by side with the offensive, 
 barbarous Mongolian, at a great banquet given to 
 Mr. Burlingame at the Lick House, presided 
 over by His Excellency, Governor H. H. Haight. 
 The after-dinner speeches of that memorable en 
 tertainment, delivered by gentlemen of different 
 political schools, were unanimous in regarding 
 Mr. Burlingame and his mission as the harbinger 
 of closer and more friendly relations between 
 China and the United States, as the guarantee of 
 a vast and lucrative commerce with Asia, and as 
 the symbol of increasing friendly intercourse 
 between the two countries. It is remarkable 
 that, during the whole month of April, 1868, 
 the time of Mr. Burlingame s stay in San Fran 
 cisco, not a single case of assault upon a China 
 man is recorded by the press of the city, and not a 
 single editorial denouncing the Chinese appeared. 
 
244 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 But, after Mr. Burlingame had passed on in 
 his brilliant career, and more especially after his 
 sudden death and the return of the balance of the 
 embassy to China, the hostility to the Chinese 
 broke out, if possible with greater fury than ever 
 before. All the disagreeable facts about the Chi 
 nese and their modes of living, all their vices 
 were frequently paraded before the public in a 
 highly colored and sensational manner. Again, 
 China boys were wantonly assaulted on the streets, 
 often without redress. Both the pulpit and the 
 press, to some extent, seemed indisposed to take 
 up the defense of the Chinaman in his natural 
 and inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pur 
 suit of happiness. The opposition had every 
 thing their own way. 
 
 On the 1 8th of February, 1873, the Hon. 
 Frank M. Pixley delivered a lecture in San Fran 
 cisco, for the benefit of the "Church Union," 
 subject, " Our Street Arabs. Who are responsi 
 ble for them?" 
 
 Mr. Pixley improved the occasion to declaim 
 against the immigration of the Chinese to this 
 country, making use of some very violent and 
 incendiary language, well adapted to excite the 
 hatred and prejudice of the people against the 
 Chinese. 
 
 On the 25th of February, the Rev. Father 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 245 
 
 Buchard, a Jesuit Priest, addressed a large audi 
 ence in San Francisco, on Chinaman or White 
 Man which?" 
 
 He also declaimed against Chinese immigra 
 tion, maintaining that the Chinese are an injury 
 to the best interests of our country and people, 
 because they cheapen labor, and because they 
 are an inferior race. He charged that the most 
 of the Chinese who come here are slaves ; that 
 they do not pay taxes ; that they do not con 
 sume our products, but send their money home, 
 thus draining our country of its wealth ; that 
 they are the careless authors of destructive fires ; 
 that they displace white laborers, driving them 
 to pursue lives of beggary, prostitution, and 
 crime. 
 
 He denounced those who employ Chinese la 
 borers as unworthy to be called American citi 
 zens, and as enemies to our country. He de 
 nounced all missionary work among the Chinese 
 here as abortive, and stated that the conversion 
 of the Chinese in their own country was almost 
 an impossibility. 
 
 On the subject of Chinese house-servants, the 
 devoted priest became quite impassioned, and ex 
 claimed, "Oh! the man or the woman that would 
 dismiss a faithful, virtuous servant because the 
 wages were so much higher, to receive into the 
 
246 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 family one of those immoral creatures, because 
 he will work at a lower rate that would expose 
 the children to be contaminated and ruined by 
 such a wretch scarcely deserves the name of a 
 human being." 
 
 These two lectures, quite fully reported in our 
 daily papers, with more or less indorsement and 
 commendation, were agitating the minds of the 
 people. The hatred and prejudice of certain 
 classes of our population against the Chinese 
 were fully aroused, and many good citizens feared 
 mob violence in our city, as the result. 
 
 The "San Francisco Methodist Preachers 
 Meeting," having the matter under consideration, 
 passed the following Resolution: 
 
 "That Rev. O. Gibson be requested to prepare an an 
 swer to the lecture delivered by Father Btichard on China 
 man or White Man Which? at his earliest convenience, 
 and that Rev. J. W. Ross, and Rev. A. J. Nelson be a com 
 mittee to engage a hall and make arrangements for Mr. 
 Gibson s lecture." 
 
 The writer accepted the invitation, and deliv 
 ered the following "Reply to Father Buchard," 
 on "Chinaman or White Man Which?" which 
 was listened to with interest, by a large and intel 
 ligent audience, assembled at Platt s Hall, in this 
 city, Friday evening, March 14, 1873. 
 
 On the following Monday morning (March 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN -WHICH? 247 
 
 i /th), the "Preachers Meeting" passed the fol 
 lowing Resolution : 
 
 "That the Rev. O. Gibson be requested to furnish a 
 copy of his reply to Father Buchnrd, and that Rev. J. W. 
 Ross and A. J. Nelson, Esq., be a committee to publish, in 
 neat pamphlet form, ;it least two thousand copies of the 
 lecture." 
 
 On the evening of the same day, the writer 
 received the following communication : 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO, March 17, 1873. 
 REV. O. GIBSON : 
 
 Dear Sir,- The leading Chinese gentlemen of this 
 city have just learned of your able defense of the treaty 
 rights of the Chinese in this country. They wish me to 
 assure you of their high appreciation of your services, and 
 to convey to you their grateful thanks for what you, unso 
 licited by them, have done for their people. 
 
 They also ask the privilege of paying the expenses 
 of publishing an edition of your Reply to Father Bu- 
 chard. 1 
 
 "With sentiments of profound respect. In behalf of 
 the Chinese in America. Yours very truly, 
 
 " A. YUP, 
 " HOP KEE & Co." 
 
 In accordance with the foregoing request, and 
 the generous offer of my Chinese friends to de 
 fray the expense of the publication, I submitted 
 the manuscript of my lecture to the Committee 
 named by the Preacher s Meeting, and they pro 
 cured its publication in pamphlet form. I insert 
 here the lecture as delivered. 
 
248 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 " CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH?" 
 
 REPLY TO FATHER BUCHARD. 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I wish it to be dis 
 tinctly understood that I do not stand here to de 
 fend the civilization or the religion of China. I 
 do not propose to offer any apology for the vices 
 of the Chinese people, nor to praise the virtues 
 of the white race. Neither do I stand here as an 
 advocate of special measures for the introduction 
 of Chinese people, nor as an advocate of special 
 measures for the introduction of any other peo 
 ple, to these shores. But I come before you to 
 defend the foundation principle, and the traditional 
 policy of the Government and people of these 
 United States, a principle enunciated, and a pol 
 icy adopted in our infancy as a nation ; a princi 
 ple and a policy as dear as life to every true Amer 
 ican patriot; a principle and a policy born of 
 Heaven, and destined ever to be crowning glo 
 ries in the future history of this fair land. It is 
 the God-taught principle that all men are born 
 free and equal; it is the policy which opens wide 
 the doors of our great country on the East and on 
 the West, and opens wide also, all the countless 
 avenues of industry and enterprise in our country 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 249 
 
 equally to all mankind, without distinction of race, 
 color, or previous condition of servitude. 
 
 I stand here, an American-born citizen, to 
 defend this principle and this policy against the 
 incendiary invectives of an unscrupulous politi 
 cian, and against the plausible but more danger 
 ous fallacies uttered by a priest of the Church 
 of Rome. 
 
 CHEAP LABOR. 
 
 Father Buchard with growing eloquence de 
 picts the evils of cheap labor, which he claims 
 includes in its category all forms of serfdom. 
 He tries to make us believe that we are inaugu 
 rating a system of serfdom in this country. He 
 deprecates the day, which he would have us be 
 lieve to be near at hand, when ten or twenty 
 millions of our fellow citizens shall be reduced 
 to serfdom, in order that we may leave behind 
 us great Avorks and monuments like the Pyramids 
 of Egypt or the Coliseum of Rome. Such an 
 idea is so absurd, and so contradictory to the 
 genius of our Government and the tendencies 
 of our civilization, that in uttering it the Rev 
 erend Father has rendered himself liable to the 
 charge of being ignorant of the genius and spirit 
 of our American civilization. Our civilization, 
 without serfdom, without cheap labor even, is 
 building monuments more glorious than the 
 
250 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Pyramids of Egypt, more beautiful than the Col 
 iseum of Rome. Our railroads and our tele 
 graph lines are our Pyramids; our free schools, 
 with an open Bible; our free press and free 
 speech ; our traditional Sabbath ; our civil and re 
 ligious liberties, these are our Coliseum. It is 
 with these, our blood-bought institutions, that a 
 class of foreigners, not Chinese, are at war. It 
 certainly is a pity that our Roman Catholic friends 
 are so slow to understand and appreciate the 
 genius and spirit of our free institutions. 
 
 This subject of labor and its reward is at 
 once an important and delicate question. The 
 great sin charged against our Chinese friends is, 
 that they cheapen labor. However, according to 
 Father Buchard himself, it will always be impos 
 sible to reduce labor to its lowest rates in this 
 country, so long as our present form of govern 
 ment exists. He tells us, and truly, too, that the 
 lowest rates of labor can only prevail under des 
 potic forms of government. Surely our Govern 
 ment is not despotic, and, hence, labor can not 
 reach its lowest rates in this country. 
 
 FREE COMPETITION. 
 
 The inevitable tendency of our institutions is 
 to increase the price of labor. Every-where the 
 freest competition exists. 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH ? 25 I 
 
 Every man in this land, be he Gentile or Jew, 
 be he Christian or heathen, be he red or black, 
 or white or copper-colored, is his own master. 
 If capital refuses to reward labor, on every hand 
 doors of enterprise and industry are opened wide, 
 by means of which the laboring classes them 
 selves may become lords of the soil, or, by com 
 bination of their labor and capital, may monopo 
 lize to a great extent the manufacturing interests 
 of the communities in which they live. Father 
 Buchard has presented to the public a labored 
 and plausible, but, as I think, an extremely fal 
 lacious argument against the free immigration of 
 the Chinese to this country, because of their 
 cheap labor. The same argument may be used 
 by native-born Americans against the free immi 
 gration of the Germans and Irish. But I am 
 prepared to state, without fear of successful con 
 tradiction, that, as compared with other portions 
 of our country, no such thing as cheap labor of 
 any kind is yet known on these shores; and any 
 statement or argument built upon the false as 
 sumption that such labor is known here, must 
 be an incorrect statement, a fallacious argument 
 tending only to pander to the prejudices, and to 
 fire the animosities of the ignorant and vicious. 
 Why were not a few facts and figures given us to 
 show how dangerously cheap this Chinese labor 
 
THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 is? Simply, I imagine, because such a showing 
 would have exposed the fallacy of the position. 
 Allow me to eliminate the fallacy, and then see 
 how much of truth or argument remains. It is 
 estimated that of the ten or twelve thousand 
 Chinese in this city about twenty-five hundred 
 of them are employed as domestic servants. 
 Those who employ them are denounced as craven 
 wretches, worthy of a felon s cell, because they 
 employ this cheap labor. But, ladies and gentle 
 men, we were not told how much ji_month is 
 paid for this criminally cheap labor. (No mention 
 was made of the fact that these twenty-five hun 
 dred Chinese boys are paid as much, on *an aver 
 age, as is paid to any average twenty-five hun 
 dred domestic servants in the Eastern States ] 
 Chinese boys, twelve to sixteen years of age, 
 fresh from China, unable to speak or to under 
 stand our language, and perfectly unacquainted 
 with our methods of labor, are paid two and 
 three dollars a week and found. 
 
 Boys from sixteen to twenty years, able to 
 speak a few words, and partially experienced in 
 our methods of labor, command three to five dol 
 lars a week and found. 
 
 A Chinaman, able to cook and wash for a 
 family, readily commands from five to eight dol 
 lars a week. In our Eastern cities the same 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 253 
 
 kind and amount of labor can be obtained for less 
 money ; the average price being about three to 
 six dollars a week for first-class servants; while 
 in the country and villages the prices range from 
 one and a half to three dollars a week; so that, 
 as compared with other portions of our country 
 in the matter of domestic servants, we have no 
 cheap labor as yet on this coast, not even Chi 
 nese. Whatever curses the Chinese may bring 
 to these shores, cheap domestic labor is not yet 
 one of them. I more than suspect that there is 
 a concealed cause for this irritation of the Rever 
 end Father on the question of Chinese domestic 
 service, and for this violent opposition of the Ro 
 man Catholic element to the immigration of the 
 Chinese to this country. I more than suspect 
 that if the places now filled by those twenty-five 
 hundred Chinese domestics were filled by com 
 municants of the Roman Catholic Church, that 
 circumstance of itself might place about two 
 thousand five hundred dollars a month into the 
 Treasury of that Church (mostly of Protestant 
 money), to aid in building up the traditional in 
 stitutions of Popery in our midst. But these 
 Chinese domestics are not to any great extent 
 the subjects of his Holiness, the Infallible Pope, 
 or under the control of the Catholic priesthood. 
 Perhaps that is the trouble. 
 
254 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 EXORBITANT WAGES OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the Chinese im 
 migration has helped to reduce the price of 
 labor from the excessive rates which existed in 
 the early and flush days of California life, and 
 by so much as the Chinese have done this, they 
 have been a benefit and not a curse ; for a reduc 
 tion in prices of wages was an absolute necessity, 
 a prime condition of our development as a State 
 in all those manifold interests and enterprises 
 that constitute the growing wealth of any land. 
 
 At the rates of labor which existed in the 
 early days of California, or at the rates which 
 would instantly prevail were the Chinese removed 
 from our midst, not one of the few manufactur 
 ing interests which have lately sprung up on 
 these shores could be maintained a single day. 
 
 Were it not for the competition of Chinese 
 labor, the few woolen-mills, rope-factories, iron- 
 foundries, cabinet-factories, shoe-factories, and 
 such like industries lately commenced, must be 
 closed at once. 
 
 Even with the presence and competition of the 
 Chinese, the average price of labor is so high 
 that capital persistently refuses to invest to any 
 considerable extent in manufacturing enterprises. 
 For the want of a cheaper labor, and more of it, 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 255 
 
 we are compelled to export our wool, our silk, 
 our hides, and other products, and in turn we 
 import our shoes, our cloth, our silks, our nails, 
 and other supplies. The average price of labor 
 on this coast is still so high that we can not 
 manufacture and compete with Eastern prices. 
 If it is true that we have such an abundance of 
 cheap labor, how shall we account for the fact 
 that in California, almost every year, fields of 
 wheat are left unharvested and vast quantities of 
 fruit rot on the ground, simply because labor 
 can not be obtained to harvest the wheat or to 
 gather the fruit at paying rates? Who does not 
 know that there are hundreds, if not thousands 
 of families in this city arid country with small in 
 comes, feeble mothers, helpless children, daily 
 suffering for the want of domestic help which, at 
 present prices, they are unable to command? 
 Remove Chinese competition, and domestic serv 
 ants as a class would at once become more ex 
 orbitant in their demands and more insolent in 
 their manners than now ; and as the result, many 
 families would be compelled to leave the coun 
 try, or to break up housekeeping altogether. 
 
 LESS CHINESE -DOES NOT SIGNIFY MORE WHITE LABOR. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that if the Chinese 
 were removed from our midst there would be 
 
256 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 employment for more white laborers than now. 
 The fact is, and intelligent men know it full well, 
 that_the_Chinese on this coast, by the multiplication 
 and development of industries, have caused a de 
 mand for more white skilled labor than otherwise 
 could have found employment. More white la 
 bor than Chinese labor is employed by the busi 
 ness created by the Mission Woolen Mills, but 
 the business could not exist without the employ 
 ment of Chinese^ The introduction of machin 
 ery all over our land at first met with the same 
 kind of opposition because it cheapened the price 
 of most products, and displaced laborers; but we 
 now know that machinery multiplies industries, 
 creates a demand for more laborers, and thus en 
 riches the country. The immigration of Irish 
 peasants into our Eastern States, to dig our 
 canals and build our railroads, cheapened, for a 
 time, the price of labor, but it also developed 
 and enriched the country ; and while it improved 
 the condition of the Irishmen, it also raised the 
 native American population to higher planes of 
 industry and more extensive fields of enterprise. 
 I, myself, once a farm hand at twelve dollars a 
 month, was displaced by an Irishman who did 
 the same work for eight dollars a month ; but I 
 went from the farm to the college, and have 
 never since undertaken to compete with foreigners 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 257 
 
 on that level. So this Chinese immigration, by 
 reducing the price of unskilled labor to a point 
 where capital can afford to employ it, will tend 
 to multiply our industries and enrich the State, 
 and in this way they will certainly open doors 
 for the employment of thousands of white labor 
 ers, who otherwise could not find employment 
 on these shores ; so that ;the Chinese, instead of 
 displacing or lessening the demand for white la 
 borers, really stimulate the demand and create a 
 market for more] 
 
 ABSURDITY. 
 
 In face of the facts and principles of po 
 litical economy, to which I have called your at 
 tention, how absurd seems the statement that the 
 Chinese immigration has displaced thousands of 
 domestic servants and other white laborers, and 
 driven them forth to become beggars, thieves 
 and prostitutes! The absurdity becomes ridicu 
 lous when we are told, with pious cant, that 
 these displaced ones were all good, honest souls, 
 that would have been respectable, would have 
 been an honor to the circle in which* they moved, 
 would have been a credit to us as Americans, 
 were it not for the employment and cheap la 
 bor of these immoral, vicious, pagan Chinese. 
 Such an absurd and ridiculous statement Father 
 
 17 
 
258 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Buchard has thrown into the face of this intelli 
 gent community a community daily distressed 
 beyond expression by the unfaithfulness, the dis 
 honesty and impudence of that very class he has 
 seen fit thus to eulogize. We may leave the 
 question of their faithfulness and honesty to be 
 settled by the thousands among us who are the 
 hapless, helpless victims of kitchen tyranny and 
 impudence. The inefficiency and vulgar impu 
 dence of domestic servants in America is pro 
 verbial. 
 
 ARE THEY SLAVES? 
 
 We have been told that the most of the 
 Chinese who come here are slaves." Now, such 
 statements are very common in certain circles, 
 and may be expected from the ignorant and pre 
 judiced, but what excuse can an intelligent man 
 render for such a perversion of simple, well- 
 known facts? The fact is, and intelligent men 
 know it, that so far as the male population of 
 China is concerned, no such thing as slavery, in 
 our acceptation of the term, exists. The Chi 
 nese people always regarded with horror the 
 American system of African slavery. 
 
 Chinese women are brought here as slaves, 
 and for vilest purposes, and are daily bought and 
 sold in this city, like the brutes that perish. I 
 join with all good citizens in denouncing that 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH ? 259 
 
 abominable traffic, and in wiping out by legiti 
 mate means, this festering sore ; but in our just 
 indignation against the Chinese enslaved prosti 
 tution, let us not forget the moral pestilence 
 which surrounds them, flaunting its victories and 
 exposing its victims unrebuked on Dupont and 
 Sacramento Streets and Waverly Place. While 
 pulling the mote from our neighbor s eye, let us 
 extract the beams from our own eyes. 
 
 The Chinamen who come here, in every case 
 come voluntarily. It is true that many of them 
 are assisted financially to get here, and to find 
 employment after they get here, and for such as 
 sistance they gladly agree to pay a certain per 
 cent of their actual wages until the stipulated 
 sum is paid and the contract canceled. Our im 
 migrant societies, importing immigrants from Eu 
 rope, act upon precisely the same plan. Every 
 intelligence office in this city acts upon precisely 
 the same principle, and transacts business of a 
 similar nature every time a person is employed 
 through their agency. This voluntary contract 
 to refund with interest, moneys which have been 
 advanced on their account, can not, in any honest 
 way, be called slavery, nor can it be fairly 
 compared to slavery. If these are called slaves, 
 then every person who secures a situation through 
 the agency of an intelligence office is a slave, or 
 
260 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 may be compared to a slave. It is rather a fa 
 vorable comment upon the faithfulness of the Chi 
 nese in keeping contracts, that moneyed men of 
 their own nation are found willing to advance 
 money on such risks. 
 
 An effort to make people believe that the 
 Chinese are mostly slaves, and to kindle a politi 
 cal excitement upon such a false assumption may 
 be expected from a political demagogue, but 
 from a minister of religion we have a right to 
 expect better things. 
 
 Let me uncover another fallacy here. We 
 have the statement that the Chinamen who come 
 here are mostly slaves. This statement is not 
 true of the men in a single instance, but upon 
 this false statement, as a premise, this argument 
 is built: First slavery of every kind has been 
 declared unconstitutional. Second, these Chinese 
 are slaves. Third, therefore those who employ 
 these Chinamen are violating the very spirit and 
 letter of the Constitution, and are deserving the 
 censure and condemnation of their fellow-men, 
 and can not be considered true American citizens. 
 
 But, ladies and gentlemen, if these Chinamen 
 are voluntary immigrants, and if every man of 
 them be his own master, which is certainly the 
 case, what then? In that case, who is it that 
 violates the very letter and spirit of the Constitu- 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 26l 
 
 tion, and is unworthy to be called a true Ameri 
 can citizen? Is it the man who employs such 
 voluntary labor as he can command, at prices 
 which he can afford? Or is it the man who at 
 tempts to dictate to us, free-born American cit 
 izens, as to what persons we shall employ, and 
 as to what wages we shall give? 
 
 This charge of violating the Constitution and 
 deserving the censure of our fellow-men made 
 against us, American citizens, because we choose 
 to employ Heathen Chinese instead of European 
 Papists, comes with an exceedingly bad grace 
 from a Jesuit priest of the Church of Rome, 
 himself a representative of a class and a sect his 
 torically known to be opposed to free, civil, and 
 religious institutions in all lands; known to be 
 openly, bitterly and persistently opposed to the 
 system of public-schools, the open Bible, the 
 free press and free speech, glorious character 
 istics of this free, Prostestant Christian America. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. Louis 
 says that "if the Catholics ever gain which 
 they surely will an immense numerical major 
 ity in this country, religious freedom will be at 
 an end." 
 
 It is high time that the public sentiment was 
 roused and warned against a system of audacious 
 assumptions and plausible fallacies, that are blind- 
 
262 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 ing the eyes and blunting the sensibilities of our 
 people. 
 
 Little by little, by fair means and by foul 
 means, the memory of our own immortal Wash 
 ington, and the principles which his name repre 
 sents, are pushed aside, and the name of St. 
 Patrick, and the institutions which that name 
 suggests, are brought to the front. Compare the 
 annual celebration in this city of Washington s 
 and St. Patrick s birthdays, and you will under 
 stand the force of what I say. St. Patrick is all 
 very well, but for Americans I think Washington 
 should be first, St. Patrick afterward. 
 
 AN INFERIOR RACE. 
 
 Father Buchard has presented a lengthy ar 
 gument to prove that the Chinese are an inferior 
 race. On this point the Reverend Father and 
 his worthy colleague, the Hon. Frank M. Pixley, 
 do not agree. When doctors of the same school 
 disagree who shall decide the case for them? 
 
 We all know full well that the civilization of 
 the Chinese is far inferior to our Christian civili 
 zation, but that does not prove in the least the 
 inferiority of the race. 
 
 The civilization of China reached the highest 
 point of development, of which its institutions 
 and systems are capable, hundreds of years since. 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 263 
 
 At that time the Chinese civilization was in ad 
 vance of the civilization of our ancestors. Had 
 Father Buchard lived in those days, he could have 
 proved the Chinese were the superior race. 
 
 The false systems of ethics and religion pre 
 vailing in China have placed barriers in the way 
 of progress and true development. Remove 
 these barriers, take away these stumbling-blocks, 
 lift the veil of ignorance from the Chinese mind 
 and place it under equal and similar conditions, 
 and you who live in this city need not be told 
 that it will compare favorably with the mind of 
 any other family of the one human race. I say 
 one human race, for, receiving the Bible as au 
 thority, I believe that "God hath made of one 
 blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the 
 face of the earth." 
 
 The inferior civilization of any people, at any 
 certain point of the world s history, is no gauge 
 of the possibilities of that people hi progressive 
 development, under favorable circumstances. 
 
 The Chinese an inferior race! Confucius, 
 five hundred years before Christ, enunciated the 
 Golden Rule in a negative form, and he was a 
 Chinaman. A few decades since, To Kwong, 
 the Emperor, when pressed by the ambassadors 
 from Christian lands to legalize the traffic in 
 opium, exclaimed with vehemence, "I know 
 
264 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 that my purposes will be frustrated. I know 
 that wicked and designing men, for purpose of 
 lust and profit, will clandestinely introduce the 
 poisonous drug, but nothing under heaven shall 
 ever induce me to legalize the certain ruin of my 
 people." Does that sound like an inferior race? 
 An inferior race! Yung Wing, who took one 
 of the graduating prizes at Yale College a few 
 years ago, belonged to this inferior race. An 
 inferior race! Then why this fear of their com 
 petition? Brain is always in the ascendency; 
 knowledge is power, and fears no competition of 
 mere brute force. If the Chinese are truly the 
 inferior race which they are said to be, then 
 coming to this country, they must ever remain 
 the mud-sills of society, performing for us our 
 unskilled labor, and thus lifting the superior 
 white race, even including Father Buchard s 
 dear brethren, to higher planes of industry and 
 more exalted -walks in society. 
 
