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The Commoner.
VOLUME 6 NUMBER 11'
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MR. BRYAN ON CHINESE EXCLUSION
l,
fr . with us, mingles with tlio population and In a
Ji ' t Jt ll-u. 1.M l.1ntlltf In 1tnt tn Still fvnttla
10W geuUI illlUHH inn JUUiitiijr in iunu ju wu w
positt, raco. Ho 1ms neither peculiarities of
thought or dress to distinguish him from those
among whom ho labors, and his children are soon
an indistingulshablo part of tho community. Not
so with tho Chinese. They are not only disting
uished by their dress, language and habits, but
hoy remain entirely separate and apart from
those among whom they dwell. This difference is
not only duo to tho wido dissimilarity in history,
tradition and habit, but also to tho absence of
any pormonont or patriotic interest in tho land
in which they sojourn.
Tho plane of living and the rale of wages
aro surprisingly low in China. When wo were
crossing tho Yollow Rivor I noticed a number
of coolies unloading stone and inquired their
wages. Thoy received one hundred and fifty
cash, or about seven and a half cents gold, per
day. Wlion this compensation Is compared with
tho wages paid in tho United States for the same
kind of labor, it is easy to understand why Chi
nese laborers aro drawn to our country. In
discussing tho immigration question with a Chl
noso official, I askod him what he paid his coach
man. He replied that the head coachmair re
ceived what was equivalent to $10 in gold per
month, whflo the subordinates received from $3.50
tp $5. Out of theso wages they must pay for
their own foodv --There is considerable differ
ence in tho efficiency of labor but making due
allowancesfor that, tho. Chinaman could in some
qe'eupatfons make twice as much in America as
atr-tromb and yet work for half what Americans
i - ""rccolvo,
r Xong experience, has taught the Chinaman
to economize until ho has reduced 'living to the
minimum. Our guide in one city fixed $1 (50
conts gold) as the weokly cost of living for ono
person, but many live upon less. In traveling
from Pokin to Hankow we wore compelled to
prpvlde our own meals, and, the very competent
cqok whom wo seeurod was regularly receiving
X a wopk in gold.
A ride through the streots of a Chinese city
furnishes ample evidence of the economy of tlio
people Tho small measuros used, the tiny piles
of odiblos exposed for salo, the little bundles
carried from -tho market these explain why cash,
running1 about ton to a cent, can bo used as cur
ronoy. Oranges are often sold without the peel
ing, the peeling being sold separately, and pea
nuts seem to be counted instead of measured.
At Canton we saw ono man trudging home from
market with a satisfied air, carrying two pig
tails tied together with a piece of grass. Tho"
well-to-do have many delicacies, like birds' nests
soup and shark fins, some of which we tasted
at tho luncheon given by tho viceroy at Nanking
and at the Hong Kong dinner; and among those
who can afford it, elaborate dinners are quite
common, but among tho masses the food is of
tho cheapest and coarsest kind.
In the matter of fuel the' same scrupulous
economy is exercised. Every dead leaf and twig
is scraped from the ground. and oven the weeds
are condemned to fiery punishment for presum
ing to grow upon such precious soil.
It would require generations to bring our peo
ple down to a plane upon which they could com
pete with tho Chinese, and this would involve a
largo impairment in the efficiency in their work.
It is not just to tho laborlngmen of the
United States that they should be compelled to
labor upon the basis of Chinese coolie labor or
stand Idle and allow their places to bo filled by
an alien race with no thought of permanent iden
tification with our country. Tho American la
borer not only produces the wealth of our nation
in time of peace, but he is its sure defender In
time of war who will say that his welfare and
the welfare of his family shall be subordinated
to tho. interests of those who abide with us but
for a time, who, while with us aro exempt from
draft or military burden, and who, on their re
turn, drain our country of its currency. A foreign
landlprd system is almost universally recognized
as a curso to a nation, because the rent money
Is sent out of the country; Chinese immigration
oa a large scale would give us tho evil nffe
ofVoreign landlordism in addition to its other
objectionable features.
