PORT ORFORD POST.
T h o se w ero acco m p lish ed u n d e r
th e eyes of m en w ho, im p a tie n t
a
T H U R S D A Y , - OUT. 2 1 , 1 8 80. n d fra n tic , b e lie v ed all th in g s of
lik e c h a ra c te r s h o u ld be done at
once, am i b ro k e n h e a d s th e only
THE BATTLE OF THE WABASH! p ro p e r re p ly to p ro te s t, and w ho,
T he A nierico-M ongolian C onflict; s h o rt-s ig h te d an d u n p h ilo s o p h ie ,
fo rg o t th a t tw o o r th re e c e n tu rie s
or, T he (Tiinese In v asio n .
are b u t so m an y d ay s o r y e a rs in
• A
L e tte r
th e In v is ib le
th e life of a n a tio n . T h e y obeyed
P o lic e .”
the sy ste m s of th e ir age, w hile it
[From October Californian.]
has b e e n re se rv e d fo r th is m ore
adv an ced e p o c h to a c co m p lish
T a m a l pa is , J u ly 18th, 2080.
M y D ear S i r : A s y o u a re now m ore s u b s ta n tia l r e s u lts by th o se
a p p ro a c h in g th e close of y o u r p e a ce fu l m ean s, w h ich , th o u g h
c o u rse of c o m p a ra tiv e h is to ry , I th ey delay , g a th e r a m ore a b u n d
deem it p ro p e r to give y o u , as a p a n t h a rv e s t. I tell y o u — w hich
ro p o s of th is c o u rse , an a c c o u n t y o u s h o u ld n o te and rem e m b e r
of tlie second g re a t h u m a n in u n w ell— th a t o n ly d u r in g th e two
d a tio n —th e
A m e ric o -M o n g o lia n c e n tu rie s im m ed iately p re c e d in g
con llict. T he first in sta n c e of th is th is d a te have a n y p eo p le co m
k in d ,o f sufficient m a g n itu d e to ran k p le te ly th ro w n aside th a t low and
in o u r cla ssifica tio n , w as th e o v e r p e tty e x e rc ise of im p a tie n t pas-
r u n n in g of S o u th e rn E u r o p e by sioi^ an d ad o p te d th a t b ro a d e r
th e a rm e d n a tio n s of th e N o rth e rn m eth o d by w h ich w hole races are
H iv e, w h ich re s u lte d in th e in te r now a c tu a te d , a n d th e re s u lts of
m in g lin g , b e tw e en
c o n q u e ro r a g g re g a te d life a c co m p lish e d on a
and c o n q u e re d , of n a tio n a l tra its , g ra n d e r scale. U p to th is p e rio d ,
c u sto m s, la n g u a g e , law s an d m odes and s till y e t am o n g th e lo w er
o f th o u g h t, a n d w h ic h fo r c e n classes, th e in d iv id u a l m an has
tu r ie s fu rn is h e d th e scientific been a p e tty sc h em e r, b u t only
s e a rc h e r of h is to ric t r u th
the w ith in th is Lust e p o c h has th e
m o st in v itin g a n d fe rtile fields. science of life and g o v e rn m e n t
T h is le tte r is d e v o te d to th e sec been so well u n d e rs to o d and c a r
ond in c u rs io n of th e k in d , and ried out as to m ake of m illio n s of
w hich, alik e in re s u lt, differs in m en one g rea t m ach in e, w ell o r
m eth o d as w id ely as tin' c u sto m s d e re d ami effective, w o rk in g upon
a n d g e n iu s of a n o th e r and far a g en eral p lan , and to a given end.
m ore e n lig h te n e d age. T h e only i.: th is a tta in m e n t we are forced
p ro b le m n o t y e t solved by m an, to acco rd to C h in a th e lead, not
and w h ic h , from n e c essity , reaches o n ly in p o in t of tim e, b u t also in
o u t s till f u r th e r in to f u tu r e ages, th e efficiency of e x ecu tio n .
is th a t of race a ssim ila tio n ; for
r i i i l e ilJIlirriiU b irc c s nitty a p p e a r
of c ro s s in g , s till, in no p ro p e r
sense, is th e e n d fo rsh ad o w ed by
th e a c c o m p lish e d facts. I c o n i.1, of
c o u rse , give you th is re s u lt as w ell
as no t, b u t T p re fe r to g ro u n d you
w ell in th e facts of th e ep o ch c lo s
in g w ith to -d a y ,a n d leave y o u r p r e
p a re d a n d s tre n g th e n e d p re sc ie n c e
to p e e r u n a id e d in to th a t fo llo w in g .
I w rite fro m th is d a te b ecau se, as
p a s t, p r e s e n t a n d f u tu r e a re to u s
th e s a m e —as we can, in fact,
live in th e f u tu r e a s w ell as th e
p re s e n t— it is b u t a c h a p te r of h is
to ry w ritte n b e fo re , b u t as a c c u
ra te as if w ritte n w ith all th e e v e n ts
fu lly a c c o m p lish e d by m en.