 But we are told that the Chinese are an inferior 
 race, because they can not resist foreign invasion. 
 On that principle what shall we say of the 
 P rench ? What of the Irish ? Have those coun 
 tries never been successfully invaded? Why did 
 not the Reverend Father tell us that these infe 
 rior Chinese have eliminated a system of gov 
 ernment which for thousands of years has held 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 265 
 
 in peaceful control nearly one-third of the hu 
 man race ? 
 
 China stands before the world to-day acknowl 
 edged as having the largest population, and a 
 government of the longest existence known in 
 history. 
 
 But Father Buchard grows bolder still as he 
 advances, and finally caps the climax of a long 
 catalogue of absurd fallacies, false assumptions, 
 and abusive epithets by uttering a sentiment, 
 which should cause all believers in Christ to. 
 blush, to blush for very shame, that a man pro 
 claiming such sentiments as he has proclaimed, 
 should still be recognized as a minister of our holy 
 religion. Himself ordained a priest of that altar 
 upon which Jesus Christ, by the grace of God 
 tasted death for every man, in one short sentence 
 publicly uttered and broadly published, has dared 
 to exclude one-third of the human race from all 
 of the benefits of the scheme of human redemp 
 tion through Jesus Christ, our Lord. His lan 
 guage, as quoted in the Monitor, an Irish Roman 
 Catholic journal of this city, is this: "These 
 pagan, these vicious, these immoral creatures, 
 that are incapable of rising to the virtue that is 
 inculcated by the religion of Jesus Christ, the 
 world s Redeemer." 
 
 Does this blasphemous utterance voice the 
 
266 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 sentiments of the Church of Rome ? If so, why 
 not translate it into the Chinese language and cir 
 culate it broadcast all over China, to aid the 
 Jesuits there in their work, and to encourage 
 those two million Chinese communicants of the 
 Romish Church which he claims in China?* 
 
 If the race be what Father Buchard states it 
 to be, why any efforts at all to evangelize it? 
 What about Father Peter, and Father Theodore, 
 and Father Sian, Roman Catholic priests of the 
 Chinese race, who, at different times, have min 
 istered in this city, baptizing the children, and 
 shriving the adults of the superior white race ? 
 Do not those priests belong to this "pagan, vi 
 cious, immoral race, incapable of rising to the 
 virtue inculcated by the religion of Jesus Christ, 
 the world s redeemer?" And if it is such a sin 
 for an American family to employ a Chinaman 
 in the kitchen, what shall we say of the Romish 
 Church which ordains a pagan, vicious, immoral 
 Chinaman to be a priest at the altars of the God 
 of Heaven? The fact that so large a portion 
 of the inmates of our prisons, jails, industrial 
 schools and reformatory institutions are commu 
 nicants of the Romish Church, more than justi- 
 
 *[ There does seem to be a little inconsistency in claiming 
 two million communicants from a race incapable of becoming 
 Christians.] 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH ? 267 
 
 fies the suspicion that multitudes of the commu 
 nicants of that Church, other than Chinese, if 
 not incapable," do nevertheless fail to rise to 
 the practice of Christian virtues. 
 
 Is it possible that such language was used in 
 order to pander to the popular tastes and inflame 
 popular prejudices? Should there be a raid on 
 the Chinese of this city, and the mob scenes of 
 the Los Angeles riot be re-enacted on our streets, 
 how far ought such teachers as the Rev. Father 
 Buchard and the Hon. Frank M. Pixley be held 
 responsible at the bar of an intelligent public 
 opinion for the results ? Are not the cool, crafty 
 instigators of a riot as guilty as the mad partici 
 pators in its bloody scenes? 
 
 Father Buchard, in flowing sentences, by use 
 of plausible fallacies, arouses the jealousy and 
 excites the hatred and prejudice of the ignorant 
 masses. He proclaims to them that the Chinese, 
 an immoral, pagan race, are depriving them of 
 employment, reducing their wives to beggary, 
 their sons to hoodlums, and their daughters to 
 prostitutes. He tells them that these Chinese are 
 an inferior race, not capable . of becoming Chris 
 tians (and the plain inference is, that to murder 
 a Chinaman would not be a greater sin than to 
 kill a monkey). He proclaims that those who 
 employ these Chinamen are " violating the spirit 
 
268 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 and letter of our Constitution, and are deserving 
 of the censure and condemnation of their fellow- 
 men." Then Mr. Pixley completes the lesson. 
 Under certain circumstances he calls upon Gov 
 ernor Booth, Mayor Alvord, and numerous citi 
 zens, to hang the captains and agents of the 
 China trade, and burn their vessels at the wharf. 
 Of course, Mr. Pixley knew that if the leading 
 citizens should fail to do this, there is a large ele 
 ment in the city that would like the job. If, 
 after all this, we do not have mob violence 
 against the Chinese, it will be because the hood 
 lum element of our city has not full confidence 
 in these two leaders. 
 
 I have been told by pretty good authority 
 that a few years ago this same political aspirant, 
 Frank M. Pixley, before the Board of Supervisors 
 of this city, defended the right of those enslaved 
 Chinese prostitutes to reside within the city lim 
 its, stoutly maintaining that the circumstances 
 and necessities in the case called for the regula 
 tion rather than the suppression of the evil. 
 
 At that time the authorities of the city deter 
 mined to put a stop to this traffic, refused the 
 Company permission to land a cargo of these 
 women just arrived from China. But Frank M. 
 Pixley, equal to the emergency, procured a writ 
 of habeas corpus, by which he brought them all 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 269 
 
 ashore, and here they still are. Put that and this 
 together, and you have what I suppose to be a 
 fair representation of the Hon. Frank M. Pixley. 
 Perhaps we shall send him to Congress. Per 
 haps not. 
 
 DO NOT PAY TAXES. 
 
 It is charged that .the Chinese do not pay 
 taxes ; that they come here only to make money ; 
 that . the ten thousand Chinese in this city do 
 not all together pay so much in taxes as does 
 the one man, Michael Reese. 
 
 Unfortunately for the strength of this argu 
 ment against the Chinese, there are more than 
 fifty thousand white people in this city who pay 
 no taxes at all, and ten thousand others who do 
 not pay altogether nine thousand dollars. The 
 Chinamen have not invested largely in real estate 
 for the reasons : First The most of them are 
 poor. Second Our invidious legislation against 
 them has not encouraged them to seek for per 
 manent settlement among us. Father Buchard 
 has told us that the eleven thousand Chinese of 
 our city pay only nine thousand dollars into our 
 public treasury. Let us see : This nine thou 
 sand dollars is taxes on real estate and personal 
 property. But every Chinaman pays his two 
 dollars poll tax many of them two and three 
 times the same year. This will add about ten 
 
2/0 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 thousand dollars to Father Buchard s nine thou 
 sand dollars, making nineteen thousand dollars. 
 To this add twenty-five thousand dollars for li 
 censes, and instead of nine thousand dollars we 
 have the round sum of forty-four thousand dol 
 lars annual revenue to our City Treasury from 
 the Chinese among us. Besides this, the Chinese 
 of this city alone pay internal revenue license 
 five thousand dollars a year, and stamp tax on 
 cigars made during the last year the enormous 
 sum of three hundred and sixty thousand dollars, 
 or over one thousand dollars each working day. 
 The grand total of public revenue from the Chi 
 nese of this city alone, during the past year, 
 reached the magnificent sum of four hundred and 
 nine thousand dollars just four hundred thou 
 sand dollars more than Father Buchard gave 
 them credit for. (If his statistics of Chinese 
 Christians are not more correct than these fig 
 ures, certainly we can not place much confidence 
 in them.) A part of this money is paid for the 
 Public-school Fund, but no schools are provided 
 for the Chinese. Again, for the last twenty years 
 a tax of five dollars has been collected from every 
 Chinaman landing in this country a part of the 
 time, indeed, the tax was fifty dollars a man. 
 Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been col 
 lected from the Chinamen under the provisions 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 27 1 
 
 of the Foreign Miner s Tax law, four dollars a 
 month for every miner, which tax was seldom 
 collected of any others than Chinese. There is 
 this also to be said : Collector Austin himself 
 informed me that there is less difficulty in collect 
 ing taxes from the Chinese than from any other 
 class of inhabitants, and less delinquencies among 
 them. 
 
 But this matter of revenue multiplies as we 
 look at it. 
 
 THE IMPOSTS THEY PAY. 
 
 The imposts or duties on rice alone, brought 
 by the China trade, and mostly consumed by 
 Chinamen, amount to over one million dollars 
 gold coin annually ; duty on oil and opium, two 
 hundred and seventy thousand dollars more ; and 
 the duties on other imports swell the figures to 
 over two million dollars customs, collected annu 
 ally in this port on the trade from China, and 
 mostly from Chinamen. Add all this revenue 
 together and we have two million four hundred 
 and nine thousand dollars, including taxes, licen 
 ses and customs no insignificant sum. The Chi 
 nese also patronize our insurance companies, pay 
 ing to the several companies doing business in 
 this city, over fifty thousand dollars annually 
 for insurance. 
 
2^2 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 DO NOT CONSUME OUR PRODUCTS. 
 
 It is charged that the Chinese do not consume 
 our products, and that they send their money 
 home and thus impoverish the country. It is 
 about time that the fallacy was taken out of this 
 kind of talk. Many Chinamen wear garments 
 made of our cloth; they wear our boots and our 
 hats; they are fond of watches and jewelry and 
 sewing-machines; they ride in our cars and 
 steamers. They eat our fish and beef and po 
 tatoes, and exhaust our pork market. Take the 
 one item of pork alone, and the Chinamen of this 
 coast pay to our producers on this coast over half 
 a million dollars annually. If we would itemize 
 the various products which they consume, we 
 shall find that they do not send home over ten 
 per cent of their earnings. Now, allowing each 
 man to earn $100 a year, this will give $750,000 
 of earnings sent home to China, as against 
 $6,000,000 of their earnings spent in this coun 
 try, and $2,400,000 paid to our revenues in taxes 
 and customs. Again, they can not carry home 
 the result of their labors they built the Central 
 Pacific Railroad. They can not send that home, 
 that remains to us. So of the results of all in 
 dustries in which they are employed. Again, 
 those living here, by their letters home, and by 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH ? 273 
 
 their presence on returning, are so many adver 
 tisements of the products and manufactures of 
 our country, gradually creating a demand and 
 opening a splendid market for our surplus pro 
 ducts. Our exports to China are constantly in 
 creasing; formerly vessels went to China in bal 
 last, now they go loaded with our products. 
 Again, all the carrying trade between this and 
 China, both of the immigrants and merchandise, 
 is in the hands of our own people. This alone 
 furnishes profitable employment for a vast amount 
 of American capital and labor. Fifty-two ships 
 and steamers arrived in this port from China dur 
 ing the past year, and the trade is constantly 
 increasing. 
 
 THE MONEY DRAUGHT. 
 
 Finally, these croakers about the Chinese 
 sending all their money home ought to know that 
 the fortunes amassed by American merchants in 
 China and brought to this country, amount every 
 year in the aggregate to five times more than all 
 these Chinamen can send to China, as the fruits 
 of their daily toil. 
 
 AUTHORS OF FIRES. 
 
 The Chinese are charged as being the careless 
 authors of the fires which consume our prop 
 erty how strange it is that the fires do not rage 
 18 
 
2/4 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 in the Chinese quarter. Who is supposed to have 
 Durned the Methodist Church in San Jose, be 
 cause Chinamen were taught in the Sunday- 
 school? Who is supposed to have burned Col 
 onel Nagle s property of the same place, because 
 he employed Chinamen ? To whom shall we 
 charge the fires in Chicago and Boston? Was 
 Mrs. O Leary, who milked the cow, that kicked 
 the lamp, that kindled the fire that burned Chi 
 cago, was Mrs. O Leary a Chinaman? Our fires 
 are not so disastrous as those in the East ; 
 perhaps our immigrants are not so dangerous 
 as theirs. Of the t\vo evils we may safely 
 choose the less. 
 
 PROTESTANT MISSIONARY LABORS. 
 
 Father Buchard also saw fit to disparage the 
 results of Protestant missionary work in China, 
 and to sneer at the efforts made by our Protestant 
 citizens to educate, elevate, and Christianize the 
 Chinese who are among us. He sneers at our Chi 
 nese schools and Bible teachings. (By the way, 
 this Bible teaching has always been considered a 
 sin by the Romish priests.) He says these efforts 
 have been going on for years, and yet he asks, 
 " Have the papers of our city heralded the bap 
 tism of a single Chinaman, as the result of all this 
 labor ? Have the papers of this city, any one of 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 275 
 
 them, religious or secular, yet heralded the reform 
 ation of a single one of these unfortunate women, 
 who are brought to this country for criminal pur 
 poses?" Now the facts are, and if Father Buchard 
 reads the papers, he ought to know the facts, 
 that as the result of Protestant efforts in this 
 direction, in this country, about one hundred 
 Chinamen have been baptized and received into 
 the various Churches, and a thousand others 
 have been greatly improved both in mind and 
 manners. Six of these unfortunate women are 
 now in the Asylum of the Mission House, cared 
 for and taught by the Woman s Missionary So 
 ciety of the Methodist Episcopal Church. One 
 has been married from the Asylum, and that, too, 
 to a white man of course, not an American 
 citizen. Another woman, Jin Ho, has gone forth 
 from the Asylum to do service and earn her own 
 livelihood in a Christian family. 
 
 All these women are now clothed and in their 
 right mind, happy in their escape from lives of 
 slavery and shame. The \voman, Jin Ho, was 
 snatched from the cold waters of the bay, into 
 which she had thrown herself, in order to escape 
 from the miseries of this life. 
 
 This is the Protestant, the American way of 
 solving the Chinese question. 
 
 Another way, popular just now, but contrary 
 
276 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 to American principles, and contrary to the true 
 spirit of Christianity, is to arouse the jealousies 
 and excite the hatred of our people against a 
 class of peaceable and industrious strangers, who 
 are here by right of international law and na 
 tional treaties. 
 
 All these results of Protestant effort among 
 the Chinese of this country have been published 
 from time to time in the newspapers of the city, 
 both secular and religious. 
 
 If Father Buchard does not read the papers, 
 he should not speak so positively of what they 
 do or do not publish. If he does read them, 
 he ought to tell the truth when reporting from 
 them. 
 
 As to the results of Protestant effort in China 
 itself, there are now about ten thousand actual 
 communicants of Protestant Churches, maintain 
 ing consistent Christian characters, and perhaps 
 five times that number of well disposed hearers. 
 A number of self-sustaining Churches already 
 exist, and these are constantly increasing. 
 
 The Bible, and religious books and tracts, and 
 historical and scientific works, have been faith 
 fully translated, and millions of copies placed in 
 circulation. 
 
 At last the people and Government of China 
 are beginning to learn the difference between 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 2/7 
 
 Christian evangelization and Jesuitical intrigue, 
 and as the result, a brighter day is dawning upon 
 China. 
 
 DANGER TO REPUBLICAN INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 Father Buchard closed his lecture with an elo 
 quent peroration on the grandeur of our country 
 and the glory of our institutions. He contrasted, 
 in glowing colors, the inestimable blessings to be 
 derived to our government from filling our land 
 with immigrants from Europe, with the impend 
 ing ruin attendant upon the migration of the Chi 
 nese to these shores. 
 
 But fellow citizens, there is another vital 
 question connected with this subject of immigra 
 tion to which we must not close our eyes which 
 is the more dangerous to Republican institutions, 
 Popery or Paganism? This is one of the grave 
 questions involved in this subject. I may be 
 mistaken, but I believe that I voice the candid 
 conviction of a majority of the intelligence and 
 character of these United States when I answer : 
 Popery is more dangerous to Republican institu 
 tions than Paganism. 
 
 Whence comes this bitter, this ceaseless hos 
 tility to our free schools, our free press, our open 
 Bible? Always from Popery; never from Pa 
 ganism. 
 
2/8 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 OUR TRUE CHINESE POLICY. 
 
 A broad, statesmanlike view, which takes in 
 its scope the fundamental principles and the tra 
 ditional policy of the Government and people of 
 these United States, that is, open doors and 
 equal rights for all, a view that has regard to 
 national treaties of commerce and amity, a view 
 that understands the value of the commerce of 
 Asia to us as a nation, such a view will teach the 
 utter impracticability and perfect inconsistency 
 of any attempt on our part to prevent the immi 
 gration of the Chinese to these shores. 
 
 Remember that we are the aggressors ; we 
 battered down China s walls of exclusion; we 
 opened her interdicted ports that we might share 
 her commerce. God permitted us to do this, 
 and the same God, who is no respecter of per 
 sons, permits the Chinese to come here ; and 
 shall we \var with God ? We might as well at 
 tempt to stay the tides of the ocean as to attempt 
 to prevent this Chinese immigration. With all 
 its evils, and they are many, there is no resource 
 for us but to make the best of it we possibly 
 can. We need not fear them on the cheap labor 
 question. Under our present form of govern 
 ment, oppressively cheap labor is an impossibility. 
 
 What we have to fear is the vice and igno- 
 
CHINAMAN OR WHITE MAN WHICH? 2/9 
 
 ranee which they bring. Wise legislation, wisely 
 executed, will do much in this direction. As a 
 sanitary measure, the Chinese should be com 
 pelled to keep their houses and streets cleaner, 
 and they should not be allowed to pack so many 
 persons into such small space as is now their 
 custom. 
 
 This abominable traffic in the flesh and blood 
 of these unfortunate women should be dealt with 
 rigorously and at once their dens of prostitu 
 tion closed without any delay. 
 
 A compulsory school law should place all of 
 their children, girls and boys, into good schools. 
 All invidious legislation should be repealed, and 
 Christian men and women must multiply their 
 efforts to uplift and Christianize these people. 
 
 To the question, " Chinaman or White man 
 which?" I understand Father Buchard to an 
 swer, the white man alone. 
 
 Hon. Frank M. Pixley answers, neither white 
 nor Chinaman. America belongs to the Indian, 
 the red man. 
 
 But according to the genius and spirit of our 
 government and our national history, I stand here 
 to answer thus: "The doors of our country are 
 open equally for both. We have room for all. 
 Ours is "the land of the free, and the home of 
 the brave. The oppressed and down-trodden from 
 
280 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 all nations may alike find shelter here, and under 
 the benign influences of our free institutions, and of 
 our exalted faith, with the blessing of Almighty 
 God, these different nationalities and varying- civili 
 zations shall, in time, blend into one harmonious 
 whole, illustrating to a wondering world ( the com 
 mon Fatherhood of God, and the universal broth 
 erhood of man." 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 28 1 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 "THE CHINESE QUESTION FROM A CHINESE STAND 
 POINT," 1873. 
 
 AFTER the delivery and publication of the 
 author s reply to Father Buchard, that crafty 
 priest omitted the "Chinaman" altogether from 
 his catalogue of lectures. Mr. Pixley undertook 
 to repeat his lecture on " Our Street Arabs " but 
 after great expense, noise, and trouble in work-_ 
 ing it up, failed to secure an audience. A cer 
 tain Mr. Starr, a Congregationalist minister, una 
 ble to get other employment, entered the service 
 of the Anti-Chinese agitators about that time, 
 and, for a few months, traveled over the country 
 giving stale, driveling talks against the Chinese 
 to small audiences of ignorant, irresponsible peo 
 ple; but his opposition was too weak to attract 
 any public notice. Mr. Starr, however, enjoys 
 the unenviable distinction of being the only Prot 
 estant clergyman on the Pacific Coast who has 
 publicly identified himself with the Anti-Chinese 
 movement, except it be a Methodist minister, 
 Rev. H. Cox, D. D., who made one of the 
 
282 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 addresses at that notorious Anti-Chinese mass- 
 meeting held in Union Hall, April 5, 1876. 
 
 The municipal government of San Francisco, 
 however, did undertake to grapple with the Chi 
 nese question, not in any special effort to ferret 
 out and punish the crimes of gambling, prosti 
 tution, and the abominable traffic in flesh and 
 blood of enslaved women and girls. It is a mat 
 ter of common report that Chinese villains have 
 always paid pretty well for not being molested in 
 those favorite pursuits. 
 
 In June, 1873, the Board of Supervisors of 
 the city of San Francisco, among others, passed 
 the following municipal orders : 
 No. 1097. 
 
 " SECTION I. Each and every male prisoner incar 
 cerated or imprisoned in the county jail of the city and 
 county of San Francisco, under and pursuant to a judg 
 ment or conviction had by any court having jurisdic- 
 diction of criminal cases in the said city and county of 
 San Francisco, shall immediately, upon their arrival at 
 such county jail, under and pursuant to a judgment or 
 sentence as aforesaid, have the hair of their head cut off 
 or clipped to a uniform length of one INCH from the scalp 
 thereof." 
 
 No. 1098. 
 Regulating license for keepers of laundries and laundry 
 
 offices. 
 
 "SECTION I. For keepers of laundries and laundry 
 offices who employ therefor one vehicle drawn by animal 
 power, $2 per quarter. For those who employ therefor 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 283 
 
 two such vehicles, $4 per quarter. For those who employ 
 therefor more than two such vehicles, $15 per quarter. 
 For those who employ therefor no such -vehicle, $ 1 5 per 
 quarter" 
 
 The first of these was known as the "Pig 
 tail ordinance," because it was designed for the 
 express purpose of cutting off the cue of every 
 Chinaman who should come under its provisions. 
 It was vetoed by Mayor Alvord, to his honor 
 be it said, and his veto was sustained. The 
 mayor in his veto, well remarked that this 
 order, though general in its terms, in substance 
 and effect, is a special and degrading punishment 
 inflicted upon the Chinese residents for slight offenses 
 and solely by reason of their alienage and race. 
 The laundry order was passed over the mayor s 
 veto. 
 
 The evident intention and purpose of both 
 these orders was simply to afflict and disgrace 
 the Chinese, and make their stay in this country 
 a misery and burden. The laundry order was 
 general in its terms, and if rigidly and impartially 
 enforced would have distressed as many poor 
 white women as Chinamen, but it was never in 
 tended to be enforced against any body except 
 the Chinamen. 
 
 The Chinese laundrymen came to me in great 
 consternation. I advised them to go on as be 
 fore, paying no regard to the law, and see what 
 
284 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 would be done. So all went quietly for a year, 
 when suddenly one morning eleven Chinese laun- 
 drymen were arrested for violation of this ordi 
 nance in non-payment of this license. They 
 gave bail and secured Ex-Gov. H. H. Haight to 
 defend them in court, pleading the unconstitu 
 tionally of the law. At my suggestion, they 
 caused formal complaint to be made against a 
 number of white laundry women for the same 
 offense. The result was, that the cases against 
 the Chinamen in the police court were laid over 
 until the new Board of Supervisors had time to 
 rescind the order. Then the case was dismissed 
 and the Chinamen s bail was refunded, and they 
 went on their way rejoicing for a time. By 
 some means one of the cases got into the County 
 Court, and there Governor Haight pleaded the un 
 constitutionally of the law, and Judge Stanly s 
 decision sustained the pleading pronouncing the 
 law unconstitutional. 
 
 While the Board of Supervisors were discuss 
 ing the above municipal orders, and before they 
 were finally passed, the writer, in behalf of the. 
 Chinamen, read the following appeal to the Su 
 pervisors in open session of the Board. The 
 document was afterward published in a neat 
 little tract which we insert in this place, as 
 follows: 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 285 
 
 "THE CHINESE QUESTION 
 
 "FROM A CHINESE STAND-POINT. 
 
 " To the People of the United States of America : 
 
 "BROTHERS, Will you listen to a calm, re 
 spectful statement of the Chinese question from 
 a Chinese stand-point? Public sentiment is strong 
 against us. Many rise up to curse us. Few 
 there are who seem willing, or who dare to utter 
 a word in our defense, or in defense of our treaty 
 rights in this country. The daily papers teem 
 with bitter invectives against us. All the evils 
 and miseries of our people are constantly pic 
 tured in an exaggerated form to the public, and 
 our presence in this country is held up as an 
 evil, and only evil, and that continually. 
 