When I pointed out tho fact that Chinese
did not, like other, immigrants, contemplate per
manent: residence in the United States, a Chinese
officiareplled that they would become citizens
if the 10V permitted it, and to the obfonHnn
that they wuld even then remain distinct from
the rest of Eter people. -he answered bv advnno.
ing arguments in favor of amalgamation. He
claimed that the descendants of Chinese (called
Eurasians) who had Intermarried with Europeans
wore brighter than the average children of either
race. I did not havo an opportunity to test the
accuracy of these conclusions, but it is evident
that amalgamation has not been carried on to
any great extent either in China or in the coun
tries to which the Chinamen have gone. The in
stances of intermarriage are so rare that they do
not affect the general problem.
The fact that the Chinese do now, and would
probably if admitted to citizenship, form an un
asslmilated, if not an indigestible, element, sep
arated from the remainder of our population by
a race line, raises another objection to their
admission as laborers. Thoy make good servants,
learning quickly and obeying conscientiously.
Americans who have employed them testify to
thoir trustworthiness and industry. If they were
permitted to freely enter the United States, it
is likely that they would soon solve the domestic
labor problem, of which wo hear so much, for
as cooks, waiters and house boys they are an
unqualified success. But what would be the effect
upon our civilization of such a stratification of
society? At present we have no racial distinc
tion between employer and employe (except that
presented by the negro problem), and ene race
problem is enough. If we were to admit Chinese
coolies, we would find it more and more difficult
to induce white people to enter IntoMpompetitlon
with them and manual labor would bear an odium
which ought not tc be placed upon it. We need to
teach the dignity o IaW and to lessen the
aversion to it; a coolie class wwld make it diffi
cult if not impossible to make progress in the
work of cementing our society Into one harmon
ious whole. If American ideals are to be realized
there must be no barrier between the rich and
the poor, no obstacles In the way of advance
ment from manual labor to intellectual work.
China has suffered immeasurably because of the
complete separation of her educated classes from
her laborers.
A sentimental argument is sometimes ad
vanced to the effect that we have no moral right
to exclude any who seek to come among us.
Whether this argument has any force depends,
first, on the purpose of the immigrant and sec
ond, upon our power to assimilate. If his com
ing is purely commercial and he has "no ambition
to Improve us by his coming or to profit morally
and intellectually by contact with us, he cannot
demand admission upon moral or sentimental
ground. And even if his paramount reason for
coming were a desire to learn of us, it would
still be necessary to consider how far we could
go in helping him -without injury to ourselves.
While visiting the sick is most meritorious, one
who gave all his time to such work, leaving no
time for sleep would soon be a physical wreck;
feeding the hungry is most commendable, but one
who gavd away all of his ""substance, reserving
nothing for his own nourishment, could not long
servo his fellows. In like manner, our own power
to help the World by the absorption of surplus
population has certain natural and necessary
limitations. We have a mission to fulfill and
we can not excuse ourselves if we cripple our
energies in a mistaken effort to carry a burden
heavier than our strength can support.
Students ought to be invited to our country;
we can afford to make the welcome cordial 'and
access to our institutions easy, for there is no
better way of influencing other countries for
good than through their young men and young
women who, gathering new ideas in America,
carry them back and apply them in their own
country. A small part of the money now spent
In building warships to protect us from imagln
ary foes would, if spent in the education of the
children of foreigners, make us friends abroad
who would constantly lessen the probability of
war. The newspapers have given currency to the
report that our government contemplates return
ing to China a part of the Indemnity exacted be
cause of the Boxer attack, and the1 Chinese were
m.l!i J5ratJIflJed at thG rumor. It was cpupled
with the statement that the return of the money
would be conditioned upon the expenditure of
the money for education. I can conceive of no
greater favor that our country can bestow upon
China than to make permanent provision for
schools which would give to the Chinese youth
an opportunity to acquire the most modern in
otruction in literature and in physical and politi
cal sconce If the sum to be returned were
divided and the larger part given for the if
dowment of a series of universities in China
while the smaller part endowed a college ht
Washington, under the control of the Chines,
embassy, it would do more to extend "oiir com
merce, our ideals and our prestige than, a .hun
dred times that sum expended on a military
establishment or a navy.