Y ou re m e m b e r th a t w h ile th e
G o th s , H u n s , a n d V an d als from
th e N o rth e rn H iv e , an d a g a in , th e
N o rm an s in E n g la n d , a t a la tte r
d ay, e n fo rc e d th e ir ru le u p o n th e
c o u n trie s th e y o v e rra n , th e in te l
le c tu a l s im ilitu d e of c o n q u e ro r and
c o n q u e re d m ade p o s s ib le a h o m
o g en eo u s a m a lg am a tio n , w h ich has
nut y e t, a n d p e rh a p s w ill n e v e r
o c c u r in A m erica. T h e rea so n s
fo r th is m ay be a p p a re n t to y o u
at th e c o n c lu s io n of th is le tte r ,
a fte r y o u have follow ed w ith m e
th e su c ce ssiv e ste p s b y w h ic h th e
p re s e n t r e s u lt h a s been w r o u g h t
o u t. U n lik e in th is re s p e c t, a ll
o th e r e v e n ts of s im ila r c h a ra c te r,
we are to seek th é cau se of w h a t
w e find, a n d w h a t w ill p ro b a b ly
b e, in th e p e c u lia r c h a ra c te r of th e
p a rtic ip a n ts in th is real d ra m a .
T he S p a n ish c o n q u e sts in A m e ri
ca w ere u n lik e th is , b e c au se a c
c o m p lish e d b y th e old sy ste m of
p u re fo rce, in w h ic h th e m o d e rn
am i g ig a n tic sy stem o f g ra d u a lly
u n d e rm in in g w a s e n tire ly a b sen t.
W e w ill now e n te r u p o n th e
d isc u ssio n of th e tra n s itio n era
— th at p erio d of tim e th at c o n s ti
tu te s th e lin k c o n n e c tin g th e old,
and, we co n fess, the m ore narrow
sy stem w ith th e new' a n d m ore
c o m p re h en siv e o n e —an e ra the
like of w hich no h u m an h a s w it
nessed. D is c a rd in g as a rb itra ry
the rea so n s of o th e r a n d sim ila r
h u m a n p h e n o m e n a , a n d , as p h ilo
so p h ic s tu d e n ts of h is to ry , ris in g
to an a c c e p ta n c e of th o b ro a d e r
c o n s id e ra tio n s of life , we find in
th e p e rio d of A m erican h is to ry
e la p s in g b etw een th e y e a rs 1870
and 2080, th e m o st f ru itf u l field
of a ll p a s t ag es, th e m a g n itu d e of
w h ich b r is tle s w ith issu e s se co n d
a ry , in th e ir u n iv e rsa l effect on
m en, o n ly to th o se im m u ta b le and
je a lo u s law s o rd a in e d by G od.
T ho S p a n ia rd s of A m erica e n
g ra fte d u p o n th e c o u n try , and
w ere soon lo st in th e p re p o n d e r
ance of a b o rig in a l blo o d . T o-day
th o se p eo p le a re m ore In d ia n th an
S p a n ish .
B u t th is M o n g o lia n
q u e s tio n p re s e n ts no su c h c o n d i
tio n s. B e in g s u p e rio r in n u m b e rs
and p re v e n te d , by p e c u n ia ry c o n
sid e ra tio n s , fro m a free a m a lg a
m ation w ith th e w h ite race— th e
n e g ro b o o m in g , in th e c la sh of
th e se T itia n s, n e a rly e x tin c t— th ey
have p re s e n te d to u s r a th e r a p u re
p ro b le m of rac e c o n te sts. T h a t
conflict is now s e ttle d ns to th e in
d u s tr ia l a n d p o litic a l fe a tu re s of
tho c o u n try , le a v in g open and to
be d e d u c e d as a c o ro lla ry only
tlioso of so cial sig nificance, and
th o se w h ic h in v e s t, a c o n te s t of
rac e s fo r e x iste n c e w ith c o n s id e r
a tio n s o f f u tu r e im p o rta n c e to
u n iv e rsa l h is to r y —th a t h is to ry
th a t cares fo r no p e o p le , c lim e o r
issu e, w h ic h is cold, b lo o d less,
p u lse le ss , in its c h ro n ic le of th e
w reck s of tim e.
No b e tte r m eth o d o c c u rs to me
th an to give y o u an a c c o u n t of my
in v e s tig a tio n of th is
pro b lem .