 "In California, Oregon, and Nevada, laws, de 
 signed not to punish guilt and crime, nor yet to 
 protect the lives and property of the innocent, 
 have been enacted and executed discriminating 
 against the Chinese; and the Board of Supervis 
 ors of the city of San Francisco, where the largest 
 number of our people reside, has surpassed even 
 these State authorities in efforts to afflict us, by 
 what seem to us most unjust, most oppressive, and 
 most barbarous enactments. If these enactments 
 are the legitimate offspring of the American 
 
286 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 civilization, and of the Jesus religion, you can 
 hardly wonder if the Chinese people are somewhat 
 slow to embrace the one or to adopt the other. 
 "Unfortunately for us, our civilization has 
 not attained to the use of the daily press that 
 mighty engine for molding public sentiment in 
 these lands and we must even now appeal to 
 the generosity of those, who perhaps bear us no 
 good will, to give us a place in their columns to 
 present our cause. 
 
 "THE POLICY OF CHINA. 
 
 "i. We wish the American people to remem 
 ber that the policy of the Chinese Government 
 was strictly exclusive. She desired no treaty 
 stipulations, no commercial, relations, no inter 
 change whatever with Europe or America. She 
 was not willing that other people should come to 
 reside in her limits, because she knew the antag 
 onism of races. For the same reason she was 
 unwilling that her subjects should go forth to 
 other lands to reside. 
 
 But the United States and other Christian 
 nations held very different -views, and advocated 
 a very different policy. Treaty stipulations, com 
 mercial relations, and friendly interchange of 
 commodities and persons were demanded of the 
 Chinese. To secure these with China, pretexts 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 287 
 
 for war were sought and found, and. as the re 
 sult of defeat on the part of the Chinese, our 
 Government was compelled to give up her tradi 
 tional, time-honored policy, and to form treaties 
 of friendship and interchange with her con 
 querors. 
 
 "THE RESULT OF THIS POLICY. 
 
 "2. Under these treaty stipulations dictated to 
 China by Christian governments, the people of 
 Europe and America have freely entered China 
 for the purposes of trade, travel, and Christian 
 evangelization. Foreign residents in China are 
 numerous, and many of them have amassed ample 
 fortunes in that land. Their presence has ever 
 been hateful to a large portion of the Chinese 
 people. It is but fair to state this fact that as 
 much friction, if not more, is caused in China by the 
 presence of foreigners than the CJiinese are creating 
 in this land. 
 
 "The declaimers against us because we sup 
 plant white laborers in this country ought to 
 know, what is \vell known to all intelligent Chi 
 namen, that the introduction of American and 
 English steamers upon the rivers and coasts of 
 China has thrown out of business a vast fleet "of 
 junks, and out of employment a whole army of 
 men, larger in number than all the Chinese now 
 in America. 
 
288 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 " And yet during these few years of commer 
 cial and friendly intercourse a large commerce 
 has sprung up between China and America, cre 
 ating a community interest between the people 
 of these two countries, and doing much to re 
 move the strong prejudices of the Chinese against 
 foreign intercourse. American merchants and 
 American enterprise, American missionaries and 
 Christian doctrine meet with far less opposition 
 and much greater favor in China now than for 
 merly. Great changes are taking place in the 
 popular sentiments of the people, a striking fea 
 ture of which change is a marked partiality for 
 the American Government and civilization. 
 
 "The Chinese Government has already sent 
 a score of youths to this country to learn your 
 language, your customs and laws, and proposes 
 to send many more on the same errand. This 
 fact of itself is significant. 
 
 "THE PRESENT EMBARRASSING DEMANDS OF AMER 
 ICA UPON THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 4< 3. We wish also to call the attention of the 
 American public to the fact that at the present 
 time the American and European Governments 
 are greatly embarrassing the Chinese Government 
 by strenuously insisting upon these two points, 
 namely : 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 289 
 
 "First. That Americans and other foreigners 
 shall be permitted to travel and trade and preach 
 in all parts of the Chinese Empire without being 
 subject to Chinese law. The foreign govern 
 ments insist upon their right to carry their code 
 of laws with them into all parts of our country, 
 thus humbling and disgracing our Government 
 in the eyes of our own people. How would 
 that shoe fit the other foot? Or how can this 
 claim be reconciled to the * Golden Rule, con 
 sidering the present treatment of Chinese in 
 America? 
 
 "Second. The audience question. Foreign 
 governments insist upon holding audience through 
 their representatives with the Emperor of China, 
 without paying him the homage and respect which 
 the Throne of China has ever received from all 
 who came before it. 
 
 "INDUSTRIOUS. 
 
 "4. We wish now also to ask the American 
 people to remember that the Chinese in this coun 
 try have been for the most part peaceable and in 
 dustrious. We have kept no ivhisky saloons, and have 
 had no drunken brawls, resulting in manslaughter 
 and murder. We have toiled patiently to build 
 your railroads, to aid in harvesting your fruits and 
 grain, and to reclaim your swamp lands. Our 
 19 
 
THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 presence and labor on this coast we believe have 
 made possible numerous manufacturing interests, 
 which, without us could not exist on these shores. 
 In the mining regions our people have been sat 
 isfied with claims deserted by the white men. 
 
 "As a people we have the reputation, even 
 here and now, of paying faithfully our rents, our 
 taxes, and our debts. 
 
 "In view of all these facts we are constrained 
 to ask why this bitter hostility against the few 
 thousands of Chinese in America? Why these 
 severe and barbarous enactments, discriminating 
 against us, in favor of other nationalities. 
 
 "From Europe you receive annually an im- 
 . migration of 200,000 (among whom, judging from 
 what we have observed, there are many per 
 haps one-third who are vagabonds, and scoun 
 drels or plotters against your national and relig 
 ious institutions). These, with all the evils they 
 bring, you receive with open arms, and at once 
 give them the right of suffrage, and not seldom elect 
 them to office. Why, then, this fearful opposition 
 to the immigration of 15,000 or 20,000 China 
 men yearly? 
 
 "But if opposed to our coming, still in the 
 name of our country, in the name of justice and 
 humanity, in the name of Christianity (as we un 
 derstand if), we protest against such severe and 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 29! 
 
 discriminating enactments against our people ^vh^le 
 living in this country under existing treaties. 
 
 "5. Finally, since our presence here is con 
 sidered so detrimental to this country and is so 
 offensive to the American people, we make this 
 proposition, and promise on our part, to use all 
 our influence to carry it into effect. We propose 
 a speedy and perfect abrogation and repeal of the 
 present treaty relations between China and America, 
 requiring the retirement of all Chinese people and 
 trade from these United States, and the withdraw 
 ing of all American people and trade and commer 
 cial intercourse whatever from China. 
 
 "This, perhaps, will give to the American 
 people an opportunity of preserving for a longer 
 time their civil and religious institutions, which, 
 it is said, the immigration of the Chinese is cal 
 culated to destroy? 
 
 "This arrangement will also, to some extent, 
 relieve the Chinese people and Government from 
 the serious embarrassments which now disturb 
 them, and enable them by so much to return to 
 the traditional policy of their sages and states 
 men ; that is, Stay at home and mind their own 
 business, and let all other people do the same. 
 
 "This is our proposition. Will the Ameri- 
 
292 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 can people accept it ? Will the newspapers 
 which have lately said so many things against us, 
 and against our residence in this country, will 
 they now aid us in bringing about this, to us, de 
 sirable state of affairs? In the mean time, since 
 we are now here under sacred treaty stipulations, 
 we humbly pray that we may be treated accord 
 ing to those stipulations, until such time as the 
 treaty can be repealed, and all commercial inter 
 course and friendly relations come to an end. 
 
 " Signed in behalf of the Chinese in Amer 
 ica, by LAI YONG, YANG KAY, 
 A YUP, LAI FOON, 
 CHUNG LEONG." 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 293 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE, 1876. 
 
 IT is a humiliating fact that the greatest en 
 thusiasm is often manifested upon issues 
 where ignorance, bigotry, prejudice and selfish 
 ness play the principal parts. The history of 
 the " Anti-Chinese Crusade" in California, dur 
 ing this Centennial year of American independ 
 ence ; the grounds upon which it has been waged; 
 the character and spirit of its leaders and act 
 ive agents ; the methods of the campaign, the 
 willful misrepresentations made concerning help 
 less and defenseless strangers who have come to 
 us by special invitation ; the criminal perversion 
 of testimony given under oath ; the ill-concealed 
 effort to blacken the character of Protestant Mis 
 sions and missionaries, in order to make a case 
 against the Chinamen ; the proud arrogance and 
 assumption of superior virtue and morality by a 
 class of men, many of whom, in daily life and 
 practice, fall far below the average Chinaman 
 all these things conspire to cause a blush of 
 shame on the cheek of every intelligent Christian 
 
294 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 citizen, who understands the case, whenever the 
 subject is mentioned. 
 
 Indeed, the whole discussion of this question, 
 so far as these political demagogues are con 
 cerned, has been so puerile, so utterly destitute 
 of logic and sound argument, in its spirit and 
 intent so subversive of the fundamental princi 
 ples of liberty upon which the whole fabric of 
 our government is built, so blind to patent facts, 
 so utterly regardless of truth, honor, and justice, 
 that it requires no ordinary patience to arrange 
 the shameful facts in hand, and write out an im 
 partial sketch of its history. 
 
 In the Spring of the present year (1876), two 
 facts conspired to give certain political aspirants 
 a coveted occasion to inaugurate a bitter and 
 wide-spread Anti-Chinese agitation. First, the 
 decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, that the State legislations of California, 
 prohibiting the importation of lewd Chinese 
 women was unconstitutional. Second, the fact 
 that an unusually large number of Chinese immi 
 grants were arriving each month, with rumors 
 that multitudes more were only waiting an op 
 portunity to come. These two facts furnished 
 an immediate occasion, and fresh material for an 
 appeal to the selfishness, bigotry, and race preju 
 dices of the people, in order to excite their hos- 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 295 
 
 tility against the Chinese, and thereby secure 
 their adherence to the political school of the agi 
 tators and lift them into office. The result has 
 been that, for political purposes alone, the lead 
 ers of both political parties, and the secular press 
 generally, have declared war upon the Chinamen. 
 The press has deprecated the constant, violent 
 assaults and abuses heaped upon the Chinamen, 
 not because of the injustice and brutality of such 
 conduct, but simply on the low, selfish ground 
 that these acts of violence would injure the Anti- 
 Chinese cause in the Eastern States. And be 
 fore the Commissioners appointed by the munici 
 pal government of San Francisco could reach 
 Washington, with the address and resolutions of 
 the famous Anti-Chinese Mass-meeting of April 
 5th, a California Senator, Mr. A. A. Sargent, had 
 anticipated all they had to say in a speech be 
 fore the Senate, May 2, 1876. 
 
 A large portion of the press of California de 
 voted itself to fanning the flames of excitement. 
 The people were daily treated to editorials and 
 correspondence setting forth in exaggerated and 
 highly colored phrases the vices and crimes of 
 the Chinese people, the ruin caused by Chinese 
 cheap labor, and the tremendous impending evils 
 of further Chinese immigration. All the existing 
 evils which affect the morals of our own people 
 
296 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 were charged home upon the Chinese. All the 
 sufferings of the poor and wretched were the 
 results of Chinese immigration. The very vices 
 and crimes of our hoodlum element were traced 
 to the presence and competition of Chinese cheap 
 labor. The people were admonished to remem 
 ber that China had a population of four hundred 
 millions, an alien race, incapable of assimilating 
 with and of attaining to our higher forms of civ 
 ilization, and that a constant stream from such 
 a source would soon overrun and devastate the 
 whole land. With admirable sophistry and flat 
 tery it was maintained that a " European after be 
 ing in this country a few years, becomes as good 
 a citizen, and as patriotic as a native born ; a Chi 
 naman never." (But the fact is, some Europeans 
 make bad citizens, some Chinamen make good 
 ones.) The working classes were easily made 
 the dupes and tools of the demagogues. They 
 were made to believe that if the Chinese were 
 removed out of the way,^ thousands of white la 
 borers, more than now, would immediately find 
 employment at greatly increased wages. The 
 Chinese laboring men were all called coolie slaves, 
 and for a white man to be a common laborer be 
 side a servile class, was disgraceful in the ex 
 treme, and utterly repugnant to the noble in 
 stincts of the intelligent yeomanry of this free land. 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 297 
 
 The organization of Anti-Chinese clubs through 
 out the city and country was strongly recom 
 mended. The frantic cry was raised, Organize, 
 organize, organize." And organize they did. 
 Politicians organized. The various classes of 
 craftsmen organized. Loafers, tramps, and bum 
 mers organized. Hoodlum boys of ten and fif 
 teen years of age were encouraged to join some 
 of these organizations, and have been found very 
 useful in teaching the Chinese that they are not 
 wanted in this country. We give a specimen 
 of the proceedings of these Anti-Chinese clubs 
 as reported in the daily papers. It is quite sug 
 gestive : 
 
 "The Seventh Ward Anti-Coolie Club met 
 last evening. After the business was through 
 with, a gentleman, who has felt the evils of Chi 
 nese invasion, asked permission of the Club to 
 make a few remarks, and said: 
 
 " Mr. Gintlemin and Prisidint, I have some 
 remarks to make on this great thing. I Ve been 
 wurruckin amongst these hathens as foremin and 
 head boss over some iv em, and you bet your 
 life I knocked em down whiniver they tuk any 
 airs on thimsilves wid me. I am a white man, 
 as is a white man, and Mr. Prisidint, I claims 
 as how when a man is a white man, he should 
 aither be a white man or lave the country. I 
 
298 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 showed thim are hathens as I was a white man, 
 and forninst such employed Chinamens. Why, 
 sur, I seed them men who employed these China 
 men, actually give em a chaw of terbacker, and 
 indulgin cm in every way and manner as was 
 possable to indulge em, and I was discharged 
 because I knocked em down when they tuk too 
 many liberties wid me. Yis, sur. " 
 
 Acts of violence against the Chinese have 
 been shamefully numerous, but for some reason, 
 the newspaper reporters have not always thought 
 them worthy of mention. One day some eight 
 or ten of the Chinese girls of the Asylum of the 
 Methodist Mission, accompanied by three Amer 
 ican ladies, were rudely assaulted by a large 
 crowd of men and boys in broad daylight within 
 a few blocks of the City Hall. Mud, sand, and 
 stones were thrown at them, and they were fol 
 lowed by a jeering, insulting crowd till they were 
 compelled to seek refuge in the house of an 
 Irish woman, who not only sheltered them but 
 went out and tried to disperse the mob. The 
 managers of the school have not since dared to 
 take the girls out for recreation or observation 
 without the special protection of the police. 
 
 The municipal authorities of San Francisco 
 were early aroused to this question. The mayor 
 has seemed to be the principal leader in the 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 299 
 
 whole Anti-Chinese movement. He presented 
 an address to the Board of Supervisors of the 
 city, setting forth in no mild terms the evils, 
 present and impending, of this Chinese immigra 
 tion, and recommended some action on their 
 part which should open up a general agitation 
 of the subject whose influence should be felt in 
 Congress. The Board acted promptly on the 
 suggestion, and immediately took action which 
 culminated in the "Grand Anti-Chinese Mass- 
 meeting," of April 5th, and the appointment of 
 three commissioners to go to Washington to 
 present to the general Government the case 
 against the Chinamen. 
 
 In the mean time, the Board of Supervisors 
 had exercised its law-making prerogatives and 
 re-enacted the "Pig-tail Order," which Mayor 
 Alvord had vetoed three years before. They 
 also re-enacted the Laundry Order, requiring 
 every Chinaman to pay fifteen dollars license a 
 quarter, unless he chose to deliver with horse 
 and vehicle, when only two dollars would be re 
 quired. And again, the poor Chinese laundry- 
 men were compelled to be at the expense and 
 trouble of securing a court decision that the order 
 was unconstitutional. 
 
 The excitement ran so high that at last even 
 the conservative, stolid Chinamen began to be 
 
300 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 alarmed, and on April ist, issued the following 
 Manifesto : 
 
 "TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. 
 
 The United States has been open to Chinese 
 emigration for more than twenty years. Many 
 Chinamen have come ; few have returned. Why 
 is this? Because among our Chinese people, a 
 few in California have acquired a fortune and re 
 turned home with joy. A desire to obtain a com 
 petency having arisen in the heart, our people 
 have not shrunk from toil and trouble. They 
 have expected to come here for one or two years 
 and make a little fortune and return. Who 
 among them ever thought of all these difficul 
 ties, expensive rents, expensive living? A day 
 without work me ans a day without food. For 
 this reason, though wages are low, yet they are 
 compelled to labor and live in daily poverty, 
 quite unable to return to their native land. Now 
 this honorable country is discussing the impor 
 tance of prohibiting the further emigration of the 
 Chinese. That is very good indeed. First, be 
 cause it will relieve the American people of 
 trouble and anxiety of mind ; secondly, the Chi 
 nese will no longer be wanderers in a foreign 
 land. Both parties will thus be benefited. But 
 this result should be brought about in a reason- 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 301 
 
 able manner. It is said that the six companies 
 buy and import Chinaman into this country. 
 How can such things be said? Our six companies 
 have, year after year, sent letters discouraging 
 our people from coming to this country, but the 
 people have not believed us, and have continued 
 to come. The necessary expense of these poor 
 new comers is a constant drain upon the resources 
 of those already settled here, so that the Chinese 
 residents of this country, are also opposed to this 
 rapid Chinese emigration. 
 
 But the capitalists of this honorable country 
 are constantly calling for Chinese cheap labor. 
 The white laboring men of this country are very 
 angry because the Chinese obtain employment 
 which they claim belongs to white men alone, and 
 so they hate the Chinamen, sometimes throw 
 stones at them, sometimes strike them on the 
 street, and constantly curse them. The Chinese 
 people can not return such treatment in the 
 same kind, lest other nations hearing of such 
 things should ridicule the laws of this honorable 
 country as of no use. 
 
 "To prohibit the Chinese from coming to 
 this country is not a difficult matter. Formerly 
 His Imperial Majesty, our August Emperor, made 
 a treaty of amity and friendship with the Gov 
 ernment of this honorable country, opening com- 
 
302 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 mercial relations and permitting free intercom 
 munication between the people of the two coun 
 tries. This treaty is in accordance with the law 
 of all nations. 
 
 "And now if the American people do not 
 desire the Chinese to come here, why not go to 
 the Emperor and ask a repeal of the treaty, or 
 why not limit the number of immigrants on each 
 steamer to a very few ? Then more would re 
 turn and fewer would come, and not ten years 
 would elapse before not a trace of the Chinamen 
 would be left in this great and honorable country. 
 Would not that be well indeed? But let there 
 be counsel and consideration. It can not be 
 said that Chinese labor impoverishes this country, 
 and are not the customs paid by the Chinese a 
 benefit to this country? Now let the Government 
 of the United States propose to the Govern 
 ment of China a repeal or change of the treaty, 
 prohibiting the people of either country from 
 crossing the ocean, then shall we Chinese forever 
 remain at home and enjoy the happiness of fathers, 
 mothers, wives, and children and no longer re 
 main strangers in a strange land. Then the white 
 laborer of this country shall no longer be trou 
 bled by the competition of the Chinese, and our 
 Chinese people no longer be subjected to the 
 abuses and indignities now daily heaped upon 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 303 
 
 them in the open streets of this so-called Chris 
 tian land. If this can be accomplished, we Chi 
 nese will continually offer to the virtue of this 
 honorable country our deepest gratitude and 
 thanks." 
 
 They also, the same day, addressed the fol 
 lowing letter to the Chief of Police : 
 
 "SAN FRANCISCO, April i, 1876. 
 
 "To H. H. ELLIS, Chief of Police of City and County of 
 San Francisco : 
 
 "Sm: We wish to call your attention to the 
 fact, that at the present time frequent and un 
 provoked assaults are made upon our Chinese 
 people while walking peacefully the streets of 
 this city. The assaulting party is seldom ar 
 rested by your officers, but if a Chinaman resist 
 the assault, he is frequently arrested and pun 
 ished by fine or by imprisonment. Inflammatory 
 and incendiary addresses against the Chinese, 
 delivered on the public streets to the idle and 
 irresponsible element of this great city, have 
 already produced unprovoked and unpunished 
 assaults upon some of our people, and we fear, 
 that if such things are permitted to go on un 
 checked, a bloody riot against the Chinese may 
 be the result. Regretting that the Chinese are 
 so obnoxious to the citizens of this country, and 
 quite willing to aid in seeking a repeal or modi- 
 
304 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 fication of the existing treaty between China and 
 the United States, yet being here under sacred 
 treaty stipulations, we simply ask to be protected 
 in our treaty rights. 
 
 " Respectfully submitted, 
 
 "THE Six COMPANIES." 
 
 To show that the Chinamen had not exagger 
 ated the abuses heaped upon them, we give an 
 item from a daily paper of the same date as the 
 above note to the Chief of Police: 
 
 "A RIOTOUS ASSEMBLY. 
 
 "An inflammatory Anti-Chinese meeting was 
 held last evening on Kerney Street, and addressed 
 by an incendiary orator. Under his heated har 
 angue, the crowd was wrought up to the highest 
 pitch of excitement, and increased in numbers 
 until the street was blocked by a surging mass. 
 The speaker read a long series of resolutions 
 condemning the importation of coolies, demand 
 ing a remedy from the law-making power, and 
 ended by proclaiming that if no measures were 
 taken to suppress the plague, the people were 
 justified in taking summary vengeance on the 
 Mongolians. The resolutions were received with 
 yells by the listeners, and several unlucky China 
 men who passed by at the moment, were knocked 
 down and kicked, to emphasize the verdict. The 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 305 
 
 speaker then resumed his address in a more 
 incendiary strain than before, calling on the popu 
 lace, in the name of humanity, and their families, 
 and as American citizens, to drive every greasy- 
 faced coolie from the land. We must take 
 this insidious monster by the throat, shouted 
 the speaker, * and throttle it choke it until its 
 heart ceases to beat, and then hurl it into the 
 sea! At the conclusion of his speech he called 
 upon every man to sign the resolutions, which 
 about two hundred of those present did. During 
 the crowding up to accomplish this, a car passed 
 along on which a Chinaman was riding. Yells 
 of Pull him off! Lynch him! Kill the greasy 
 slave! etc., rent the air; but the Mongolian es 
 caped with only a few cuffs and a vigorous kick 
 or two." 
 
 Things got to such a pass that the sensational 
 papers which had been fanning the flames of 
 popular excitement began to find that "Fears 
 of an Anti-Chinese riot were expressed in various 
 quarters," and to "call upon the Mayor and the 
 Chief of Police to give their attention to the 
 matter in time." They further trusted "that 
 at the Anti - Chinese mass -meeting to-night 
 there will be no sensational clap-trap eloquence," 
 designed to fire the popular heart. "The pop 
 ular heart is already sufficiently fired." Thou- 
 
 20 
 
306 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 sands of the best citizens feared a bloody riot. 
 The Chinese themselves became exceedingly 
 nervous, and prepared, as best they could, to 
 defend themselves in case of an attack. The 
 pawnbroker shops reaped a rich harvest from 
 the sale of revolvers and bowie-knives to China 
 men. One dealer alone sold sixty pistols to 
 Chinamen in one day at good prices." 
 
 The Presidents of the Six Companies, that 
 they might do all in their power to avert the 
 threatened disturbance, sent the following com 
 munication to the Mayor: 
 
 " To A. J. BRYANT, Mayor of the City and County of San 
 
 Francisco : 
 
 " SIR, We, the undersigned Presidents of the 
 Chinese Six Companies of this city, desire, most 
 respectfully, to call your attention to the fact 
 (which may not have escaped your notice) that 
 wide-spread rumors are abroad all over this city, 
 to the effect that a riotous attack upon the Chi 
 nese is about to take place. It is widely re 
 ported that to-night, while the more respectable 
 class of citizens are peacefully devising means 
 to prohibit further Chinese emigration, another 
 class, mostly of foreign birth, will commence 
 riotous proceedings against the Chinese who are 
 already here. We notice that Anti-Chinese so 
 cieties are being formed in every ward of the 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 307 
 
 city, and in many towns of the State. Denun 
 ciatory and incendiary addresses against the Chi 
 nese, publicly made upon the streets of the city, 
 to large crowds of excitable and idle people, have 
 already produced acts of violence, and unpro 
 voked, and, we are sorry to say it, unpunished 
 assaults upon our countrymen. We have noticed 
 that for two or three weeks past the city papers 
 have failed to observe these violent assaults made 
 upon the Chinamen; or, if they have observed 
 them, they have failed to notice them in their 
 columns. We have also noticed that the daily 
 press of the city is constantly warning the people 
 to abstain from riotous proceedings against the 
 Chinese, which we think would hardly be done 
 without some cause existed to fear that such pro 
 ceedings are intended. All these things are caus 
 ing the Chinese people great anxiety. And in 
 the immediate danger which seems to threaten 
 us as well as to threaten the peace and good 
 name of this city, we appeal to your Honor the 
 Mayor and Chief Magistrate of this municipality 
 to protect us, to the full extent of your power, 
 in all our peaceful treaty rights, against all un 
 lawful violence, and all riotous proceedings now 
 threatening us. We would deprecate the results 
 of mob violence, for we not only value our prop 
 erty and cherish our lives, which now seem to be 
 
308 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 in jeopardy, but we should .also regret to have 
 the good name of this great and honorable coun 
 try tarnished by the riotous proceedings of her 
 own citizens. 
 