There is ono argument against the admis
sion of coolies which ought to "commend itself
to the Chinese as well as to the Americans, vi
that the standing of China among us Iff prejur
diced by the fact that she is judged by her lowest
and most ignorant classes. There has always
been an educated class in China, and while the
number belonging to it has been limited and -tho
scope of education narrow as compared with
the scope of education in the western world,
still there have been culture and refinement.
Artists have appeared from time to time, as well '
as artisans skilled in porcelain, metal working,
carving, decoration, etc. There have beenr"mer
chants of standing and integrity (in fact, in
tegrity is the rule among Chinese merchants.) -If
China could be known by these or even by
the averaging of her superior and inferior classes,
she would stand higher among the nations. But
she Is known now, except in diplomatic circles;
by the coolies who are carried by contractors
from one place to another until local sentiment .
leads to tlieir exclusion. And I may add that it
has led to. their exclusion from Australia and
that the question of exclusion from the Trans
vaal has been discussed in the English 'parlia
ment. . v
This argument received-respectful attention
when presented to some of the prominent Chi
nese, for they recognize the injury which has
been done to the nation's reputation by having
the Chinese people Imown by their worst repre
sentatives. There is a fourth argument, the force of
which was admitted at the Hong Kong dinner
by the merchants who had resided in the United
States, viz., that the admission of coolies (and it
would apply to skilled mechanics also) would
involve the nations in constant diplomatic con
troversy over race conflicts. If it is human for
Chinese to desire" to' improve their condition by
immigration to the United States, it is also "hu
man for American laborers to resent enforced,
idleness when presented as an. alternative to' a
lower scale of living. With any large increase -in
the number of Chinese laborers in the United
States, it would be necessary to incur the ex
pense of ah increased army and police force to
preserve order, and even then it would be diffi
cult to prevent occasional violence, and violence
in the United States would lead to retaliation
upon Americans residing in China. These race
riots in our country and in China would not only: -strain
the relations between the nations but
would nullify our attempt to create a favorable
impression upon Chinese students and embarrass
the work of our missionaries in China.
It is better to be frank-and candid with the ,
Chinese government. There "are twenty -times
as many Chinese ia America as there are Ameri
cans in China, and we give to China as much
in trade advantage aB we receive from her, "not
to speak of the money which Americans volun
tarily contribute to extend education and religion
in the Celestial empire. China has no reason
to complain for we .have been, generous in deal
ing with her. We can still be not only just but
generous, but it would be, neither kindness tc
her nor fairness to our own people to invite ai
immigration of such a character as to menace our,
own producers of wealth, endanger obr social
system and disturb the cordial friendship "and
COOd will llfif.WPon Amat'Inn n-nA 'ni,i. -'
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Copyright
W. J.. BRYAN. .-
I.-
TRY SECTION 6
The aflmininfrntfftTi la nM . i. .-
"perplexed; by the results of the beef trust prose
cutions. If the administration has not- growtf
weary of its "trust busting" program it miclS'
try section 6 of the Sherman anti-trust law That
section provides for .the seizure and condemna
tion of the property jot trusts, and is as follows"
Any property owned under any contract or
by any combination, or pursuant to any con
spiracy (and being tile subject thereof) men
tioned in section 1 of this act, and being in tho
course of transportation from one state to an
other, or to a foreign country, 'shall be forfeited
to the United States, and may be seized and
condemned by like proceedings as those provided
by law for the forfeiture, seizure, and condemna
tion of property .imported into the United Statin '
contrary to lawi'i ' , . . -e-s
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