THE TWO PARTIES AND THE CHINESE.
Ah Sin does not vote even once; Patrick O’Flannigan does as often as that, and is capable of doing even better if occasion should require. Ah Sin is, therefore, exposed to such kicks as Patrick may ask for at the hands, or rather the feet, of the politicians, while both parties vie with each other in throwing to Patrick such sops as may conciliate his good will. Under Democratic Government, a class which has neither chains upon, nor ballots in its hands, is an anomaly impossible to harmonize with its surroundings, as it is also defenceless against the assaults of its enemies; it has neither weapons for its own protection nor a reward to offer for that of others. What Pat, who votes, may ask for as against Ah Sin, who does not, the average politician is ready to promise, even when constitutionally prohibited from granting. And this promise has been made, it is humiliating to confess, not simply by sand-lot demagogues, but by aspirants for the highest offices under our Government.
The arrival on our Western coast, and the presence in our land, of less than a hundred thousand Chinamen is gravely spoken of as a fearful inundation which in some way must be arrested; but the tide that flows steadily in upon our Eastern coast from Ireland and other countries, is regarded as a blessing rather than a danger. If we seek for an explanation of this difference, it will be found to be at bottom simply this: Patrick does not like Ah Sin’s frugal, industrious, economical habits, which enable him to live and labor cheaply; so he nourishes his ballot over the head of the politician, and his shillalah over that of Ah Sin, and says that he must go, while all seekers for office either echo the demand, or more mildly assert that his coming must be regulated.
A candid examination of the testimony taken by the Committee of the United States House of Representatives last year in California, will leave the impression that the Chinese characteristics which give most offense to the sand-lotters, whose voice both great national parties have heard, and to which they have also made responses which ought to mantle our cheeks with shame, are just the ones above mentioned. Such men as the Mayor of San Francisco, indeed, complain that China Town is not much like Beacon Hill in beauty or cleanliness; that there are women among these people not so pure as they ought to be; that many of the men lie quietly in opium dens under the influence of that subtle drug instead of assisting, under the stimulus of whiskey, at primary meetings and at the polls, as good politicians should. Charges to this effect are made, but the evidence taken shows that the real ground of complaint is that the Chinaman is sober, industrious, reliable, and likely to be preferred as a laborer to Patrick and Bridget.
That the necessaries and comforts of life are to be bought, by those who need them, more cheaply in a market supplied with Chinese labor, is not deemed worthy of consideration; the great fact which demands attention is that Patrick must forego his numerous holidays, his whiskey, and his devotion to politics; must settle down to, and accomplish, a vast amount of honest and skillful labor, if he shall successfully compete with the Chinese, which is an evil the two political parties must promise to abate as the condition of having his support at the polls.
The fact comes back upon us that the ballot is necessary, under our Government, for the defence of every class of citizens; and the education of the voter is a necessary defence of the Government against the ignorance of the ballot. Neither the wisdom nor the virtue of the statesman can be relied upon, for he everywhere becomes a demagogue, if demagogy continues to be the road to office, as it is everywhere among ignorant voters. Our salvation must be found, not in the virtue of the statesmen, but in the intelligence and virtue of the people.