 "Our countrymen are better acquainted with 
 peaceful vocations than with scenes of strife, yet 
 many of them have lived long enough in this 
 country to learn that self-defense is the common 
 right of all men ; and should a riotous attack be 
 made upon the Chinese quarters, we have no 
 power, even if we had the disposition, to restrain 
 our countrymen from defending themselves to 
 the last extremity, and selling their lives as dearly 
 as possible. But we trust and believe that it is 
 in your Honor s power, and in accordance with 
 your high sense of justice to prevent these threat 
 ened evils. That we may do all in our power as 
 good citizens to preserve the peace and avert a 
 riot, we most respectfully submit these state 
 ments, and make this earnest appeal to your 
 Honor. Respectfully submitted, 
 
 "LEE MING How, Sam*Yup Company, 
 " SAW YUN CHONG, Kong Chow Company, 
 " CHAN LUNG KONG, Wing Yung Company, 
 "LEE CHEONG CHIP, Hop Wo Company, 
 "LEE CHU KWAN, Yung Wo Company, 
 "CHAN KONG CHEW, Yan Wo Company. 
 "SAN FRANCISCO, April 5, 1875." 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 309 
 
 It is a strange comment upon our free institu 
 tions in this Centennial year, that while the Gov 
 ernor of the great State of California and the 
 Mayor of the great city of San Francisco were 
 presiding over a great Anti-Chinese mass-meet 
 ing of twenty thousand intelligent citizens," 
 the whole Chinese population of the city, about 
 thirty thousand in number, were advisd by the 
 same magnates, as well as by other citizens, to 
 retire into their shops and stores, and lodging 
 houses; to keep off from the streets, and out of 
 sight of Christian men, lest they be massacred 
 in cold blood ! 
 
 The newspapers have told how closely the 
 Chinese followed the advice : 
 
 "At nine o clock last night, the streets in the 
 Chinese quarter were almost deserted and nearly 
 all the stores closed. Special policemen were 
 stationed at each corner, and the place had de 
 cidedly the appearance of a town under martial 
 law. Here and there a Chinaman would peep 
 out of his stronghold and greet the passer-by 
 with a ghastly smile, and it was evident from the 
 lights shining through the crevices of the window 
 shutters, and the bustle within, that John was 
 watching and waiting, ready but not anxious for 
 a fray. The dozen Chinamen stationed on Du- 
 pont and Jackson Streets, were probably members 
 
310 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of the noble Highbinder Association, or pickets 
 ready to warn their countrymen of any approach 
 ing danger. 
 
 " About ten o clock a reporter strolled through 
 the heart of Chinatown, taking in his way Jack 
 son, Clay and Sacramento, between Kearney and 
 Stockton Streets, and Dupont Street for a consid 
 erable part of its length. The general quietness 
 seemed like the quiet of a New England Sabbath. 
 
 The shutters were all closed ; a great part of 
 of the houses were dark, the streets were en 
 tirely deserted by Celestials, and the few people 
 who were passing seemed for the most part in 
 cited by a curiosity to see how the inhabitants of 
 this quarter were deporting themselves during 
 the excitement. The hoodlumistic element was 
 slightly represented, but was restrained from acts 
 and even words of violence by the presence of 
 the police, who were stationed at nearly every 
 corner and guarded the entrance of every alley. 
 
 "A little back from the entrance of several of 
 the blind alleys on Jackson Street could be seen, 
 notwithstanding darkness, the shadowy forms of 
 a few anxious ones, and an occasional guttural 
 sound caught the ear, but, probably, never in the 
 last fifteen years have the streets of this part of 
 San Francisco, been so free from Chinamen as 
 they were last evening." 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 311 
 
 The principal effort of the speakers at the 
 great meeting was directed to calming the excite 
 ment of the people, already wrought up to a 
 pitch of frenzy, and trying to prevent an imme 
 diate mad riot upon the peaceable Chinaman. 
 
 The spirit of the meeting, however, was man 
 ifested, when a street car came into the crowd, 
 containing a little Chinese boy, who, all uncon 
 scious and ignorant of what was going on, was 
 on his way to visit his friends in Chinatown. 
 The mob attacked the car, pulled the boy out, 
 and it took the best energies of a whole squad 
 of stalwart policemen to save the little fellow 
 from being literally torn to pieces by the twenty 
 thousand brave white Christian men attending 
 that " Grand Anti- Chinese Mass-meeting." 
 
 At that meeting an address and series of res 
 olutions were unanimously adopted, to be for 
 warded to the President and Congress, containing 
 the oft-repeated charges against the Chinese, and 
 a plea for the prohibition of further immigration 
 from that land. The resolutions are supposed to 
 embody the whole case of the opposition, and 
 read as follows: 
 
 "Resolved, That the sentiments embodied in 
 the foregoing address arc expressions of the 
 opinion of this assemblage, and in view of the 
 facts therein set forth we earnestly recommend 
 
312 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the Congress of the United States to give this 
 matter of Chinese immigration its immediate 
 and earnest attention. 
 
 " Resolved, That the people of California in 
 their perfect loyalty to the Government and the 
 law, recognize their duty to the Chinese now 
 among us, promising them protection, and all 
 their rights, and a guarantee of all their privi 
 leges to which they are entitled under exist 
 ing laws. 
 
 "Resolved, That in relation to the continuing 
 immigration from China, we claim the right, 
 from our superior knowledge of the results of 
 this immigration, and our observation of its prac 
 tical workings, and as an intelligent part of the 
 American people, to declare our unalterable hos 
 tility to it, to say that the bulk of this immigra 
 tion is pure and simple peonage. 
 
 Resolved, That the majority of the emigrants 
 are coolies, in bondage to secret organizations 
 more powerful than our courts, and held in serv 
 itude for debt a slavery only terminable at the 
 will of the masters, over whom our laws have no 
 control. 
 
 Resolved, That this system is immoral and 
 brutalizing, worse than African slavery. It in 
 volves a systematic violation of our State and 
 municipal laws, and is attended by murder, false 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 313 
 
 and forcible imprisonment, perjury, subornation, 
 kidnaping, and the sale of women for the pur 
 pose of prostitution. 
 
 "Resolved, That the presence of these people 
 in our midst has a tendency to demoralize society 
 and minister to its worse vices. It aids to cor 
 rupt and debauch our youth, and the labor of 
 this servile class comes in direct competition with 
 the labor of American citizens. It degrades in 
 dustrial occupations, drives white labor from the 
 market, multiplies idlers and paupers, and is a 
 menace to Christian civilization. 
 
 "If these things be true and we challenge 
 their successful denial then we have a right to 
 demand of Congress that it shall investigate, and 
 then legislate for the abatement of this evil ; 
 therefore, 
 
 "Resolved, That the General Committee hav 
 ing this meeting in charge shall appoint, the 
 Mayor of the city approving, not to exceed five 
 citizens of San Francisco, intelligent upon this 
 Chinese question, who shall proceed to Wash 
 ington, and, having submitted this address and 
 these resolutions to the House of Congress, shall 
 earnestly urge such legislation as may be neces 
 sary to meet the requirements of this occasion." 
 
 But before the Commissioners appointed to 
 present these resolutions in Washington had time 
 
314 THE CHINESE JN AMERICA. 
 
 to make the journey, Senator Sargent executed, 
 what may be called in a small way, a splendid 
 political maneuver, by using all the arguments 
 these men had gathered up and prepared, and 
 the additional testimony hostile to the Chinese 
 given before the Senate Investigating Committee 
 in California, and had exhausted himself and the 
 subject in picturing all the evils actual and imag 
 inary of the Chinese population, in a brilliant 
 Anti-Chinese speech before the Senate. 
 
 So far as taking the wind out of the sails of 
 the California Anti-Chinese Commissioners is 
 concerned, Senator Sargent s speech was a grand 
 success. But it was a one-sided, partisan effort. 
 The same exhaustive study of the evils existing 
 among the Irish or German immigration, if at 
 tended with the same concealment or perversion 
 of favorable testimony as in the case of Mr. 
 Sargent s Anti-Chinese speech, would make a 
 case almost equally strong against them. Senator 
 Sargent s speech is not that of the statesman, 
 but of the partisan advocate, the selfish politi 
 cian. To give authority to his points he quotes 
 from the testimony of certain missionaries, but 
 is careful to withhold all their testimony favor 
 able to the Chinaman, and only quotes detached 
 sentences which can be made to sustain his 
 points against them. 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 315 
 
 The Chinamen, in the mean time, seemed 
 perfectly confounded by this general outburst of 
 indignation against them, and many began to 
 wish themselves out of this Christian country. 
 
 The leaders did propose to send a commission 
 to Washington, but when their practical minds 
 began to ask, "What for?" they concluded not 
 to be so foolish. They did, however, write to 
 "Yung Wing" and asked him to represent them 
 in Washington. They also forwarded the fol 
 lowing memorial: 
 
 "A MEMORIAL FROM REPRESENTATIVE CHINA 
 MEN IN AMERICA. 
 
 "To His EXCELLENCY U. S. GRANT, President of the 
 United States of America: 
 
 "SiR, In the absence of any Consular repre 
 sentative, we, the undersigned, in the name and in 
 behalf of the Chinese people now in America, 
 would most respectfully present for your consid 
 eration the following statements regarding the 
 subject of Chinese immigration to this country : 
 
 "I. We understand that it has always been 
 the settled policy of your Honorable Government 
 to welcome immigration to your shores from all 
 countries, without let or hinderance. The Chi 
 nese are not the only people who have crossed 
 the ocean to seek a residence in this land. 
 
3l6 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 "II. The Treaty of Amity and Peace between 
 the United States and China makes special men 
 tion of the rights and privileges of Americans in 
 China, and also of the rights and privileges of 
 Chinese in America. 
 
 "III. American steamers, subsidized by your 
 Honorable Government, have visited the ports 
 of China, and invited our people to come to this 
 country to find employment and improve their 
 condition. Our people have been coming to 
 this country for the last twenty-five years, but 
 up to the present time there are only 150,000 
 Chinese in all these United States, 60,000 of 
 whom are in California, and 30,000 in the city of 
 San Francisco. 
 
 "IV. Our people in this country, for the 
 most part, have been peaceable, law-abiding and 
 industrious. They performed the largest part of 
 the unskilled labor in the construction of the 
 Central Pacific Railroad, and also of all other 
 railroads on this coast. They have found useful 
 and remunerative employment in all the manu 
 facturing establishments of this coast, in agricul 
 tural pursuits, and in family service. While ben 
 efiting themselves with the honest reward of 
 their daily toil, they have given satisfaction to 
 their employers, and have left all the results 
 of their industry to enrich the State. They 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 317 
 
 have not displaced white laborers from these po 
 sitions, but have simply multiplied the industrial 
 enterprises of the country. 
 
 "V. The Chinese have neither attempted nor 
 desired to interfere with the established order of 
 things in this country, either of politics or relig 
 ion. They have opened no whisky saloons, for 
 the purpose of dealing out poison and degrading 
 their fellow-men. They have promptly paid their 
 duties, their taxes, their rents, and their debts. 
 
 "VI. It has often occurred, about the time 
 of the State and general elections, that political 
 agitators have stirred up the minds of the people 
 in hostility to the Chinese, but formerly the hos 
 tility has usually subsided after the elections 
 were over. 
 
 4< VII. At the present time an intense excite 
 ment and bitter hostility against the Chinese in this 
 land, and against further Chinese immigration, has 
 been created in the minds of the people, led on by 
 his Honor, the Mayor of San Francisco, and his as 
 sociates in office, and approved by his Excellency 
 the Governor, and other great men of the State. 
 
 These great men gathered some twenty 
 thousand of the people of this city together on 
 the evening of April 5th, and adopted an address 
 and resolutions against Chinese immigration. 
 They have since appointed three men (one of 
 
318 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 whom we understand to be the author of the ad 
 dress and resolutions) to carry that address and 
 those resolutions to your Excellency, and to pres 
 ent further objections, if possible, against the im 
 migration of the Chinese to this country. 
 
 "VIII. In that address numerous charges are 
 made against our people, some of which are 
 highly colored and sensational, and others, hav 
 ing no foundation whatever in fact, are only cal 
 culated to mislead honest minds and create an 
 unjust prejudice against us. 
 
 " We wish most respectfully to call your atten 
 tion, and through you, the attention of Congress, 
 to some of the statements of that remarkable pa 
 per, and ask a careful comparison of the state 
 ments there made with the facts of the case ; and, 
 
 " (a) It is charged against us that not one virtu 
 ous China woman has been brought to this coun 
 try, and that here we have no wives nor children. 
 
 11 The fact is, that already a few hundred Chi 
 nese families have been brought here. These are 
 all chaste, pure, keepers-at-home, not known on 
 the public street. There are also among us a 
 few hundred, perhaps a thousand, Chinese chil 
 dren, born in America. 
 
 * The reason why so few of our families are 
 brought to this country is, because it is contrary 
 to the custom and against the inclination of 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 319 
 
 virtuous Chinese women to go so far from home, 
 and because the frequent outbursts of popular in 
 dignation against our people have not encouraged 
 us to bring our families with us against their will. 
 "Quite a number of Chinese prostitutes have 
 been brought to this country by unprincipled 
 Chinamen, but these, at first, were brought from 
 China at the instigation, and for the gratification 
 of white men. And even at the present time, 
 it is commonly reported that a part of the pro 
 ceeds of this villainous traffic goes to enrich a 
 certain class of men belonging to this honorable 
 nation a class of men, too, who are under sol 
 emn obligation to suppress the whole vile busi 
 ness, and who certainly have it in their power to 
 suppress it, if they so desired. 
 
 " A few years ago our Chinese merchants 
 tried to send these prostitutes back to China, and 
 succeeded in getting a large number on board the 
 outgoing steamer ; but a certain lawyer of your 
 honorable nation (said to be the author and 
 bearer of these resolutions against our people), 
 in the employ of unprincipled Chinamen, pro 
 cured a writ of habeas corpus, and brought all 
 those women on shore again, and the Courts de 
 cided that they had a right to stay in this coun 
 try if they so desired. Those women are still 
 ere, and the only remedy for this evil and also 
 
320 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 for the evil of Chinese gambling lies, so far as we 
 can see, in an honest and impartial andministra- 
 tion of municipal government in all its details, 
 even including the police department. If officers 
 would refuse bribes, then unprincipled Chinamen 
 could no longer purchase immunity from the 
 punishment of their crimes. 
 
 " (&) It is charged against us that we have pur 
 chased no real estate. The general tone of public 
 sentiment has not been such as to encourage us to 
 invest in real estate, and yet our people have pur 
 chased and now own over eight hundred thousand 
 dollars worth of real estate in San Francisco alone. 
 
 " (c) It is charged against us that we eat rice, 
 fish, and vegetables. It is true that our diet is 
 slightly different from the people of this honor 
 able country ; our tastes in these matters are not 
 exactly alike and can not be forced. But is that 
 a sin on our part, of sufficient gravity to be 
 brought before the President and Congress of the 
 United States? 
 
 "(d) It is charged that the Chinese are no 
 benefit to this country. Are the railroads built 
 by Chinese labor no benefit to the country ? Are 
 the manufacturing establishments, largely worked 
 by Chinese labor, no benefit to this country? Do 
 not the results of the daily toil of one hundred 
 thousand men increase the riches of this conntrv? 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 321 
 
 Is it no benefit to this country that the Chinese 
 annually pay over two million dollars duties 
 at the Custom House of San Francisco ? Is 
 not the two hundred thousand dollars annual 
 poll tax paid by the Chinese any benefit? And 
 are not the hundreds of thousands of dollars taxes 
 on personal property, and the Foreign Miner s 
 tax, annually paid to the revenues of this country, 
 any benefit? 
 
 " (e) It is charged against us that the Six Chi 
 nese Companies have secretly established judicial 
 tribunals, jails, and prisons, and secretly exercise 
 judicial authority over the people. This charge 
 has no foundation in fact. These Six Com pa 
 nies were originally organized for the purpose of 
 mutual protection and care of our people coming 
 to and going from this country. The Six Com 
 panies do not claim, nor do they exercise any 
 judicial authority whatever, but are the same as 
 any tradesmen or protective and benevolent so 
 cieties. If it were true that the Six Companies 
 exercise judicial authority over the Chinese peo 
 ple, then why do all the Chinese people still go 
 to American tribunals to adjust their differences, 
 or to secure the punishment of their criminals ? 
 
 Neither do these Companies import either 
 men or women into this country. 
 
 * (/) It is charged that all Chinese laboring 
 
 21 
 
322 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 men are slaves. This is not true in a single in 
 stance. Chinamen labor for bread. They pur 
 sue all kinds of industries for a livelihood. 
 
 "Is it so then that every man laboring for 
 his livelihood is a slave ? If these men are slaves, 
 then all men laboring for wages are slaves. 
 
 "(g) It is charged that the Chinese commerce 
 brings no benefit to American bankers and im 
 porters. But the fact is, that an immense trade 
 is carried on between China and the United 
 States by American merchants, and all the carry 
 ing business of both countries, whether by steam 
 ers, sailing-vessels or railroad, is done by Ameri 
 cans. No China ships are engaged in the carry 
 ing traffic between the two countries. 
 
 "Is it a sin to be charged against us that the 
 Chinese merchants are able to conduct their 
 mercantile business on their own capital? And 
 is not the exchange of millions of dollars annually 
 by the Chinese with the banks of this city any 
 benefit to the banks? 
 
 (/i) We respectfully ask a careful considera 
 tion of all the foregoing statements. The Chinese 
 are not the only people, nor do they bring the 
 only evils that now afflict this country. And 
 since the Chinese people are now here under 
 solemn treaty rights, we hope to be protected ac 
 cording to the terms of this treaty. 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 323 
 
 "But, if the Chinese arc considered detri 
 mental to the best interests of this country, and 
 if our presence here is offensive to the Ameri 
 can people, let there be a modification of exist 
 ing treaty relations between China and the United 
 States, either prohibiting or limiting further Chi 
 nese immigration, and, if desirable, requiring also 
 the gradual retirement of the Chinese people, 
 now here, from this country. Such an arrange 
 ment, though not without embarrassments to both 
 parties, we believe, would not be altogether un 
 acceptable to the Chinese Government, and, 
 doubtless, it would be very acceptable to a cer 
 tain class of people in this honorable country. 
 
 "With sentiments of profound respect, 
 
 LEE MING How, 
 
 President Sam Yup Company. 
 LEE CHEE KWAN, 
 
 President Tung Wo Company. 
 
 LAW YEE CHUNG, 
 
 President Kong Chow Company. 
 
 CHAN LEUNG KOK, 
 
 President Ning Tung Company. 
 LEE CHEONG CHIP, 
 
 President Hop Wo Company. 
 
 CHAN KONG CHEW, 
 
 President Yan Wo Company. 
 LEE TONG HAY, 
 
 President Chinese Young Men s Christian Association* / 
 
324 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 An anonymous tract, of some twenty pages, 
 written for the Chinese by Professor Augustus 
 Layres, and entitled "The Other Side of the 
 Chinese Question," was also forwarded to Wash 
 ington, and to the principal cities of the country. 
 These two documents presenting, as they do, a 
 more truthful statement and reasonable view of 
 the question, than the heated partisan plead 
 ings of the opposition, have already done much 
 to counteract the vicious impressions made at 
 first by the aspiring agitators. 
 
 The champion Anti-Chinese paper of San 
 Francisco was compelled to acknowledge that 
 the "Memorial of the Chinese" was respectful in 
 tone, and was in all its characteristics a document 
 that indicated that it was drawn up by an astute 
 and accomplished diplomat. One of the Anti- 
 Chinese Commissioners, Mr. P. A. Roach, has 
 confessed that the statements of the " Memorial" 
 caused the Anti-Chinese Commissioners much 
 trouble. The candid and impartial reader can 
 pass his own judgment upon the merits of the 
 case after having heard both the accuser and the 
 accused. 
 
 In the mean time a committee of California 
 Senators, appointed to investigate the whole ques 
 tion of Chinese immigration, and report at the 
 next meeting of the Legislature, held its sessions 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 325 
 
 in San Francisco and Sacramento. The com 
 mittee professed to seek all facts bearing on the 
 Chinese question. But the class of questions 
 constantly proposed by this committee to the 
 witnesses and the direction seemingly given to the 
 investigation had the tendency to bring into notice 
 all the testimony unfavorable to the Chinese, and 
 to throw into the shade important and reliable 
 testimony in their favor. 
 
 It seems to have been a part of the design or 
 scheme of this committee to destroy, if possi 
 ble, the confidence, and to modify the views, of 
 the Christian public in the Eastern States, with 
 regard to the influence of Christian missions 
 upon the Chinese people. Wicked, godless men, 
 of infamous reputation in the communities where 
 they live, and heathen of bitter hostility to the 
 Christian religion, were called upon to testify as 
 to the character of Protestant missionaries among 
 the Chinese in California, and as to the number 
 and character of the Chinese converts to Chris 
 tianity. The testimony of such men has been 
 reported and published in all the land, and has 
 added fuel to the flames of prejudice and bigotry. 
 One of those witnesses went so far as to testify 
 that a certain Protestant missionary was engaged 
 in selling Chinese women for purposes of prosti 
 tution. This was a little too bare-faced, even for 
 
326 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 that committee, and "for various reasons that part 
 of the testimony of F. L,. Gordon is omitted " in the 
 official report of the testimony taken, but it had 
 already gone forth from them in all the newspapers 
 of the land, and stands before the public, plainly 
 revealing the spirit and intent of the committee. 
 
 Since the great meeting, and as one of its le 
 gitimate results, and during the session of the 
 Senate Investigating Committee, assaults and 
 riots upon the Chinese people have been more 
 numerous than before. A newspaper corre 
 spondent from Truckee, says: 
 
 "Last night an armed, masked party, num 
 bering about fifteen, proceeded about a mile back 
 of town to a Chinese camp situated on Front 
 Creek, burned their cabins, and deliberately shot 
 down three of them, killing two outright. The 
 other was mortally wounded." 
 
 The same correspondent adds the following 
 suggestive paragraph : 
 
 "Now that our mill-owners and others here 
 tofore employing Chinese laborers have discharged 
 them, and employed white laborers, the latter 
 will not avail themselves of the inducements held 
 out to them, and the consequence is that Chi 
 nese labor is again resorted to." 
 
 A curious state of things, indeed. White 
 men are engaged upon a job, but refuse to work. 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 327 
 
 Chinamen, of necessity, are employed, and the 
 white men, masked and under cover of night, go 
 and shoot down the Chinamen and burn their 
 cabins. They will neither work themselves nor 
 let any body else. But Mr. Pixley and Mr. 
 Roach are sent by the municipal government of 
 San Francisco to memorialize Congress on the 
 virtues of these white men and the vices of 
 these Chinamen ! ! At Antioch a mob of white 
 men drove the Chinamen out of town one day, 
 and burned their houses the next, and the news 
 paper correspondent when narrating the affair, 
 piously said, "This Chinese nuisance has become 
 a disgrace which the law-abiding population will 
 not much longer permit to eat away the founda 
 tions of Christianity ! ! !" 
 
 The next day the South San Francisco Anti- 
 Chinese Club passed a resolution admitting 
 boys of the ward to the meetings on the ground 
 that they could be useful in working out the de 
 sired end," and passed a vote of thanks "to the 
 people of Antioch for the noble stand they had taken 
 and the rousing example they had set" 
 
 A morning paper said: 
 
 "It is scarcely safe for a Chinaman to walk 
 the streets in certain parts of this city. When 
 seen, whether by day or night, they are merci 
 lessly pelted with stones by the young scape-graces 
 
328 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA, 
 
 who now, there being no schools, have nothing 
 else to do, while older hoodlums look on ap 
 provingly, and,, if the Chinamen venture to resist 
 the assaults, take a hand in and assist the young 
 sters. Chinese wash-houses are sacked almost 
 nightly. A Chinaman apparently has no rights 
 which a white hoodlum, big or little, is bound to 
 respect." 
 
 A San Francisco paper also says : 
 " There are many indications that a majority 
 of the police force, if not absolutely indifferent 
 to the persecution and maltreatment of China 
 men by the hoodlums, at least make no earnest 
 effort to arrest this class of offenders and bring 
 them to justice. Yesterday afternoon, at about 
 five o clock, an inoffensive Chinaman was at 
 tacked by a large crowd of boys in the vicinity 
 of the Mint on Fifth Street. He was quite se 
 verely injured, and after blowing a policeman s 
 whistle, fled, pursued by a crowd of boys, which 
 at Howard Street numbered over two hundred, 
 who assailed the fleeing Mongolian with such 
 missiles as were available. In the rear of this 
 crowd was a self-possessed officer, who contem 
 plated the scene with unruffled serenity, and 
 seemed to think that he had discharged his whole 
 duty when he had shaken his head at the ag 
 gressors and said, in accents of mild deprecation, 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 329 
 
 Go away, boys ; go away. No arrest was 
 made, and there was no attempt to make any. 
 Yet it would not have been difficult for an ener 
 getic officer to have got hold of some of the 
 ringleaders. It is the impunity which the per 
 petrators of such attacks enjoy that makes offenses 
 of this kind so frequent. If a few of those who 
 indulge in the amusement of beating and stoning 
 Chinaman were brought to punishment these 
 outrages would cease. But as it is, the boys 
 are encouraged to regard such offenses as venial, 
 and to indulge in them just for fun." 
 
 During the intense heat of the Anti-Chinese 
 Crusade, in April and May, 1876, the municipal 
 government of San Francisco demonstrated its 
 ability to close Chinese gambling-houses, but they 
 were only closed temporarily, for in August, after 
 three or four months only had elapsed, these dens 
 were all open again, and rumors floated around 
 among my Chinese friends, to the effect that the 
 Chinese gambling fraternity had paid large mon 
 eys for the privilege of resuming their business. 
 
 Such is the character and history of the pres 
 ent Anti-Chinese excitement. An able editorial 
 in the New York World, of June 5th, well and 
 truthfully said : 
 
 " The Anti-Chinese agitation on the Pacific 
 Coast has, in all likelihood, been given more 
 
330 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 prominence than it deserves. Those who partic 
 ipated in it are generally of the brawling class, 
 made up of small politicians, anxious to curry 
 favor with laborers and artisans, who are appre 
 hensive, especially in a time of commercial de 
 pression, and always easily aroused; and sen 
 sation mongers eager to accept the offered op 
 portunity to write up Chinatown again, and in 
 vent a few details to suit the occasion. Be 
 hind them is the hoodlum element on the alert 
 for any thing which promises a riot and occasion 
 for pillage. 
 
 In the midst of the turmoil raised by these 
 agitators, it is not easy that the voice of common 
 sense is heard, and principle is very apt to be 
 swayed or silenced by prejudice. Nevertheless, 
 we venture the prediction that if the respectable 
 citizens of California could be polled, they would 
 by an overwhelming majority declare that the 
 present Mongolian crusade is as undesirable as 
 it is unjust. 
 
 "Besides, the Anti-Chinese argument defeats 
 itself, for in the same breath it is urged that the 
 Celestials pour in there by myriads. It is also 
 charged that they do n t come to stay and be 
 Americanized, but as soon as they have made a 
 a little money take it and themselves home to 
 the Flowery Kingdom. The positions are incon- 
 
THE ANTI-CHINESE CRUSADE. 331 
 
 sistent, and till we have elected to stand on one 
 we must reject them both. If the Chinese pay 
 taxes, rents, and fares, and earn and purchase 
 that which they wear and consume, the commu 
 nity must be the gainer. If they work for less 
 wages than other people, there is a saving of 
 capital which will find other investment. Inas 
 much as the most rabid denunciations of the Chi 
 nese come from people who do not work, except 
 when menaced by starvation, the Chinese have 
 rather the better of the argument. So with the 
 moral feature of the question. The prison sta 
 tistics of the State of California and San Fran 
 cisco show the average of crime among the Chi 
 namen to be lower than among the rest of the 
 population. If Chinese prostitutes are inoculat 
 ing the guileless youths of San Francisco with 
 terrible disease does not the fault rest with the 
 guileless youth? It is by no means flattering to 
 our national pride that in this Centennial year 
 such a discussion as this should be waged and 
 that all the courtesy and cogency should be dis 
 played on the side of the uncivilized heathens." 
 
 This crusade against the Chinese in America 
 is already beginning to bear fruit in China. A 
 correspondent from China writes: 
 
 "The Chinese excitement in San Francisco is 
 now pretty generally known throughout the open 
 
332 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 ports, and has created a bad feeling against the 
 Americans. Educated natives characterize it as 
 a gross infringement on the treaty, and sure to 
 find speedy retaliation on Americans here." 
 
THE "SIX COMPANIES." 333 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE "six COMPANIES" AND CHINESE SLAVERY. 
 
 FROM the beginning until now the opposi 
 tion to Chinese immigration has constantly 
 repeated the unqualified statement, that a large 
 proportion of the Chinese who come to this 
 country are imported or brought here by the 
 "Six Companies/ or their agents, and that all 
 these laboring Chinamen are to all practical in 
 tents and purposes, the slaves or peons of these 
 Companies. This charge was brought against 
 the Chinese as early as 1856, and was ably and 
 exhaustively answered by Mr. Speer, than whom 
 no better authority could be given, and whose 
 statements of the design and practical working 
 of these Companies we have given and indorsed 
 on page 229. In his reply to Father Buchard 
 in 1873, the writer, who, from long experience 
 with the Chinese ought to have known what he 
 was talking about, boldly maintained that there 
 was no slavery of Chinamen in America; that 
 the Chinese women were nearly all held in a ter 
 rible bondage, but not a single case of slavery so 
 
334 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 far as the male population was concerned, could 
 be found among all the Chinamen in America. 
 
 All the reliable testimony before the recent 
 California Senate Investigating- Committee has 
 fully sustained these statements. Rev. Dr. 
 Loomis and Rev. Mr. Condit, both well ac 
 quainted with Chinese matters in this country, 
 hold the same opinion. The Presidents of the 
 Six Companies themselves in their Memorial" 
 to President Grant pointedly and boldly deny 
 that they import either men or women into this 
 country, and declare most emphatically that in 
 no single instance is a Chinaman in the United 
 States a slave. That if these Chinese laboring men 
 are called slaves, then all men laboring for vuages 
 may be called slaves. But in face of all this tes 
 timony proving the charge of slavery false, and 
 without any evidence to support their assertions, 
 unprincipled agitators have denounced the Six 
 Companies through all the land, as importers of 
 coolie-slaves, and have denounced the whole Chi 
 nese laboring class, as slaves in bondage to these 
 companies. A cause must be bad indeed when 
 it has to be sustained by denunciation without 
 facts, by assertions not only without proof, but 
 contrary to abundant and reliable evidence. 
 
 If these Chinamen are all slaves, and have 
 been slaves during these twenty years of their 
 
THE "SIX COMPANIES." 335 
 
 residence in all parts of the Pacific Coast, in 
 which time according to the agitators they have 
 " constantly blocked our courts of justice " with 
 their multiplied civil and criminal suits, certainly 
 it is reasonable to suppose that some opportuni 
 ties would have occurred for obtaining reliable 
 evidence as to the existence of slavery among 
 them. But up to the present time no stick evi 
 dence or shadow of suck evidence has been pro 
 duced. These Chinese coolie-slaves are a most 
 remarkable class of slaves. They go and come 
 when and where they please, work or refuse to 
 work at their pleasure; they use the proceeds 
 of their labor as they choose, buy their own 
 clothes, pay their own rents, go to the theater, 
 gamble, smoke opium, bring suits in our courts, 
 send money home to parents and friends, and 
 act in all respects just like free men. And yet 
 we are told that they are abject slaves. What 
 wonderful legislative and executive ability those 
 six Chinamen, the Presidents of these Compa 
 nies, must have to enable them to hold so many 
 people in such abject slavery. Why have not 
 some of these slaves taken advantage of our laws 
 against slavery, and prosecuted their cruel masters 
 in our courts and obtained a decree of their own 
 freedom? Why do the hundreds of intelligent 
 Chinese Christians in America constantly assert 
 
336 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 that there is no such thing known among their 
 people in this country as slavery or bondage, 
 except in the case of the women ? This charge 
 of slavery made against the Chinese ought to be 
 as publicly and widely withdrawn as it has been 
 publicly and widely made, unless some evidence 
 can be produced to substantiate the charge. A 
 great free people, in the very act of celebrating 
 the First Centennial of their Independence, can 
 not afford to wage a war of races, based upon a 
 tissue of falsehoods and willful misrepresenta 
 tions, instigated by prejudice, ignorance, and 
 bigotry, and conducted on the methods of polit 
 ical chicanery. 
 
 In 1862 an able Joint Committee of the Leg 
 islature of the State of California was appointed 
 to investigate the whole Chinese Question. In 
 their report that Committee said : 
 
 They (the Chinese) pursue whatever calling 
 they choose, and are as free as any persons in 
 the State. Upon this head your Committee 
 examined them at great length, and in the most 
 minute and careful manner, and your Committee 
 is satisfied that there is no system of slavery or 
 coolieism amongst the Chinese in this State. 
 If there is any proof going to establish that any 
 portion of the Chinese are imported into this 
 State as slaves or coolies, your Committee have 
 
THE "SIX COMPANIES." 337 
 
 failed to discover it. ... They (the re 
 spectable Chinese merchants) have made several 
 attempts to send their abandoned women home 
 to China; but their efforts have been frustrated 
 under the plea that this is a free country "and 
 these women can do as they please. 
 Instead of driving the Chinese out of the State, 
 bounties might be offered them to cultivate rice, 
 tea, tobacco, and other articles. We have not 
 the power, nor ^should it be our policy, to shut 
 ourselves out from one of the most magnificent 
 openings of the age. . . . Let us legislate 
 as becomes a great, liberal, magnanimous people. 
 Let us show our superiority by our kindness." 
 
 As to the Six Companies, and the power they 
 wield, great misapprehensions prevail in the 
 minds of the people. It is the custom of the 
 Chinese in China, when any considerable number 
 emigrate from one city to another, to come to 
 gether and form a kind of mutual-aid society, or 
 guild. The officers are elective, and hold their 
 offices for a specified length of time. Voluntary 
 subscriptions are raised, and voluntary taxes 
 are imposed for the purpose of providing a hall 
 or quarters -for the meetings of the guild. Gen 
 erally a temple or shrine of worship, dedicated 
 to the particular divinities of the clan, is erected 
 in connection with this hall. This hall becomes 
 
 22 
 
338 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the rendezvous of the members and retainers of 
 the association. Disputes and differences among 
 themselves are generally compromised and set 
 tled according to the advice of the officers and 
 influential members, without resort to magis 
 trates. Membership is entirely voluntary, and 
 may be severed at the will of the individual. 
 Of such character are the several Chinese associ 
 ations in California now known as the Six Com 
 panies. Each Company represents a certain 
 district in China, and claims as members all the 
 Chinese from that district. There are no formal 
 rites or ceremonies of admission. No admission 
 fee is charged. No certificates of membership 
 are issued. The name, age, and native place of 
 each Chinese immigrant is obtained, immediately 
 on the arrival of the steamer, by the officers of 
 the several Companies, and the name thus ob 
 tained is at once enrolled on the books of the 
 Company representing the district from which 
 he came. 
 
 In the early days of California these Compa 
 nies were more useful than now. They gave 
 advice to the newly arrived immigrant, they 
 took some care of the helpless poor and the 
 sick, and they did quite a business in shipping 
 home the bones of the dead. But now nearly 
 all the immigrants have personal friends already 
 
THE "SIX COMPANIES." 339 
 
 here, waiting to receive and advise them. The 
 sick and poor are also now generally cared for 
 by personal friends, if cared for at all. And the 
 opinion seems to be growing rapidly among the 
 Chinese that the bones of a poor Chinaman can 
 rest almost as well in America as in China. 
 And since the Legislature of California is so 
 anxious to retain these bones in the country that 
 it proposed a tax of ten dollars a man for the 
 privilege of taking away his bones, the Compa 
 nies are not doing so large a business in the 
 bone-exporting line as formerly. 
 
 Differences and disputes among themselves, 
 however, are still, at the option of the parties, 
 referred to the officers and influential members 
 of these associations as a court of arbitration. 
 But the Companies do not claim to have, or 
 attempt to use, any civil or criminal jurisdiction 
 over the people. And indeed the compromises 
 recommended by the Companies are not always 
 accepted by both parties in dispute, and such 
 cases are frequently appealed from the adjust 
 ment recommended by the Companies to the 
 decision of our courts. 
 
 The only power which these Companies claim, 
 or which they try to exercise over the people, is 
 the power to prevent any Chinaman from return 
 ing to China without a permit bearing the stamp 
 
340 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of the Companies. The revenues of the Com 
 panies are derived mostly from these permits. 
 But this power they could never exercise with 
 out the aid or partnership of the Pacific Mail 
 Steamship Company," and other steamship com 
 panies engaged" in this carrying traffic. The 
 Chinese Companies have shown more commercial 
 shrewdness in this matter than the Americans 
 have shown commercial ability. 
 
 But if the Chinese laboring men are slaves to 
 the one party they also are slaves to the other. 
 The Six Companies have a binding contract with 
 the steamship companies, by which every China 
 man applying for passage to China shall be re 
 fused, unless, in addition to the regular fare, he 
 can show a permit from the Six Companies. Be 
 fore granting this permit the Companies require 
 that the applicant settle all claims which anxious 
 creditors may have left with them for collection, 
 and pay a fee to the Companies for their per 
 mit varying at different times from six dollars to 
 twenty. At present the usual fee is said to be 
 five dollars. These Companies, as will be seen, 
 have no claim upon the men that could be col 
 lected in our courts of law, and have no power 
 of themselves to force the payment of this de 
 mand, hence their shrewdness in making the 
 American and English steamship companies their 
 
THE "SIX COMPANIES." 341 
 
 collectors. Professedly, the money thus collected 
 is devoted to the support of the offices of the 
 Companies and to return the bones of the dead. 
 Actually, it goes largely to enrich the "ring" 
 of which the Companies are formed, and to sup 
 port the institutions of idolatry. The Chinese 
 who embrace the Christian religion refuse to pay 
 this tax from principle; and the Six Companies 
 could never collect it from the masses of idola- 
 tors even, without the aid of the steamship 
 companies. 
 
 The fare from San Francisco to Hong Kong, 
 for a Chinaman, has usually been from forty to 
 fifty dollars, but in 1874 competition reduced the 
 fare for a time to twelve dollars, and two dollars 
 of that was returned as commission to the per 
 son bringing the passenger. The officers of the 
 Six Companies, having become a little anxious 
 at the increase of Chinese Christians, took ad 
 vantage of this low fare, and made a desperate 
 move to check this tendency to learn Christian 
 doctrine. Their scheme came to light when two 
 Christian Chinamen of the Methodist Mission, 
 and two of the Presbyterian Mission, applied for 
 passage. On being told that the fare was twelve 
 dollars each, they tendered the money for four, 
 and asked for tickets. They were refused, and 
 were informed that without the permit of the 
 
342 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Six Companies the fare was one hundred dollars 
 each. They presented the credentials and badge 
 of the "Chinese Young Men s Christian Associ 
 ation," and asked that that be recognized as a 
 certificate of character, permit, or whatever else 
 it might be called. They were refused. In 
 consternation they reported to the missionaries, 
 and the missionaries, as on many previous occa 
 sions, undertook to purchase the tickets for 
 them ; but they received the same treatment as 
 the Christian Chinese, and reached the same re 
 sults that is, a square refusal to carry a China 
 man without the permit of the Six Companies. 
 Both at the ticket-office and to the agents in 
 their office the missionaries made a tender of the 
 usual fare and asked for tickets, but were re 
 fused on the grounds already given. In previous 
 instances, on personal application by the mis 
 sionaries, Chinese Christians had been permitted, 
 as a special favor mostly, to buy their passage 
 to China without the indorsement of the Six 
 Companies, but now the gate was firmly closed. 
 The absolute, astounding fact was that a heathen 
 Chinaman could purchase a passage to China of 
 cither of the steamship companies for twelve dol 
 lars, while a Christian Chinaman must pay one 
 hundred dollars for the same class ticket ! 
 
 If we blame the heathen Chinese for this piece 
 
THE "SIX COMPANIES." 343 
 
 of strategy, what shall we say of the Christian 
 men composing the great "Pacific Mail Steam 
 ship Company," drawing a subsidy of half a mill 
 ion dollars annually from a Christian government, 
 who thus boldly lent themselves to this wicked 
 discrimination in favor of heathenism against 
 Christianity ? The matter was brought up in Con 
 gress by Mr. Albright of Pennsylvania, but so 
 near the close of the session that no action was 
 taken. The Steamship Company in the mean 
 time concluded to allow Christian Chinamen to 
 return to China, if in addition to paying their 
 fare they presented a recommend or indorsement 
 of character from some one of the missionaries, 
 and also the stamp of the Chinese Young Men s 
 Christian Association, and thus that little matter 
 stands to-day. 
 
 Apropos to this narrative, we give the follow 
 ing communication sent to the Six Companies in 
 May, 1874, and not yet answered. 
 
 "We, the members of the Chinese Young 
 Men s Christian Association in California, respect 
 fully represent to the Six Chinese Companies 
 that we have formed ourselves into a society 
 with the above name and title, for purposes of 
 mutual assistance, and for social, literary, and re 
 ligious improvement, and we desire henceforth 
 that whatever connection we may have been 
 
344 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 supposed to have with either or all of the Six 
 Companies may cease ; and we hereby release said 
 Companies, individually and collectively, from all 
 obligation to provide for, defend, or protect us 
 in any way whatever, and in consequence of 
 such release we ask to be excepted in any and 
 all assessments, taxes or charges of whatever 
 kind which may be levied on other Chinese by 
 these Societies. 
 
 "If any of our number is held to any of 
 the Societies, by debts legitimately incurred, each 
 individual will pay such indebtedness, and we ask 
 to be left free to make our own negotiations for 
 return to China without the interference or re 
 straint of the Six Companies. 
 
 "Believing this request to be reasonable and 
 just, and believing moreover, that it can not be 
 refused without giving ground for the charge 
 made by the enemies of the Chinese, that the 
 Six Companies are engaged in importing coolies, 
 and that they hold all Chinese under certain re 
 straints while in this country, and prevent their 
 return to China except they comply with their 
 demands, we respectfully submit this, our request, 
 and wait an answer at your earliest convenience. 
 
 "The privileges above specified are asked for 
 all who are at present members of our Association 
 and for all who shall hereafter become members. 
 
THE "SIX COMPANIES." 345 
 
 " Adopted in full meeting of the Association, 
 and by their order signed by the officers of the 
 Association." 
 
 The officers and influential members of these 
 Companies heretofore have not favored the idea 
 of a Chinese Consul in San Francisco ; but dur 
 ing the late excitement they began to see how 
 powerless they are without any officially recog 
 nized representative to speak for them. 
 
 In the absence of such representative these 
 Companies have been, and still continue to be, 
 the only medium of effectual communication with 
 the masses of the Chinese in this country. The 
 " Manifesto" to the American people, the offi 
 cial letter to Mayor Bryant, and the Memo 
 rial" to President Grant have all come from these 
 Companies, in efforts to defend their people dur 
 ing the present Anti-Chinese excitement. These 
 documents present a marked contrast to the de 
 nunciations and tirades of the Anti-Chinese Com 
 missioners. Even the opposition has confessed 
 that these documents contain a summary of the 
 facts and arguments in the case ; that they are 
 respectful in tone, and give evidence of diplo 
 matic skill and experience. The reader can judge 
 for himself. 
 
346 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 MATERIAL FACTS AND CONSIDERATIONS BEARING UPON 
 THE CHINESE PROBLEM, FINANCIAL, MORAL, AND 
 POLITICAL. 
 
 FINANCIAL. 
 
 A UNITED STATES Senator, in a famous 
 Anti-Chinese speech, said, " Month after 
 month, and year after year, the Chinaman pushes 
 step by step in the march of possession, and 
 where he once puts down his slipper he holds 
 his ground as determinedly as though he had 
 taken root in the soil. Give him a two years 
 lease of a building in good condition in the Chi 
 nese quarter, and, no matter how high a price 
 you fix, he will pay it willingly. He will not 
 ask you to make any repairs. He will go to 
 the expense of painting the front of the building 
 with green, white, and vermillion, so that the 
 outside as well as the inside will display a Chi 
 nese character. The property falls in value, be 
 comes dilapidated and offensive. When the lease 
 has expired the Chinese tenant makes his own 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 347 
 
 terms, and either obtains a re-lease at a small 
 figure, or buys the property." 
 
 Unfortunately for all this class of rhetoric, 
 the stubborn facts are, that rents in Chinatown 
 do not decrease, but ///crease from year to year; 
 that the Chinaman almost always pays more for 
 the second lease than for the first ; that the 
 property leased to Chinamen in San Francisco is 
 among the most productive in the city ; and that 
 the thirty thousand Chinese in San Francisco 
 pay annually to our people in rents alone over 
 one million of dollars. The white people who 
 are driven away from Chinatown do not cease to 
 inhabit houses, but find more desirable locations 
 in other parts of the city. Surely it would be a 
 difficult proposition for a statesman, a political 
 economist, or for a politician even, to maintain 
 that a decrease in the number of inhabitants o-f a 
 city would tend to ///crease the price of rentals 
 or the aggregate value of real estate. ^ However 
 odious the Chinese may be, their presence here 
 not only does not decrease the aggregate value of 
 the real estate of the city, but absolutely in 
 creases it to the amount occupied by therrA 
 
 While for years the cry has been constantly 
 raised, and published in all the world, that Chi 
 nese immigration is retarding the progress and 
 working the ruin of California, the remarkable 
 
348 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 and indisputable fact remains, that during all 
 these years, and up to the present time,\~Cali- 
 fornia has enjoyed a development in material 
 wealth and resources scarcely equaled in the his 
 tory of any other State in the UniqnT] The de 
 velopments in the agricultural interests of the 
 State are truly wonderful. Already California has 
 become one of the greatest of wheat-growing 
 States. Her fruit orchards and ranches are fa 
 mous in all the world. Her manufacturing en 
 terprises are already numerous, and indications 
 promise that as soon as the price of labor will 
 permit, California will rival all New England in 
 the number and magnitude of her manufacturing 
 interests. The patient, toiling Chinaman has 
 made this development possible. His bone and 
 sinew have been prime factors in all this progress. 
 He has performed a considerable part of the un 
 skilled labor in all these industries. Without 
 him they could not have been developed for 
 many years to come, simply because capital will 
 not invest where loss is absolutely certain. The 
 Chinaman has performed his work, earned his 
 wages, and received his pay. It matters but lit 
 tle comparatively to us, whether he has sent the 
 paltry sum home to China to nourish and bless 
 aged parents and dependent friends which he 
 has done to a small extent or whether he has 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 349 
 
 spent it here for food and clothing, in rents and 
 traveling expenses which he has done to a great 
 extent ; the material fact in the case is this, that 
 all the results of his industry are left with us to 
 enrich and develop the State. 
 
 These Chinamen have labored on the farms 
 and on the ranches, in the mills and in the facto 
 ries, on the railroads and in the brick-yards of 
 California, and yet when we come to ask who 
 own and control these interests, and who are en 
 riching themselves and developing the State by 
 the proceeds of the wheat lands, the fruit ranches 
 and orchards of California, the answer always 
 is, white men, never Chinamen. The same is 
 true of the factories and of the mills, and of the 
 carrying traffic both by land and by sea, also of 
 the banking institutions and insurance compa 
 nies. To some of these industries the Chinaman 
 has heen indispensable, and his labor and patron 
 age have aided in the development of them all. 
 
 In presence of these facts, well do the Chi 
 nese memorialists ask, "Is not the result of the 
 daily toil of one hundred thousand laboring men 
 any benefit to this country?" It might also with 
 great pertinency be asked, Who are the losers 
 by the presence of these industrious Chinamen? 
 Do the bankers lose who transact the enormous 
 exchange business with China? Do the ship- 
 
35O THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 builders and ship-companies lose who find em 
 ployment for their ships ? the captains and 
 sailors who navigate them ? the stevedores and 
 longshoremen who load and unload them? the 
 custom-house brokers who enter and clear them? 
 the insurance companies who insure them? the 
 draymen who haul the goods, or the warehouse 
 men who store them, or the expressmen who 
 carry the passengers and their baggage ? Are 
 all or any of these interests imperiled by the 
 Chinese immigration? 
 
 Many of our merchants have large transac 
 tions with the Chinese. They sell them whole 
 cargoes of flour, and large invoices of cotton 
 cloth, beaver cloth, denims, hats, hardware, and 
 groceries. Would these merchants be benefited 
 or injured by the expulsion of the Chinese? 
 Our farmers have been compelled to organize 
 granges for self-protection, because they had to 
 pay so much for bags, supplies, and other items 
 of production, and to sell their grain so low that 
 they could not prosper. Does Chinese cheap 
 labor imperil their interests? Will it be an ad 
 vantage to them to pay four dollars a day for 
 field labor, instead of two or three dollars, as 
 now? 
 
 As to skilled labor, such as the mechanic, 
 the carpenter, the stone-mason, the bricklayer, 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 351 
 
 the molder, etc., the Chinese have not as yet 
 even entered into competition with these, and, 
 so far from being imperiled by Chinese immigra 
 tion, all this class of labor has thus far been 
 stimulated and benefited by it. 
 
 In presence of these facts and considerations, 
 this financial "Chinese Problem" begins to nar 
 row down, and we feel disposed just here to 
 push our inquiry quite closely as to whose inter 
 ests really are imperiled by the presence of the 
 Chinese. What class of persons are injured, 
 and to what extent are they injured? We find 
 that the only party which claims to be injured is 
 a certain class, every one of whom has the op 
 portunity and privilege, if he has the desire, to 
 rise to the dignity of a voter and freeholder a 
 class which, for the most part, has come to us 
 from the other side of the Atlantic, and which 
 has always, to a large extent, monopolized the 
 hod-carrying and ditch-digging interests of the 
 country a class which, when hired to work in 
 our kitchens, has assumed to lord it over our 
 whole households a class largely controlled by 
 a foreign-born priesthood, in the interest of a 
 foreign potentate. This class, with its advisers, 
 has always been determined to keep the price 
 of unskilled labor in California far above what is 
 paid in other parts of our country. Left to the 
 
352 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 tender mercies of this class of laborers, the 
 wheels of progress and development in California 
 would long ago have ceased to move. 
 
 If Chinese cheap labor is the curse to this 
 class which it is represented to be, if it has been 
 and still is taking the bread from the white 
 working-class, how is it that right here in Cali 
 fornia, where the Chinamen are the most numer 
 ous, the general condition of the white working- 
 class is far better than in any other city of the 
 United States, or indeed of the world? We 
 read of great destitution and suffering among 
 the working-classes in Chicago. In New York 
 thirty thousand men are out of employment, be 
 sides a whole army of women ; and in Cincinnati 
 not long ago a crowd of hungry men, bearing the 
 motto, "Bread or Blood," waited upon the Mayor 
 of the city and demanded work. No such destitu 
 tion and suffering has ever, to any extent, existed 
 in California. No such cry was ever heard in the 
 streets of San Francisco. On the contrary, dur 
 ing all the financial depression east^pf the Rocky 
 Mountains for the last two years,! California and 
 Oregon, "cursed with Chinese cheap labor," 
 have enjoyed constant and marked prosperity. 
 The cheap labor of the Chinese is not responsible 
 for the destitution and financial depression in the 
 Eastern States, but it certainly has helped to 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 353 
 
 stimulate the activities and prosperity of the 
 Pacific Coast. It ought also to be repeated here, 
 and with emphasis, that in California, all along 
 in the past, and at the present time, in spite of 
 all this noise about Chinese competition, _jabor 
 for white men is as abundant, and wages are as 
 high, and living is as cheap as in any part of the 
 United States. 
 
 There is also a material consideration with 
 regard to this cheap-labor question which ought 
 not to be overlooked; that is, (that cheap labor 
 makes cheap products. Cheap labor means 
 cheap rents, cheap flour, cheap clothing, cheap 
 living, s It is plain to any common intelligence 
 that the people in California of ordinary means, 
 the men of families with small incomes, men of 
 limited salaries, men undertaking to develop 
 small farms or fruit ranches, have been greatly 
 aided and benefited, instead of being injured, by 
 Chinese cheap labor. And it requires no great 
 stretch of logic to show that^the white laborer 
 himself has also been benefited, even though 
 the price of his labor has been reduced; for the 
 whole reduction in the cost of living is much 
 greater than the reduction of his daily wages; 
 This is easily illustrated. When flour was fifty 
 dollars a barrel, and wages ten dollars a day, it 
 required five days work to purchase a barrel 
 
 23 
 
354 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of flour; but when flour is six dollars a barrel, 
 and wages two dollars a day, it requires only 
 three days work to buy a barrel of flour. The 
 white day-laborer in California, at present pre 
 vailing prices of labor and means of living, can 
 support a family more comfortably than in the 
 early days when labor and cost of living were 
 much higher than now. 
 
 Financially, then, this "Chinese Problem" 
 resolves itself into this question, Shall this nation 
 repudiate and nullify the foundation principles 
 of its Government for the purpose of saving one 
 class of foreigners from a healthy competition 
 with another class of foreigners? Or, plainer 
 still, shall the Chinamen be driven away in order 
 to continue the monopoly; of unskilled labor to 
 
 the Irishmen? 
 
 MORALS. 
 
 The Chinese standard of morals is not so high 
 as that of the Gospel of Jesus. The customs 
 and practices of the Chinese in general are not 
 of so high and noble a character as the gen 
 eral practices and customs of strictly Christian 
 communities. 
 
 x Pure Christianity is remarkably unselfish, and 
 seeks the good of all. Pure paganism is ex 
 ceedingly selfish, and seeks the good of the 
 individualT"\ 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 355 
 
 Fearful wickedness and gross immoralities 
 abound among a portion of the Chinese in Amer 
 ica. All that the opposition to Chinese immi 
 gration has said or can say of these villainous 
 practices and abominable crimes among the Chi 
 nese, so far as a portion of them is concerned, is 
 only too true. 
 
 But that is only one side, the dark side of 
 the picture. In business and commercial trans 
 actions, the Chinese are as honest and punctual 
 as any people in the world. It is true, that 
 even here and now, in San Francisco, they have 
 "the reputation of paying promptly their dues, 
 their taxes, and their rents." 
 
 The humiliating fact of this Chinese moral 
 question is that no matter what accursed evil we 
 find existing among the Chinese, \ve__find our 
 own people, hand in hand with the Chinaman, 
 engaged in the same villainous practices, and 
 partaking of the same unlawful gains/ * * People 
 living in glass houses should not throw stones at 
 their neighbors." The Chinese are inveterate 
 gamblers, but officers of this Christian Govern 
 ment have enriched themselves by the unlawful 
 profits of this Chinese vice. Many of the Chi 
 nese women in America are prostitutes, but it is 
 a humiliating fact that these at first were brought 
 here at the instigation and for the gratification 
 
356 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of white men ; and even now these courtesans 
 are patronized, to some extent, by abandoned 
 white adults, and a class of badly brought up 
 boys. These women are bought and sold like 
 the brutes that perish, and white men often re 
 ceive pay for assisting, directly or indirectly, in 
 the transaction. But in condemning these vices 
 and sins of the Chinese, we must remember that 
 they are not vices and sins peculiar to them. 
 There can be no doubt that ten times more 
 money is staked and lost in San Francisco every 
 day by white gamblers than at all the Chinese 
 gaming-tables in the city. And as for prostitu 
 tion, within the precincts of Chinatown, and hov 
 ering around in the immediate vicinity, are about 
 as many abandoned white courtesans as there 
 are Chinese women altogether in San Francisco. 
 But it is claimed that this Chinese evil is de 
 moralizing and ruining our boys. This is indeed 
 an alarming state of things. It speaks badly for 
 our boys, and worse for their parents. But if 
 true, it demonstrates that there is no impassable 
 barrier to assimilation of the races ; that there 
 is no hostility or repugnance of the races so 
 powerful as to prevent the mingling of the na 
 tionalities under favorable circumstances. The 
 fact that dissolute men and depraved boys pat 
 ronize these Chinese courtezans in California; 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 357 
 
 the fact that many of our great merchants in 
 China raise families of half-breed children by 
 consorting with Chinese mistresses; the fact that 
 in San Francisco, one white man at least, has 
 taken a Chinese woman as his legal wife, and 
 one white woman is legally married to a Chinese 
 husband ; the fact that in New York a number 
 of Chinamen have married Irish wives ; the fact 
 that Yung Wing, LL. D. , has married an edu 
 cated and accomplished American lady all these 
 facts show that there is no impassable abyss pre 
 venting the mingling and assimilation of the two 
 races. But the material fact in the ruin of our 
 boys is this, that in every instance they have taken 
 their first lessons in the path of ruin in the whisky 
 shops and drinking saloons of our Christian civili 
 zation. 
 
 Never yet has a single Californian boy been 
 contaminated, either in mind or body, by a Chi 
 nese courtesan, until he has taken a few lessons 
 of sinful pleasure in these Christian saloons, 
 these ante-rooms of hell. In San Francisco there 
 are about three thousand Chinese women, many 
 of whom are enslaved prostitutes, and in San 
 Francisco are about three thousand places where 
 intoxicating liquors are sold. Many of the very 
 men who are crying out so loudly against Chi 
 nese immigration, because of the ruin of our 
 
358 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 boys by Chinese courtesans, are themselves pat 
 rons of these drinking saloons which give the 
 boys their first lessons in vice and send them 
 headlong in the road to ruin. 
 
 The supporters and defenders of the three 
 thousand drinking saloons, which are making- 
 drunkards of our boys, are denouncing all China 
 men, and memorializing Congress against Chinese 
 immigration, because the boys, which they them 
 selves have been instrumental in debauching, 
 spend their nights in Chinatown. 
 
 On this point, Mr. B. S. Brooks, a lawyer of 
 long residence in San Francisco, says: 
 
 "As for the whites, there are but few whom 
 the Chinese courtesans are able to entice to their 
 embrace, and these are not of a character to 
 be injured, either morally or physically, even, 
 by association with Chinese prostitutes. The 
 old are the outcasts of other cities in all the 
 world, seeking their last refuge in San Fran 
 cisco. The young are the hoodlums, sons of 
 foreign immigrants, brought up to no trade, 
 taught to despise tfee humble origin of their par 
 ents, to despise economy and hard labor. These 
 stand on the street corners, drink and smoke ; in 
 sult every passer-by ; assault each Chinaman that 
 passes ; find means anyhow to support their idle 
 ness, and supply their extravagance; know all 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 359 
 
 roads to vice, and follow them. They visit every 
 haunt of sin, but it is not Chinese prostitution 
 that ruins them." 
 
 The same class of ruined boys is found in all 
 the large cities of America, even where no China 
 women are to be found. The remedy for this 
 fearful evil will hardly be found in the prohibition 
 of Chinese immigration, but rather in the better 
 bringing up of our own boys and in an honest 
 and efficient execution of municipal law. 
 
 California s Senator in arraigning the Chinese 
 before the Senate of the United States said: 
 
 "The Chinese when numerous, so as to give 
 each other countenance, are dangerous infractors 
 of peace, and violators of law. They are divided 
 into clans, and fight savagely among themselves 
 on some unknown cause of hatred." 
 
 But, surely, if they only fight and kill each 
 other, they can not injure white men much by 
 their quarrels. They are simply doing the busi 
 ness of the Anti-Chinese leagues. The fact is, 
 however, that while the Chinese are clannish, 
 and the clans are often hostile to each other, 
 their hostility seldom takes the form of personal 
 violence. They have been connected with a 
 great many bloody assaults, but in nine cases 
 out of ten they have been only the innocent, 
 helpless victims of what they call Christian bar- 
 
360 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 barism. On this very day in which these lines 
 are written, the morning papers of San Francisco 
 report the following affair, in which a Chinaman 
 sustains the part usually played by that people 
 in this country, in cases of fights and quarrels: 
 
 "On Sunday afternoon while a small Chinese 
 youth was pursuing the even tenor of his way 
 along Clementina Street near Eighth, he was sud 
 denly set upon by a crowd of hoodlums, one of 
 whom bravely knocked off his hat. As the lit 
 tle fellow turned around to regain his lost prop 
 erty, the entire gang of valiant young Ameri 
 cans pitched into him with rocks, clubs, and other 
 articles of warfare, cutting a large gash in the 
 back of his head, and finally leaving him sense 
 less upon the pavement. He was picked up 
 by some of his countrymen and carried into a 
 wash-house where his wounds were dressed. 
 During this outrage a crowd of interested, full- 
 grown male and female hoodlums stood rubbing 
 their hands over the fun which they did not try 
 to interrupt." 
 
 Outrages like the above are of such frequent 
 occurrence as to form a part of the every-day his 
 tory of California. While the Christian Senator 
 was ringing his charges against the Chinese be 
 fore the Senate, ten thousand heathen families 
 in China were reading letters from their absent 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 361 
 
 sons, husbands, or brothers in California, telling 
 of assaults like the above which they had suf 
 fered at the hands of American Christians! Had 
 the honorable Senator been pleading for instead 
 of against the Chinaman, he might have been 
 more eloquent even than he was. 
 
 There have been riots in California against 
 the Chinese, as at Los Angeles, and other places, 
 which, all the circumstances considered, tlarow 
 into the shade the horrors of the Tientsin mas 
 sacre. There were mobs and riots in San Jose 
 and Alameda, during the local option election, 
 in which thousands of excited, beer-drinking, 
 drunken Germans, mobbed and insulted respecta 
 ble women in their o\vn tents, and drove, by 
 brute force and drunken violence, law-abiding 
 citizens from the polls, all in the interest of 
 whisky and beer. Upon those riots the Chinese 
 looked with wonder and astonishment politi 
 cians with complacency, if not with approval. 
 
 It does not tend to the bettering of their 
 morals, that the Chinese live in over-crowded 
 tenements. But it may be, that the municipal 
 government of San Francisco has not hit upon 
 the best method for improving their morals in 
 this respect, by arresting them in their beds, in 
 the middle of the night, and driving them like 
 brutes, in droves of forty and sixty, to prison, 
 
362 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 because found in rooms with less than five hun 
 dred cubic feet of space to a man. The moral 
 effect of this performance is somewhat impaired 
 by locking them up in rooms twice as crowded 
 as were the rooms from which they were taken, 
 and the effect is still further weakened the next 
 morning, by wantonly cutting off their cues, if, 
 unable to pay the ten dollars fine, they are com 
 pelled to lodge in the jail. The five-hundred 
 cubic-feet-air law is not executed upon any others 
 than the Chinese, though thousands besides them 
 violate it. And although Chinatown is densely 
 crowded, it is not more crowded than the por 
 tions of New York City occupied by European 
 immigrants. If the one case demands the atten 
 tion of the general Government, the other does 
 likewise. 
 
 The charge of an excessive amount of pau 
 perism and crime among the Chinese has been 
 made and sustained by State Prison reports. 
 Our eloquent Senator stated that in 1873, accord 
 ing to official reports seventeen per cent of the 
 criminals of California were Chinese. In 1875, 
 although the Chinese population had been in 
 creasing faster than ever before, we find that 
 something less than seventeen per cent of the 
 criminals of California were Chinese. 
 
 We may also bear in mind that there is a 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 363 
 
 strong probability that some Chinamen have 
 been arrested and punished, on the testimony of 
 men who hate them, and who, doubtless, in 
 some instances were themselves the guilty par 
 ties. It is true that the Chinese do not much 
 regard the sanctity of our oaths, and, doubtless, 
 they sometimes meet together beforehand and 
 manufacture or arrange the testimony of their 
 witnesses to suit their interest in the case, so 
 that the testimony of a truthful Chinaman 
 for there are such is not much regarded as 
 against a white man s evidence. The Chinamen, 
 however, are not the only class of people who 
 daily commit perjury in our courts of justice. 
 A late judge of the County Court of San Fran 
 cisco, only a short time ago, told me that "the 
 crime of perjury in our courts by white wit 
 nesses is as common as is the smoking of cigars 
 on our streets." If this is so, it is quite possi 
 ble, in the bitter race hostility that has frequently 
 raged against that people, that some of this per 
 jured testimony has sent an occasional innocent 
 Chinaman to the felon s cell. Just here, too, it can 
 not be improper to remember that the Anti-Chi 
 nese memorialists, who claim to be well acquainted 
 with all the facts in the case, and have been at 
 great pains and expense to enlighten the minds 
 of the Eastern people on the subject, squarely 
 
364 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 stated that one quarter, or twenty-five per cent 
 of the entire population of California is Chinese. 
 If now, we take these figures of the Anti-Chi 
 nese agitators themselves, we shall find, that 
 while the Chinese number twenty-five per cent 
 of our population, they furnish only seventeen 
 per cent of our criminals. Not a bad showing 
 for the Chinamen surely. 
 
 But since this door has been opened for us, 
 we may, without prejudice against any class, in 
 quire as to the nationality of the inmates of our 
 prisons, almshouses, and hospitals. 
 
 The Official report of the San Francisco City 
 and County Hospital, for the year ending June 
 30, 1875, gives, 
 
 Total number of patients admitted, including special 
 
 hospital for Chinese, .... 3,975 
 
 Of these there were natives of United Stales, . . 1,112 
 
 Natives of Ireland, ....... 1,308 
 
 Natives of China, 68 
 
 All other nationalities, ...... 1,487 
 
 That is, over thirty-five pfcr cent of the whole 
 number were born in Ireland. Less than two 
 per cent were born in China. 
 
 Only about twenty-six per cent of the whole 
 number were born in the United States seven 
 ty-four per cent were foreigners. Of the foreign 
 ers every other man was a native of Ireland, 
 while only one out of every thirty-seven was a 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 365 
 
 Chinaman. These statistics are quite suggest 
 ive, when it is remembered that our population 
 contains about the same number of people that 
 were born in China as in Ireland. 
 
 The official report, of the San Francisco Alms- 
 house for the same time, shows, 
 
 Total number of inmates, ...... 498 
 
 Natives of United States ...... 143 
 
 Natives of Ireland, ....... 197 
 
 Natives of China, (none) ...... ooo 
 
 All other nationalities ....... 158 
 
 That is, only about twenty-nine per cent of 
 the whole number were born in the United States, 
 seventy-one per cent were foreigners, and of these 
 seventy one per cent of foreigners every other 
 man was an Irishman, but not a single Chinaman 
 in the whole number. To appreciate these sta 
 tistics it is only necessary to read the rhetoric of 
 the Anti-Chinese Memorial to Congress, stating 
 that * The Chinese fill our prisons, our asylums, 
 and_ourjipspitals. 
 
 POLITICAL. 
 
 What then are the evils and dangers of this 
 Chinese immigration greater and more fearful 
 than the evils and dangers of our European im 
 migration, that in order to put a stop to it, a 
 departure from first principles is required, and a 
 radical change in the policy and usages of our 
 Government demanded? 
 

 366 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 We have seen that Chinese cheap labor is not 
 the evil, for Chinese labor on the Pacific Coast 
 to-day is as well paid as is the same kind of la 
 bor in the Atlantic States. It is not a lack of 
 industry and frugality on the part of the Chinese, 
 nor a lack of commercial enterprise and commer 
 cial honesty, nor yet the absence of brain or 
 muscle power, their competitors themselves be 
 ing the judges. It is not that " they fill our pris 
 ons, our almshouses and our hospitals." The 
 immigration from Europe, according to official 
 statistics, enjoys largely the monopoly of the 
 privileges of those institutions. It is not because 
 the Chinese do not "pay promptly their debts, 
 their rents, and their taxes." Where, then, 
 shall the answer be found ? Is it that they have 
 not adopted our fashions of dress? They might 
 perhaps ask what is the constitutional fashion of 
 dress in this country ? Is it that they eat rice, 
 pork and vegetables, instead of bread and cheese, 
 beef and potatoes ? Is it that they drink tea in 
 stead of whisky and beer ? Is it that they cut 
 some of their hair shorter, and some of it longer 
 than the average American ? Is it that they can 
 not speak the English language ? Neither do 
 the Germans, and the Germans are quite as per 
 sistent in retaining their native tongue in this 
 country as the Chinese are in retaining theirs. Is 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 367 
 
 it, that the Chinese do not attend our public- 
 schools and try to learn our language and our 
 civilization ? The fact is, that though taxed to 
 support these schools, the Chinese are peremp 
 torily refused admission to their privileges. At 
 great public expense, a part of which is borne 
 by the Chinese, we teach the European immi 
 grants our language, and even go so far as to 
 perfect them in their own language. But we 
 give to the Chinese among us, no such opportu 
 nity to cultivate their minds and improve their 
 condition, and yet we fear their competition. 
 
 Is the danger to be found in the fact that the 
 Chinese do not, to any extent, observe our na 
 tional Sabbath-day and its institutions? There 
 are many, perhaps a majority of the intelligent 
 citizens of this Christian Republic, who firmly 
 believe that European immigration is more dan 
 gerous in this respect than the Chinese, more de 
 structive of the morals and virtue of our people, 
 more subversive of the civil and religious liber 
 ties of which we boast. Indeed, there seem to 
 be but two valid objections against this Chinese 
 immigration, which may not with almost if not 
 quite equal force be brought against a large por 
 tion of our immigration from Europe. 
 
 i. It is a valid objection against the Chinese 
 immigration that it assimilates so slowly with our 
 
368 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 civilization. But the reason of this will be found, 
 almost as much in the corruptions and venality 
 which they witness among our people, in the im 
 perfect manifestation before them of the real 
 principles underlying- our civilization, as in any 
 inability or unwillingness of the Chinese to 
 change. But in spite of all opposing forces the 
 process of assimilation has already begun, and 
 indications point to a rapid development of this 
 assimilating tendency in the near future. Al 
 though a mixture of the white and Chinese races 
 is not desirable, nor to be commended on our 
 part, yet the natural repulsion of the two races 
 can not be greater than that which exists between 
 the whites and negroes. The time is not far dis 
 tant when the immigrants from Asia, and the im 
 migrants from Europe will marry and intermarry 
 with each other, and it would puzzle a philoso 
 pher to tell which class on the whole would have 
 the best of the bargain. 
 
 2. The possibility of vast, overpowering num 
 bers, of a somewhat "indigestible element," 
 coming from all parts of China, is a real source 
 of anxiety in connection with this Chinese im 
 migration. A population numbering four hun 
 dred millions can easily spare fifty or a hundred 
 millions. But some relief is found for the anx 
 iety which this feature of the case creates, in the 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 369 
 
 fact that the Chinese Government discourages 
 emigration, and the Chinese people themselves 
 are more averse to leaving home and country 
 than the Europeans seem to be. The marked 
 hostility of our Pacific Coast civilization to this 
 Chinese immigration does not encourage it to 
 come, as we encourage immigration from Eu 
 rope. (Jhe total amount of this immigration for 
 the whole twenty-five years since it commenced, 
 which, with all the stimulating influences brought 
 to bear upon it, does not exceed one hundred and 
 fifty thousand, certainly does not indicate any 
 cause for immediate anxiety or alarm. If a com 
 mittee of intelligent and unprejudiced men were 
 honestly and carefully to inquire into all the 
 sources of danger to the future prosperity of our 
 State, it would be found that California s greatest 
 enemy is not Chinese immigration, but rum and 
 its advocates. 
 
 The question now is, whether these two valid 
 objections to Chinese immigration namely, their 
 ^/ slowness to assimilate, and the possibility of 
 overpowering numbers are of sufficient gravity 
 to call for Congressional action, and, if so, what 
 shall that action be? 
 
 A great deal has been said, in Congress and 
 out of Congress, by the Anti-Chinese memorial 
 ists and by the Anti-Chinese clubs of California, 
 24 
 
3/0 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 about the importance of the repeal or modifica 
 tion of the Burlingame treaty with China, in order 
 to check the immigration of the Chinese to this 
 country. 
 
 Strangely enough, it seems to be the pre 
 vailing opinion that without special treaty stip 
 ulations, providing for their coming and for 
 their protection while here, the Chinese would 
 have no right to come to this country to live; 
 and if they should come without such treaty 
 stipulations they would have no right, under the 
 Constitution, to claim for their lives and property 
 the equal protection of our laws, or, in other 
 words, "no rights which white men would be 
 bound to respect." Such an idea is a monstrous 
 libel upon the principles, the policy, and usages 
 of this nation. That such opinions should pre 
 vail among the Chinese themselves is quite nat 
 ural; for, according to long-established laws and 
 customs in China, without special treaty provis 
 ions the people of other countries may not enter 
 China, and, if entering without such treaty per 
 mission, they may not claim for their lives and 
 property the protection of the Chinese Govern 
 ment. 
 
 But the laws, the policy, and the Constitution 
 of these United States are upon a different basis 
 altogether. (For one hundred years, from the 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 3/1 
 
 beginning until now, the doors of this country, 
 on the east and on the west, on the north and 
 on the south, have been opened alike to all 
 comers, from all lands, without any distinction 
 of race, color, language, or previous condition in 
 life. No treaty is required with any foreign 
 government in order that its subjects may have 
 the right to come to this country to live. That 
 matter, so far as our Government is concerned, 
 is left entirely to the voluntary choice of the in 
 dividual. No passport is demanded at American 
 ports of the foreigner who comes to travel over 
 this broad land; none from the immigrant who 
 comes to make his home in this New World. 
 
 Modify or abrogate and repeal the Burlingame 
 treaty as we please, [the Chinese would still have 
 
 just the same right to come here, to live here, 
 
 --.-. 
 and to claim for their lives and property the 
 
 protection of our laws while here, that the Ger- 
 
 ~ \J Q (f*" 
 
 mans or French or Irish or the people of any 
 other nation haye^. The Burlingame treaty was 
 dictated, as all our treaties with China have been 
 dictated by our Government, for our benefit, not 
 for the benefit of the Chinese. In giving a tardy 
 consent to the terms of these treaties, the Chi 
 nese have been obliged to depart from their 
 settled policy, to violate long -cherished princi 
 ples, and to overthrow established customs. But 
 
3/2 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the terms of these treaties, requiring- such con 
 cessions on the part of the Chinese Government, 
 require no concessions whatever on the part of 
 our Government. Our treaties secure for Amer 
 icans in China rights and privileges which they 
 could not claim without such treaty stipulations; 
 but these treaties secure to the Chinese in 
 America no single right or privilege which they 
 could not claim under our Constitution without 
 the existence of any treaty whatever. It is very 
 plain, then, that the repeal of the Burlingame 
 treaty will not prevent Chinese immigration, 
 because that treaty did not give them the right 
 to come. It simply recognized their natural and 
 inalienable right to come if they so desired, and 
 it made a few regulations respecting the details 
 of their coming. It says: 
 
 " ARTICLE V. The United States of America 
 and the Emperor of China cordially recognize the 
 inherent and inalienable rights of man to change 
 his home and allegiance, and also the mutual 
 advantage of free migration and emigration of 
 their citizens and subjects respectively, from one 
 country to the other, for purposes of curiosity, 
 of trade, or as permanent residents." 
 
 From this it is plainly evident that the right 
 of the Chinese to immigrate to this country is 
 not found in the stipulations of the Burlingame 
 
MATERIAL FACTS. 373 
 
 treaty, but that right is found in the fundamental 
 principles of our Government, which are enun 
 ciated in that treaty as the basis of its stipula 
 tions; principles new to the Chinese, but with 
 us as old as our national existence. TqJnwMbit 
 the Chinese from coming to this country requires not 
 so much a modification of treaties as it requires a 
 marked departure from the broad principles upon 
 which our Government is established, and which 
 have been our boast and glory for a hundred years. 
 
 Is the cause sufficient to require such a sacri 
 fice? Is the Government ready to make the 
 departure? Can not our Government regulate 
 her own ships and ports, rather than trample 
 under foot eternal principles? 
 
 If, as a sanitary measure, no vessel from a 
 foreign port should be permitted at a single 
 entry to land more than two hundred passengers 
 upon our shores the case would be fully met, 
 threatening dangers from beyond either sea 
 would be in a measure averted, and American- 
 born people would have a little better opportu 
 nity than they now enjoy to manage their own 
 affairs and preserve and regulate their own cher 
 ished institutions. 
 
374 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 
 
 UNEXPECTED delays in printing the fore 
 going chapters of this little volume have 
 furnished me the opportunity of presenting to 
 the general public some account of the Congres 
 sional Joint Commission of Investigation on the 
 subject of Chinese immigration, which held its 
 sessions in San Francisco commencing October 
 20, 1876, and adjourned November I9th. The 
 Commission consisted of Senators Morton, of In 
 diana; Sargent, of California; and Cooper, of 
 Tennessee ; together with Representatives Meade, 
 of New York; Piper, of California; and Wilson, 
 of Iowa; of whom the last named gentleman did 
 not take his seat on the Commission. Their re 
 port will be presented at the ensuing session of 
 Congress, but not in time to make any notice of 
 it in this volume. 
 
 It was arranged to have the investigation pro 
 ceed something after the form of a court trial; 
 the Anti-Chinese party acting as the prosecu- 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 375 
 
 tion, the Chinese being the defendants. State 
 Senator M Coppin, Frank M. Pixley, and a cer 
 tain Cameron H. King, were recognized as the 
 lawyers for the prosecution. Colonel F. A. Bee 
 and B. S. Brooks were recognized as the attor 
 neys for the defense. 
 
 Mr. Pixley made an early but unsuccessful 
 effort to have* the one-sided report of the State 
 Senate Committee indorsed as a part of the pro 
 ceeding of this Congressional Committee. 
 
 The attorneys on both sides were allowed an 
 hour each in which to state their cause and to 
 indicate the points which they proposed to main 
 tain and prove. 
 
 Mr. M Coppin opened the ball, stating that 
 "the population of China exceeded four hundred 
 millions, or more than one-third of the world s 
 population, and more than two hundred and 
 sixty-eight persons to the square mile. It is true 
 that so far at we are informed the Chinese Gov 
 ernment does not encourage the emigration of 
 its people, but the pressure from within that 
 crowded hive is so great that they have to seek 
 an outlet in foreign lands, and this coast being 
 the most accessible to them is in danger of 
 being overrun by this pagan horde, unless their 
 coming be checked by legislation and a modifi 
 cation of existing treaties. Because of a want 
 
3/6 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of that homogeneity which is an attribute of the 
 European, the Chinaman, under all circumstances 
 and changes, retains his distinctive national traits, 
 and when abroad lives in the hope of securing 
 a competence and returning to the land of Con 
 fucius. Indeed, so strong is his attachment to 
 that land he will only quit it with the under 
 standing that in case of death his ashes shall be 
 sent back for sepulture. So that the Chinaman, 
 though in this country, is not of it; and in this 
 fact, it seems to me, lies one of the strongest 
 and most insuperable objections to their coming 
 here at all." 
 
 Mr. Pixley followed in a long, hour and a half 
 statement of charges against the Chinese, such 
 as, they live cheaply, they are industrious, they 
 are not subject to be drafted as jurymen or sol 
 diers, they do not attend our schools, they do 
 not pay taxes, they are filthy, they gamble, they 
 take no interest in our politics, etc. He neg 
 lected to state that the reason why the China 
 man is not subject to be drafted to perform the 
 duty of juryman or soldier is simply because 
 we do not endow him with the dignity and priv 
 ileges of citizenship. He neglected also to 
 state that the reason why the Chinese do not 
 attend our public-schools is because our School 
 Boards refuse them admission. He did state, how- 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 377 
 
 ever, that one of the principal dangers to our white 
 laboring population is because the Chinamen labor so 
 well, that they are anxious to learn trades, and they 
 are quick to acquire knowledge. On the religious 
 question, Mr. Pixley boldly stated the view 
 maintained by the prosecution generally, when 
 he said that he could not speak of the matter of 
 Christianizing the Chinamen with the gravity 
 which the circumstances and surroundings de 
 manded. For his part he did not believe that 
 Chinamen had souls, or, if any, none worth sav 
 ing. Afterward, in examining witnesses hostile 
 to the Chinese, Mr. Pixley found several who en 
 tertained views on this subject similar to his own. 
 For instance, a Captain King, some time in the 
 China Coast trade, testified that nearly all the Chi 
 nese professing to be Christians are hypocrites; 
 that the missionaries in China had informed him 
 that nearly all Chinese converts to Christianity 
 very soon relapsed into idolatry. To Mr. Bad- 
 lam, assessor of the city and county of San 
 Francisco, Mr. Pixley put this question: 
 
 "How many of these precious Chinese souls 
 do you think the missionaries have snatched from 
 the everlasting burnings?" 
 
 Mr. Badlam, under oath, tipping back his chair, 
 and giving a heavy puff from his cigar, answered: 
 
 "Well, you have got me now. I am no 
 
378 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Gospel sharp. You must ask Brother Gibson. 
 He has them all on his fingers ends. For myself, 
 I do n t believe there ever was such a thing as a 
 Christian Chinaman. I never saw one." 
 
 The first five or six days of the investigation 
 were occupied by the witnesses of the prosecu 
 tion, testifying that the Chinese in America are 
 slaves or peons, or servile laborers, that their 
 presence degrades the dignity of labor, that they 
 are supplanting white labor and driving it from 
 the State, that their presence here prevents white 
 immigrants from coming, and that unless this 
 Chinese immigration is checked, nothing but ruin 
 is before us. It came out, however, in cross- 
 questioning these same witnesses that the scale 
 of wages paid to white labor in California is gen 
 erally higher than is paid for the same labor in 
 the Eastern States. These Anti-Chinese wit 
 nesses also testified that the Shoemakers Co 
 operative Union, in spite of Chinese competition, 
 is making twenty-four per cent per annum on the 
 capital invested. 
 
 During the week of the election the Commis 
 sion took a recess. On coming together again 
 after election there was a marked absence of a 
 large number of the leaders of the Anti-Chinese 
 party, who, before the election, had been in 
 tensely interested against the Chinaman. 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 379 
 
 On this feature of the case, Mr. Sargent is re 
 ported to have remarked: 
 
 "There was a parade on the first day of offi 
 cials and State Senators, of spokesmen for local 
 organizations, etc. These gentlemen dropped 
 off gradually, until after election not one was to 
 be seen, and it was a matter of unfavorable re 
 mark, especially as one main end of the pro-Chi 
 nese was to show that the opposition to the Chi 
 nese was mere political rivalry and agitation. I 
 think the Mayor and Senator M Coppin and Mr. 
 King should not have appeared at all, or have 
 seen the thing through." 
 
 Very able and exhaustive arguments in de 
 fense of the Chinese were made, both by Colonel 
 Bee and Mr. Brooks, giving a history of the Chi 
 nese immigration to this country, its utility, and 
 necessity, and the treatment it has received from 
 our people. A striking contrast was observable 
 in the general character of the witnesses for the 
 defense as compared with the witnesses for the 
 prosecution. Men of brains, men of push and 
 enterprise, men devoted to the development of 
 the industries and prosperity of the Pacific Coast, 
 men whom Dr. Briggs calls "the real rulers of 
 the land," men of the highest moral standing in 
 the community, men who had never before been 
 heard from on this question, not a few, but 
 
380 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 hundreds, stood ready to testify to the benefit 
 received by the State from the presence and 
 labor of the Chinese, and to testify to the Chi 
 naman s general good character for industry, 
 frugality and obedience to law. Manufacturers 
 testified that without the competition of Chinese 
 labor they could not run their factories a single 
 day, but with Chinese labor to make their busi 
 ness possible, they \\ r ere enabled to give employ 
 ment to a large number of white laborers. 
 
 It is a matter of regret to his former friends 
 that during the whole of the investigation, one of 
 the Commissioners, the Senator from California, 
 manifested very strong partisan feelings, and con 
 ducted himself not so much as a dignified Sena 
 tor investigating grave national questions, as an 
 attorney for the prosecution. With him the 
 prosecution was "we," and the Anti-Chinese 
 witnesses were "our witnesses." He even out 
 stripped Mr. Pixley himself in efforts to browbeat, 
 badger, and insult witnesses, quite his equal in 
 culture and character, simply because their testi 
 mony did not establish his views. The real char 
 acter of the Anti-Chinese party was publicly 
 manifested by its own members on the evening 
 of November I5th, while the Commission of in 
 vestigation was still holding daily sessions. A 
 grand mass-meeting was called on that evening, 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 381 
 
 in order to make a demonstration of the popular 
 sentiment against the Chinese. 
 
 The following account of the meeting, as given 
 by the San Francisco Morning Chronicle, Novem 
 ber 1 6, 1876, speaks for itself: 
 
 ANTI-COOLIE MASS-MEETING. 
 
 "THE PROCESSION THE ATTENDANCE AT THE PAVIL 
 ION ETC. 
 
 "The Anti-Coolieites held a mass-meeting at the Me 
 chanics Pavilion last evening. The various clubs formed 
 in line on Third Street, and marched to the Pavilion via 
 Market, Sixth, and Mission Streets. Some very peculiar 
 transparencies were borne aloft in the procession, one of 
 them representing a hideous Mongolian countenance sur 
 mounting the strange device, "Hence, horrible shadow!" 
 A big club couchant completed the banner. Another 
 transparency demanded the immediate abrogation of ihe 
 Burlingame treaty, and denounced the witnesses before 
 the Chinese Commission. Another exhibited a skull. The 
 Ninth Ward Club carried a gallows, from which an ejjlgy 
 of Rev. Otis Gibson gracefully dangled, and when the 
 main body of the procession had filed into the hall the 
 Rev. Gibson was ruthlessly burned at the stake by the de 
 monstrative crowd. 
 
 "AT THE PAVILION. 
 
 " By seven o clock in the evening the crowd began 
 to assemble at the Pavilion, and the hall was soon after 
 full. The management had made no preparation for re 
 serving seats for the men marching in the procession, and 
 in consequence, when they arrived, they were obliged to 
 get in as best they could. Several hundred organized a 
 meeting in the southern portion of the Pavilion, impro- 
 
382 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 vised a platform, and listened to several speakers. About 
 one hundred and fifty ladies, members of the Working- 
 women s Club, had been invited, but upon arriving were 
 obliged to return home, no place having been provided 
 for them. The Industrial School Band opened the meet 
 ing with a national air, and shortly afterward P. A. Roach, 
 Grand Marshal of the procession, introduced 
 
 MAYOR BRYANT 
 
 with a few remarks. The Mayor endeavored to speak, 
 but the noise was incessant, and he could scarcely be 
 heard. He said the large assemblage was an evidence 
 that the people of the State irrespective of party were 
 united in opposing the" importation of Chinese. He fore 
 shadowed, in a few hopeful words, the verdict of the Con 
 gressional Commission and the effect it would have on 
 Congress, trusting that it would take some action for the 
 relief of the people. 
 
 " HORACE DAVIS. 
 
 " Horace Davis, the recently elected member of 
 Congress from the San Francisco District, spoke for about 
 fifteen minutes. He said the assembling of so many peo 
 ple was incontrovertible evidence that the people took an 
 interest in the matter of Chinese immigration, and that 
 they were sincere in desiring a restriction of the influx. 
 He made a brief reference to the rebellion, which was 
 owing to the introolution of an element foreign to the de 
 sires of the people, and believed that if the Chinese were 
 allowed to come here in the future it would lead to sm 
 other fratricidal war. The gentleman s remarks could 
 hardly be heard, and Mayor Bryant was finally compelled 
 to appeal for order. Messrs. Philip A. Roach, Thomas 
 P. Ryan, Supervisor Edwards, Luman P. Hoag, and R. 
 J. Hinton also addressed the meeting. 
 
 " J. J. Tobin closed the list of speakers. He held in 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 383 
 
 his hand a pamphlet issued by Messrs. Brooks and Bee, 
 the counsel for the Chinese before the Congressional 
 Commission, which he read and severely criticised. He 
 entered into a long eulogy of the Irish race, and denied 
 that the Chinese injured them in any particular, fre 
 quently sandwiching in attacks upon the witnesses who 
 had testified before the Congressional Commission." 
 
 The account of the affair as given by the 
 Morning Call, contained the following : 
 
 "The Tailors Protective Union followed, about one 
 hundred and fifty strong, and then came the Ninth Ward 
 Club, the largest body of men in the procession, and 
 carrying the featitre of the evening, which consisted of 
 a scaffold about eight feet high, from the cross-tree of 
 iv hie h dangled an effigy of the Reverend Otis Gibson, 
 dressed in a plain black suit, and with beard around the 
 face in the same shape and style that his reverence wears 
 it. The crowds on the streets were much amused at this. 
 although many could not read the name painted on the 
 card that was attached to his back, owing tv the absence 
 of torchlights. The Fourth Ward Club formed the ex 
 treme left, and also turned out a goodly number of Anti- 
 Coolieites. In a barouche, drawn by four white horses, 
 rode three leading members of the Anti-Chinese move 
 ment. A pretty accurate estimate of the number of men 
 in the procession, shows that there were about two thou 
 sand in line. 
 
 " The Pavilion was filled by a vast crowd before the 
 advance guard of the procession filed into it, and as the 
 two thousand men who marched in line brought with 
 them a great many camp-followers that part of the build 
 ing partitioned off for public meetings was inadequate 
 to accommodate all who sought admission. There were 
 at least six thousand persons in the hall, and as many 
 
384 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 more went away from the doors or lingered in groups 
 around such stump speakers as cared to address them. 
 Several of the devices carried in the procession were 
 brought into the meeting, and particular notice was taken 
 of the Gibson effigy. Derisive cheering and much hearty 
 laughter greeted the dangling figure. There was a gen 
 eral hand-shaking of the antipodes in politics, the cam 
 paign having been fought and won by both sides thus far, 
 the audience, principally composed of working men and 
 working boys, had a striking unanimity of sentiment, and 
 cheered with a like enthusiasm the speakers who have 
 talked themselves hoarse for Hayes, and those who have 
 been seized with a bad cold for Tilden. Mayor Bryant 
 was the President of the meeting." 
 
 The Daily Evening Post, the very next day 
 after the outrage, inserted without rebuke a 
 letter signed T. H., containing the following 
 language : 
 
 " Shame upon any Christian minister or a millionaire 
 who, for the sake of money and power, helps to bring our 
 people down upon a pnr with the coolie. If the respect 
 able Christian (?) nobility on this coast want communism 
 established and civil war inaugurated throughout this 
 magnificent country, where there is plenty for all if prop 
 erly distributed; if Christian ministers can be hired for 
 such base purposes, let them beware lest the shadow 
 which went through the streets on Wednesday evening 
 may not become a dreadful reality. You may pen up 
 Chinamen like swine, but you can not make slaves of 
 white men. 
 
 When a witness before the Commission re 
 ferred to this outrage and to the threatening 
 letter in the Post, as indicating the character of 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 385 
 
 the Anti-Chinese party, Mr. Sargent seemed to 
 condone the outrage, comparing the performance 
 to the burning of the Pope s Bull by Martin 
 Luther, and to the burning in effigy of noted 
 Tories by our Revolutionary fathers. He also 
 excused the Post for publishing the threatening 
 letter, because the paper stated in a head-note 
 that "the editor is not responsible for the opin 
 ions expressed by correspondents." 
 
 Two days after the disgraceful scenes of that 
 mass-meeting, an affair occurred in the Commit 
 tee rooms, during the noon recess, which further 
 illustrated the spirit and character of the Anti- 
 Chinese party in California, as well as the char 
 acter of the legal talent employed by the pros 
 ecution. The Rev. W. W. Brier, a Presbyterian 
 clergyman, had given testimony quite favorable 
 to the Chinese, and of course quite distasteful to 
 Mi 4 . Pixley, who represented the Anti-Chinese 
 party before the Commission. During the recess 
 Mr. Brier and Mr. Pixley became engaged in 
 quite a warm argument on the Chinese Ques 
 tion, in which Mr. Brier called the Anti-Chinese 
 mass-meeting a mob, and Mr. Pixley stated that 
 all the witnesses whose testimony was favorable 
 to the Chinese were persons who were making 
 money out of the Chinese, and that Messrs. 
 Gibson, Shearer, and Brier would never preach 
 
 25 
 
386 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 a word unless they were paid for it. To this 
 wholesale charge Mr. Brier replied, "That is a 
 lie." Whereupon Mr. Pixley seized Mr. Brier 
 by the beard and shook him, saying, "If you 
 do n t take that back I 11 strike you;" and im 
 mediately struck Mr. Brier a severe blow in the 
 face. Mr. Brier, though a much larger and 
 stronger man than Pixley, maintained the dignity 
 and character of his profession, refusing to return 
 the cowardly blows. 
 
 The fact that these outrages have taken place, 
 and have been widely chronicled by the daily 
 press without one word of condemnation, is a 
 burning shame and a deep disgrace to the fair 
 name of California. Her intelligent, law-abiding 
 citizens should not soon forget the leading spirits 
 of an agitation which has produced such un 
 wholesome fruit. 
 
 The California Advocate (Methodist), Novem 
 ber 23d, contained the following : 
 
 "At the anti-coolie meeting in the Mechanics Hall 
 last week, at which Mayor Bryant presided, there were 
 mottoes and transparencies intended to insult and bur 
 lesque ministers of the Gospel of unblemished lives and 
 reputation. Rev. O. Gibson was hung in effigy, and the 
 mob gave shouts of joy. The Mayor, with beaming face, 
 smiled upon such lawless and outrageous conduct, for 
 which the entire city must suffer humiliation throughout 
 the length and breadth of the whole country. The offi 
 cers of that meeting, so far as we can judge by the news- 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 387 
 
 papers, gave no word of disapproval. We are left to 
 infer that they heartily sanctioned the outrage. 
 
 "The papers, three or four of them, reported the 
 facts, but uttered no word of condemnation. As conser 
 vators of public morals, it was surely their duty to 
 denounce such acts in terms which could not be misun 
 derstood. It is a remarkable fact that the papers, thus 
 far, have aided and abetted these unprovoked assaults 
 upon the men who, not of choice, appeared before the 
 Commission to answer questions in the fear of God who 
 in the olden time struck dead the perjurer. They did 
 their duty calmly, consistently, and fearlessly. The 
 press, if not given over to obey the behests of dema 
 gogues and hoodlums, should extend to them sheer jus 
 tice. It should promptly rebuke every tendency to assail, 
 browbeat, and thrust at men who have committed no 
 offense against society. A covert threat of violence was 
 made in the columns of the Post, and yet that sheet had 
 not the manliness or courage to utter a sentence of dis 
 approval. We are forced to conclude that the press of 
 this city to-day is largely responsible for the hoodlums 
 with which society is so fearfully cursed. An honest, out 
 spoken, and manly rebuke of wrong-doing would correct 
 much perhaps most of the vicious conduct which is so 
 prevalent, and which seems to be on the increase. But 
 the anti-coolie meetings, with their transparencies and 
 threats, are in perfect keeping with the riots with which 
 New York and other large cities have been so fearfully 
 cursed. With the Mayor, police, and press to encourage 
 such conduct, our future is fearful!" 
 
 Inasmuch as the writer s testimony before the 
 Congressional Commission was the sole cause for 
 the committal of that dastardly outrage upon his 
 name by the Anti-Chinese party, that testimony 
 
388 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 is here given in full that the readers may judge 
 for themselves of the character of that element 
 of the city which committed such an outrage, 
 and also whether the public press is justified in 
 neglecting to utter a word in condemnation of the 
 riotous conduct : 
 
 REV. O. GIBSON S TESTIMONY BEFORE THE CHI 
 NESE COMMISSION. 
 
 I wish to state that I am not in favor of a large and 
 rapid influx of immigration from any foreign country 
 whatever. I believe at times the immigration both from 
 Europe and Asia lias been stimulated to an unhealthy 
 degree, that is, it has been too rapid for the best good of 
 the country. I believe that European- immigrants are 
 admitted to full citizenship too soon after coming here. 
 I believe that a large portion of the European immigra 
 tion, so rapidly admitted to citizenship and the right of 
 suffrage, is more dangerous to the institutions and pros 
 perity of this country than the smaller and better regu 
 lated immigration from Asia. As to the objection against 
 the Chinese that they depreciate the value of real estate, 
 it is well known in this city, and on this coast, that the 
 Chinese every-where pay high rents and pay promptly. 
 An increase in any city of a population paying high rents 
 must of necessity increase the demand for, and price of, 
 real estate. The Chinese of this city pay more than one 
 million dollars annually in rents alone, and the white peo 
 ple continue to inhabit houses quite as good, if not bet 
 ter than before they sold or rented to Chinamen. 
 
 As to Chinese cheap labor, the fact is, and all testi 
 mony goes to show it, that in California we have no cheap 
 labor as compared with the East. The presence of the 
 Chinese has reduced the exorbitant price of labor which 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 389 
 
 prevailed in the early days of our history, and by this 
 means they have opened industries, cheapened products, 
 and made it possible for poor white men lo come here 
 with their families and live and thrive. It is an indisput 
 able fact, that in spile of a peculiar cry about the evils of 
 Chinese labor, labor for industrious white men is as 
 abundant, if not more so, wages as high, if not higher, 
 living as cheap, if not cheaper, and the general condition 
 of the white laboring classes is as good, if not better, 
 than in any other part of these United States, or of this 
 world. Instance Chicago, Cincinnati, and New York. In 
 one of those cities lately some thirty thousand men waited 
 upon the mayor of the city bearing transparencies with the 
 motto, "Bread or Blood," and demanded work. Cheap 
 labor makes cheap products, cheap living. With flour at 
 fifty dollars a barrel and wages ten dollars a day, five 
 clays work will buy a barrel. When flour is six dollars 
 a barrel and wages two dollars a day, three days work will 
 buy a barrel. 
 
 This labor conflict in California, as a general question, 
 is simply and only a much needed and healthly competi 
 tion between the Chinaman and the Irishman. The Irish 
 man has a vote, and so some aspiring politicians are on 
 his side ; but all the industries of the State, all the cap 
 ital of the State looking for investment in industrial pur 
 suits, demands this competition of labor as an indispen 
 sable element of investment, development and success. 
 This competition, however, in this city, is limited to a 
 few of the lighter and lower industries. The Chinamen 
 make overalls and slippers and shoes and cigars and 
 shirts, but no overalls for the trade were made in this 
 country until the Chinamen made them. The Chinamen 
 do not labor upon the public works of the city, the grad 
 ing, paving, and repairing of the streets, nor upon any of 
 the public buildings of the State. There are no Chinese 
 house-carpenters, nor brick-layers, nor painters, nor gla- 
 
390 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 ziers, nor plumbers, nor blacksmiths, nor foundrymen. 
 No Chinese printers, nor book-binders, nor tailors (of 
 American clothing), nor milliners, nor mantau-makers; 
 no bankers nor insurance agents ; no commission mer 
 chants of European goods. They offer no competition 
 to our lawyers, doctors, preachers, school-teachers, nor to 
 any profession whatever. 
 
 Instead of driving any of these mentioned laborers or 
 professions from the field, the presence and labor of the 
 Chinese have opened up industries which have certainly 
 stimulated the demand for such white laborers and pro 
 fessional men. As to the charge that the Chinese have 
 taken employment from our women and girls, there may 
 be single instances of that kind, but as a general charge 
 it is not true. House-servants, sewing-women and laun 
 dry work are as well paid in San Francisco as New York. 
 I have had an experience in the house-work line like this: 
 My wife dismissed a China boy, and engaged a girl lately 
 from the East. In the East the girl had worked for two 
 dollars a week at general house and dairy work, milking 
 cows, etc., both Summer and Winter. My wife engaged 
 to give the girl plenty of time to make and mend her 
 own clothing, a place at the table with the family, and 
 general treatment like a member of the family, and six 
 teen dollars a month wages. The girl stayed about one year 
 and then left because she thought she could do better as 
 a sewing girl. It is objected to the Chinese population 
 that they do not learn our language, do not attend our 
 schools. The fact is, they are taxed to support our schools, 
 but are positively refused admission to their privileges. 
 I myself applied to the school department of this city in 
 behalf of an intelligent Chinaman who wished to be ad 
 mitted, but the application was refused on account of race 
 prejudice. 
 
 There are many young children in Chinatown of this 
 city, but neither the State nor the city is providing any 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 391 
 
 schools for their education. But many of the Chinese 
 are learning our language. There are about seven hun 
 dred and fifty average attendance upon the various even 
 ing mission schools and private classes in the State, in 
 volving a roll-call of about two thousand five hundred; 
 about one thousand average attendance upon the various 
 Sabbath-schools, involving a roll-call of about three thou 
 sand. This, too, in a population composed mostly of 
 adults industrious, working young men. Thousands are 
 also learning our language in the families in which they 
 serve. It may be safely said, that we have no other for 
 eign immigration that with so little encouragement makes 
 equal efforts to learn our language, laws, and customs. Go 
 into almost any Chinese store in this city, and we are sure 
 to find one or two persons who can converse in the English 
 language sufficiently to transact business with our people. 
 When we take into consideration the circumstances which 
 have surrounded them in this country, and the short time 
 the Chinese have been here, the wonder is, not that 
 they know so little, but that they know so much of our 
 language. 
 
 A young man, son of a Chinese merchant, has just 
 been admitted to Napa Collegiate Institute, in this State, 
 and is doing well. Of his own choice, and with the full 
 consent of his father, the young man cut off his cue and 
 adopted the full American dress. He is doing well in his 
 studies, and has the respect and good will of his teachers 
 and fellow-students. There are hundreds of other young 
 men anxious to do this same thing, but want of money 
 prevents their doing so. Very great changes in this re 
 spect are taking place among the young Chinamen in 
 this country. 
 
 If the right of citizenship and the elective franchise 
 depended solely upon a knowledge of our language, laws, 
 and customs, and a good character as regards intelligence, 
 industry, and morals, quite a number of Chinese would 
 
392 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 soon ask for naturalization - papers, and would have a 
 right to them. The fact that there are now in our East 
 ern colleges and schools between one and two hundred 
 Chinese youths, supported and schooled by the Chinese 
 Government, indicates a strong national desire to become 
 acquainted with our language, customs, and principles of 
 government. The example of the Government in this 
 respect is not lost upon the people. 
 
 As to the general morals of the Chinese, the civiliza 
 tion of China is lower than the Christian civilixation of 
 our country. The standard and practice of morality by 
 the Chinese people is not equal to ihe standard and 
 practice of those who accept the Gospel of Christ as their 
 rule of practice. But the standard of Chinese morals 
 is higher and better than that of any other heathen nation 
 in all the world. They are very fond of their children. 
 They have profound respect for age and experience. 
 They are great traders, and have the reputation in all the 
 world of being as honest and reliable in commercial and 
 business transactions as are the people with whom they 
 trade. Even here in San Francisco it is true that the 
 Chinese have the reputation of paying promptly their 
 rents, taxes, and debts. The charge of immorality 
 brought against the Chinese in this country may be 
 brought with almost, if not quite, equal force against the 
 most of European immigration, whether the specific 
 charge be drunkenness, profanity, fighting and quarreling, 
 gambling, or prostitution. 
 
 The same labor bestowed in ferreting out the vices of 
 the thirty thousand Chinese in this city, if bestowed in 
 special efforts to ferret out the vices of thirty thousand 
 immigrants from Europe of the common laboring classes, 
 would produce a chapter of crime, vice, and misery quite 
 equal to that presented against the Chinese. Indeed, it 
 is not at all improbable that some of the chief manipu 
 lators of this Anti-Chinese excitement are themselves 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 393 
 
 guilty of the very vices which they charge against the 
 Chinese; such as gambling, prostitution, and incapacity 
 to hold office in this Republican Government. 
 
 The charge that Chinese prostitutes are demoralizing 
 our boys, if true to any extent, is a sad comment upon 
 our boasted superiority, upon the parents of the boys, 
 and upon our municipal authorities, who, knowing of the 
 existence of the evil, permit the abominable business to 
 go on without let or hinderance. But there is one very 
 important and material consideration in connection with 
 this matter of demoralizing our boys that ought not to be 
 overlooked. That is this: There are more liquor-saloons 
 and liquor-groceries in this city and country than there 
 are Chinese prostitutes in this city and country. It is 
 quite safe to say that all those boys who visit Chinese 
 prostitutes take their first lessons of demoralization in 
 some of the three thousand whisky-saloons or liquor- 
 groceries licensed by this Christian municipality ; kept 
 mostly, and patronized largely, by immigrants from Eu 
 rope. The same class of demoralized boys, and in quite 
 as large a proportion, is found in all our Eastern cities, 
 where Chinese prostitution is not known. San Francisco 
 has a large army of promising boys and girls who scorn 
 the taste of liquor as they do the embrace of Chinese 
 prostitutes. Of these boys and girls we are justly proud. 
 If they are not first poisoned with liquor, they will never 
 be found consorting with abandoned Chinese women. 
 
 The statement has been made that the Chinese fill 
 our prisons, jails and asylums; but the facts, as shown by 
 official reports, do not sustain the charge. In the Slate- 
 prison a larger per cent of Chinese criminals is found 
 than of the whites; but the comparison is made as be 
 tween the Chinese on the one hand and all the whites 
 on the other hand. This is not a fair way to estimate the 
 per cent. It is well known that a much larger per cent 
 of crime, vice, and misery is found among the immigrants 
 
394 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 from Europe than among-native-born Americans. It will 
 only be fair to compare the statistics of crime, vice, and 
 pauperism among the Chinese immigrants in this country 
 with the statistics of crime, vice, and pauperism among 
 the immigrants from seme European country Ireland, 
 for instance. On this basis, we find at the present time, 
 in our San Quenrin prison, 1,158 prisoners; of whom 199 are 
 from China, 160 are from Ireland, 615 native Americans, 
 and 184 from other foreign countries. About four hundred 
 of the whole number are Roman Catholics. From this 
 we see 199 Chinamen to 160 from Ireland. I do not know 
 the whole number of people from Ireland in this State, 
 but would not estimate more than sixty thousand about 
 the same number as the Chinese. But the Irish popula 
 tion has more women and children a class always less 
 criminal than men. So that, as bad as the case is 
 against the Chinamen about filling our prisons, the same 
 charge stands with equal if not greater force against the 
 Irishmen. The official reports of the Industrial School 
 for the year ending July I, 1875, give: Total number, 225; 
 native Americans, 194; from Ireland, 7 ; from China, 4. 
 Alnishouse at the same time: Total number, 498; na 
 tive born, 143; from Ireland, 197; from China, none. 
 Hospital at the same time: Total number, 3,918; natives 
 of United States, 1,112; from Ireland, 1,308; from China, 
 n. That is, 118 Irishmen to one Chinaman is the way 
 the Chinese are tilling our hospitals. Pest House for the 
 same time: Total numbe:, 22; Chinese, none. 
 
 If we continue to make the comparison between our 
 .Chinese and European immigrants, we shall find as large 
 a proportion of the one selling liquor as of the other sell 
 ing opium; and the result, in vice, crime, and poverty, 
 involving taxation upon the people, vastly more from the 
 sale of liquor than from the sale of opium. 
 
 It is a fact that the Chinese are addicted to gambling 
 and all kinds of games of chance, but there can be no 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 395 
 
 doubt that more money is lost and won in this city every 
 day by white gamblers than by all the Chinese gamblers 
 in America. The remedy for this class of evils, as well 
 as the remedy for dirty streets, alleys, tenements, etc., 
 would seem to rest in the municipal government, rather 
 than in the abrogation of national treaties or special acts 
 of Congress. Gambling and prostitution are not legalized 
 and licensed by the laws of China. The laws and the 
 higher mandarins generally prohibit these vices, but, as 
 in other countries, petty officials receive bribes to permit 
 the unlawful traffic. The municipal authorities of this 
 city, in May and April last, demonstrated their ability to 
 suppress Chinese gambling and prostitution to a great 
 degree. This was done without any large increase of 
 force or expense; but nearly all the gambling -houses, 
 and many of the houses of prostitution, are now open 
 again. 
 
 The Chinese excite less riots, commit fewer assaults 
 and murders than almost any other foreign element 
 among us. There is a class of bad Chinamen who do 
 such things, but in far less proportion than is done by 
 their labor competitors from Europe. Chinese riots 
 among themselves have been few, and they have never 
 incited or engaged in a riot against white men in this 
 country. No riot among themselves in this country has 
 ever begun to equal the outrages of the Alameda local- 
 option election in this State, in which drunken Europeans 
 insulted and assaulted respectable American women, and 
 respectable American-born citizens were driven by brute 
 European force from the polls. Chinese immigration has 
 never yet committed such an outrage upon American 
 people, nor upon American institutions. As to assaults, 
 the Chinese commit few among themselves, and almost 
 none upon white people. But hardly a day passes in 
 which our newspapers do not record a case of unprovoked 
 and frequently unpunished assault upon some inoffensive 
 
396 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Chinaman. It is a noticeable fact that some years ago, 
 during Mr. Burlingame s stay in this city, no assaults 
 upon the Chinamen were reported, although quite fre 
 quent just before his arrival and after his departure. 
 Possibly the presence of this Congressional Committee 
 may have the like effect upon the assaulting parties. 
 There is no doubt that the Chinamen constantly per 
 jure themselves in our courts. But the class of Chinese 
 who get into our courts are generally the most depraved 
 and unreliable. And then there is the difficulty of a 
 strange language, through an interpreter, and strange 
 processes of law and practice of courts quite confusing 
 to the Chinamen. The Chinese are not the only ones 
 who commit perjury in our courts of justice. A late 
 judge of the County Court remarked to me that perjury 
 in our courts, by white men, is as common as is the 
 smoking of cigars upon the street. 
 
 After an experience of about twenty years among 
 this people, I do not hesitate to express my opinion that 
 in simple brain power and possibilities of culture the Chi 
 nese race is equal to any other people in the world. They 
 are capable of learning our language, laws, customs, prin 
 ciples of government, theories, and practices. We know 
 nothing which the Chinese are incapale of learning. 
 
 I believe the Chinese come here voluntarily in every 
 case, except it be in the case of the women who are 
 brought here and sold for vile purposes. All Chinamen 
 claim that they came voluntarily. In China there is no 
 system of slavery so far as the male sex is concerned. 
 Every unemployed Chinaman in this country to-day is 
 open to a personal, individual engagement to work for any 
 man who will hire him. Many of them being ignorant 
 of our language and customs, and suspicious of our hon 
 esty, choose to make their engagements with some China 
 man who has a contract for a heavy job, and who is re 
 sponsible for their wages whether the white man keeps 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 397 
 
 his engagement or not. The Chinese who have embraced 
 Christianity all assert most positively that the Chinese do 
 not come here slaves to any person, nor to any company. 
 The thousands of house servants all receive their own 
 wages and use the money as they please. If they were all 
 slaves their 1 " masters would hardly allow them to spend 
 their earnings in gambling, as many of them now do. In 
 all the thousands of Chinese cases that have been before 
 our courts, there has never yet been the shadow of evi 
 dence that any of these Chinese are slaves. 
 
 Among the missionaries and consular agents, both 
 here and in China, who have studied the Chinese lan 
 guage, and thus are able to better understand the genius 
 and practices of the people than others are, not one has 
 ever yet been found, who for a moment believes that any 
 Chinamen in America are slaves, or servile, except in the 
 sense of being unskilled menial laborers. There is no 
 class .of laborers in America more free to do as they 
 please than are the Chinamen. They often borrow money 
 to get here and agree to pay high premium or interest, 
 but the agreement is in the amount of money rather than 
 in the number of years of service. At the present time, 
 the most who come, if assisted at all, are assisted by their 
 relations or friends or townsmen who are here. They 
 come for the express purpose of making money to better 
 their condition. They come at first, probably in all cases, 
 with the hope and intention of acquiring a little compe 
 tency, and returning to their own country to enjoy it, 
 just as all Californians in early days came. Many of 
 them, however, become so attached to this country and 
 to our ways that they are not contented in China and 
 choose to come back here to live and die, and the num 
 ber of such is constantly increasing. 
 
 They are willing to do any kind of labor, and as labor 
 ers they are generally industrious, faithful and satisfactory. 
 Instead of preventing white labor from coming here from 
 
398 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Europe and from our Eastern Slates, I believe that up to 
 this time \ve have had a larger immigration of that class 
 that we should have received had the Chinese not been 
 here. 
 
 As to health, we have no more healthy class among 
 us than the Chinese. As to cleanliness, the Chinese are 
 not a neat and clean people, but in this city and country 
 I do not think they are more filthy than the same num 
 ber of European common laborers. 
 
 The Chinese in America are nearly all from the 
 province of Canton, in the south of China, and sail from 
 Hongkong, a British port in the south of China. P ew Chi 
 namen in this country, in proportion to their number, 
 have brought their families will) them. It is not their 
 custom when emigrating to any country to take their first 
 wives and children with them. Their women are averse 
 to coming. Their treatment in this country has not encour 
 aged them to bring their families to settle here. And yet 
 they claim between one and two hundred first wives, and 
 there are many times that number of second wives. Many 
 of these men become attached to the prostitutes whom they 
 visit, purchase them, and live with them as husband and 
 wife, and the children, if any are born, are considered le 
 gitimate. Lately many are marrying alter our forms. I 
 myself have married about forty Chinese couples in the 
 last three years. I suppose there are five or six thousand 
 Chinese women in this country, the most of whom are 
 prostitutes. They are bought and sold like slaves. 
 
 There are " Six Chinese Companies," representing 
 the principal places from which the Chinese have come. 
 Besides these general companies there are several socie 
 ties, or guilds, or unions, representing different trades and 
 pursuits, such as the Washerman s Guild, an association 
 of the Chinese laundrymen composed of men from all 
 the different Six Companies. The "Hip Yee Tong" as 
 sociation, and the"Po Sang Tong" association, whose 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 399 
 
 principal business has been to stimulate and protect Chi 
 nese gambling and tlie woman traffic. There is also the 
 Chinese Young Men s Christian Association. This last 
 has severed all connection with the Six Companies. The 
 famous Six Companies are simple voluntary associations 
 for mutual protection and benefit. It is the universal 
 custom of the Chinese when emigrating to any new coun 
 try at once to form themselves into a guild or association 
 of this kind, and every Chinaman from the same region 
 naturally seeks membership in this guild. They at once 
 open a hall or general meeting-place, and often connect 
 with it a temple or altar to the local divinities of their 
 native place. They elect annually their officers in a very 
 democratic way. Differences that arise among themselves 
 are referred to the officers and leading influential mem 
 bers for arbitration and settlement. Advice and aid are 
 given to the new-comer and to the sick. They are not 
 mercantile firms in any sense. Neither are they courts of 
 justice, but voluntary associations for mutual aid and 
 benefit. They do not claim, nor do they exercise any ju 
 dicial authority. Cases are constantly occurring where 
 their advice and arbitration are not accepted and the dis 
 putes are brought into our courts of justice. All the re 
 straining power which these companies hold or exercise 
 is through an arrangement with the various steamship 
 companies, by which no Chinaman can purchase a pas 
 sage to China without first procuring a permit of departure 
 from these companies. They claim to do this to prevent 
 dishonest Chinamen from running away before their debts 
 are paid. They also claim that all the Chinese in this coun 
 try hold memberships in these companies except the mem 
 bers of the Chinese Young Men s Christian Association ; 
 but they deny the charge of importing or owning any man. 
 The masses of the Chinese in this country are ig 
 norant of, and take little or no interest in, our politics; but 
 among the merchants, and especially among the young 
 
400 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 men attending the mission-schools are found many who 
 take an intelligent interest in the institutions and politics 
 of the country. 
 
 The most of the Chinese now in America were com 
 mon laborers, farmers and such like in their own country. 
 They were mostly poor, industrious people, just as they 
 are here. Except it be in the separation from their fami 
 lies the general physical condition of the Chinese is bet 
 ter in this country than in China, and is constantly im 
 proving. 
 
 The population of China is from three hundred and 
 fifty to four hundred millions. Their civilization is lower 
 than the Christian civilization of America. The religion 
 of the educated may be formulated as a blind fatality; 
 the religion of the masses a heartless, superstitious idol 
 atry. The work of Christianizing the Chinese nation was 
 at first slow, but very great progress has been made, and 
 now the work is progressing much faster than ever before. 
 As an instance, the Mission of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church at Foochow was established ten full years before 
 a single convert was baptized, but now it numbers about 
 two thousand active Church members and probationers 
 scattered throughout the province, and about twice that 
 number of attendants upon the regular Christian services. 
 In this one mission there are some seventy native preach 
 ers, several of whom are ordained, and of whom Bishop 
 Harris says, for intelligence, enterprise, self-sacrifice, de 
 votion to their work, eloquence and general ability and 
 influence over the people, they will compare favorably 
 with an equal number of Methodist ministers in any of 
 the conferences of America. Many of the preachers arc 
 now supported entirely or in part by the native Churches. 
 They have proved their sincerity by enduring persecu 
 tion, even to blows and imprisonment, for the sake of 
 their religion. These Chinese Christians are not often 
 found in the service of the mercantile community, nor in 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 401 
 
 the employ of ship captains. They are almost never seen 
 by this class of Americans and Europeans. I candidly 
 doubt whether Captain King ever saw a Chinaman, either 
 in China or America, who was recognized as a Christian. 
 The missionary work in China is all done in the Chinese 
 language. Few, if any, of the Chinese Christians can 
 speak English at all, and that excludes them generally 
 from European and American service. 
 
 The persons who testify that there are no Chinese 
 Christians are persons who know nothing about the mat 
 ter, have never visited the Missions, and have never come 
 in contact with Chinese Christians. These same persons, 
 if called upon to testify, would likely say that there were 
 no real Christians in the world, and that Christianity itself 
 is a humbug. 
 
 There are now over twelve thousand communicants 
 of the Protestant Christian Churches in China, and a line 
 of Christian chapels and communities all along up and 
 down the coast, so that a traveler can travel by land from 
 Canton to Shanghai and stop at night a large part of the 
 way at some Protestant chapel and be entertained by a 
 Chinese Protestant family. 
 
 In California there are about three hundred Chinese 
 who have been baptized and received into the different 
 Protestant Churches. If we include those who belong to 
 the Chinese Young Men s Christian Association and the 
 various associations for learning Christian doctrines, the 
 number comes up nearly to one thousand. Their character 
 is such that many Chinese who are not Christians, falsely 
 claim to be such, or to belong to the Mission schools in 
 order to gain the confidence of their employers. The 
 most of these men make sacrifices and endure contempt 
 for the sake of the truth. One young man in my employ, 
 as a native assistant at San Jose, lives in the face of a con 
 stant offer of much larger wages if he will stop preaching 
 and enter a Chinese mercantile firm. His character is 
 26 
 
402 THE CHINESE IN AMERICA. 
 
 such that the Anti-Chinese Society at San Jose reported 
 him as reliable authority on Chinese matters, but garbled 
 his statistics in their testimony. 
 
 Another young, man now earning fifteen dollars a 
 week proposes to leave his employment and take serv 
 ice as an assistant preacher of the Gospel at six dollars 
 a week. 
 
 I knew an instance of a young Chinaman in this 
 city who was cruelly whipped by his molher-in-law to 
 make him renounce his faith in the Christian religion ; but 
 he remained firm, gained the confidence of his father, 
 and is now a trusted and efficient clerk in the Chinese 
 customs in China. I have never known of more than one 
 or two instances of Chinese Christians relapsing into idol 
 atry. 1 do not believe that any Protestant missionary or 
 gentleman acquainted with the facts of the case ever 
 stated that most of the Chinese Christians were hypocrites 
 and soon fell back into idolatry. The Chinese Christians 
 of the Methodist Mission, as to general integrity, honesty 
 and character, will compare favorably with the Christians 
 of other Methodist Churches of this city. The yearly in 
 crease is also about the same in proportion as that gath 
 ered in other Churches from the adult male population. 
 
 Something has been said about the cruelty and pirat 
 ical character of all Chinese, unwillingness to aid their fel 
 low-men in suffering. They have public granaries from 
 which the poor are fed at public expense in time of famine. 
 They have lately imposed severe regulations requiring all 
 vessels, sailors, soldiers, and officers civil and military 
 and naval to aid and succor shipwrecked vessels, to 
 save life and property, giving rewards to those who obey 
 and punishing those who neglect to obey. In the recent 
 floods that destroyed so many houses and people, the offi 
 cers required all boats to assist the suffering and rescue 
 the drowning. Those who refused were immediately pun 
 ished. The dealers in rice formed a ring and raised the 
 
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE. 403 
 
 price so high as to distress the people. The mandarins 
 immediately published a fixed rate for rice and food. 
 Any violation of the rule was followed by confiscation of 
 property. 
 
 The repeal of the Burlingame treaty with China would 
 not affect the right of the Chinese to come here. Our 
 institutions are such that it requires no treaty to allow any 
 people to come to us. The Chinese have no rights in this 
 country under any and all our .treaties, which they would 
 not have under the Constitution and our laws if there 
 were no treaties. The treaties with China are for the ben 
 efit, advantage and protection of Americans in China, 
 and secure to us rights and privileges which we other 
 wise could not enjoy. The only valid objections against 
 Chinese immigration, which will not hold equally against 
 European immigration, are two: I. The slowness with 
 which the Chinese assimilate, and the mere possibility 
 (not probability) of their coming in vast and overpower 
 ing numbers. Believe it would be well to restrict all im 
 migration to two hundred arrivals on any vessel at a sin 
 gle entry. Do not think the Chinese Government would 
 really object, to such restriction except as a mere matter 
 of sharp diplomacy. The masses of China for industry, 
 frugality, and obedience to law will compare favorably 
 with the peasantry of Europe, say of Russia, Austria, 
 Italy, France, and Ireland. 
 
 For the remainder of the writer s testimony 
 the reader will please turn to Chapter II, of 
 this book, which was read at the request of the 
 Commission in answer to Senator Morton s in 
 quiry concerning the civilization, customs, man 
 ners, language, etc., of the Chinese people. 
 
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