By th e c h ro n o lo g ica l rec k o n in g
com m on to o u r p eople, I tra n s
fe rre d m yself to th e y e a r 2078, and
v isited th e h a u n ts of m an. At
first, w h en I m oved am o n g th e
ch an g ed scenes of two c e n tu rie s,
I c o u ld sc arc e ly m ake o u t w hat
was p re s e n te d b efore me. C ities
had grow n till th e ir b re a d and far-
re a c h in g s tre e ts stre tc h e d away
fo r m iles; v illag e s had becom e
c itie s;
riv e rs
hail, in
m any
p laces, a ssu m e d the stra ig h tn e s s
of c a n a ls; w h ile th e w hole face of
the c o u n try , from San F ra n c isc o
to B oston w as th re a d e d by a n e t
w ork of ra ilro a d lines. T h e p eo
ple had becom e n u m ero u s as the
leaves of th e fo re st or the san d s
of th e sh o re s; th e w astes of U tah,
N evada, C o lo rad o , and A rizona
w ere p o p u lo u s w ith cities, b lo o m
in g w ith fields th a t sm iled like
g a rd e n s. T h e d e s e rts of tin; alk ali
and sage b ru s h had d isap p eared ,
and in th e ir stead broad fields of
yellow g ra in w aved in the s u n lig h t
to th e
rip p lin g notes of the
lark and th e w h is tlin g o f the quail
T h is way and th a t, tow ard every
p o in t of
th e com pass, tra in s,
la d e n w ith th e tre a su re s of c o m
m erce, th u n d e re d at the rate of
one h u n d re d m iles per h o u r. T he
g a s-lig h t h a d , d isa p p e a re d from
the s t r e e t s w hile th e e le c tric glow-
soft as m oonbeam s, b u t b r ig h te r,
flooded th e n ig h ts ; b u t u p o n the
s tre e ts, as I gazed u p o n th em , a
m illio n lig h ts m oved in a tire-fly
dance, th ro u g h the artieiiial g lo a m
in g , m ore n u m e ro u s th a n the s ta rs
of tho sky. U pon close in sp e c
tio n I fo u n d them to be b rig h t l it
tle e le c tric lig h ts c a rrie d upon
each h a t—or w h atever th ey used as
a h e a d -g e a r—th g t gave a far b e tte r
lig h t th a n th e b e st s tre e t lam p s of
1870, i^id w hich m ade an a ttra c tiv e
scene w hen th e th o u sa n d s th r o n g
ed th e s tre e ts. M any c h a n g e s had
b een p ro d u c e d since th a t y e a r in
th e p erso n n el of the c itiz e n s. T he
cap ital was a t St. L o u is , w hich
c ity had no less th an six m illio n s
of in h a b ita n ts . T he p o p u la tio n
w as still m ore m otley th a n b e fo re ,
w hile th e p ig -ta ils w ere e v e ry
w h ere, and n u m b ere d a b o u t th re e
of them to one w h ite of a ll n a tio n
a litie s. T h e Pacific C o a st had b e
com e one vast w o rk sh o p of th em ,
w h ile a few n eg ro es lis tle s s ly lo o k
ed on a t th e th o u sa n d s th a t h e ld
th e c o tto n and rice field s of th e
S o u th . P ig -ta ils w ere th e sty le in
San F ra n c isc o , w hile o n ly an oe-
casional w hite w as m e t s tr o llin g
alo n g th e lo n g a n d b u sy s tre e ts.
M ost of th e late st b u ild in g s w ere
of A siatic a rc h ite c tu re , w ith th e
q u e e r g ables and p ag o d a-sh ap ed
to p s, w hile b lu e a n d V erm illion
p a in ts w ere o v er all. I w as a l
m o st s ta rtle d a t tho tra n s fo rm a
tio n . C ro ssin g from O a k la n d by
fe rry to S an F ra n c is c o , 1 o b serv ed
th a t n in e -te n th s of th e p a sse n g e rs
and all th e officers w ere C h in ese,
am i th a t th e o n ly w h ites em p lo y ed
ab o ard w ere <h o k d ia n d s. W hen I
reached th e w h a rf C h in e se hack-
m en m et m e, c h a tte rin g , and
d ro v e m e aw ay to a h o tel. T h e re
th e c le rk was a C e le stia l, as w ere
m ost of th e g u e sts. T h e d ish e s
w ere of C h in ese m ake, w h ile th e ir
: c o n te n ts, at d in n e r, w ere e q u a lly
A siatic in q u a lity , q u a n tity , and
service. T h o u s a n d s of g u e s ts , in
p ig ta ils, w ere in th e c o rrid o rs and
h a lls. G o in g to th e th e a tre , at
e v e n in g , I found th e play in
P ig eo n E u g lis h , to s u it th e cosm o
p o litan a u d ie n c e , b u t th e boxes
w ere all occu p ied by C elestials,
g litte r in g in silk s and jew els. A
C h in ese m u d arin o ccu p ied th e
bench in th e C ity H all, flanked by
alm o n d -ey ed
under-officials.
I
alm ost began to believe m yself in
C hina, till and A m erican was
b ro u g h t in, and p u t on tria l for
s h y in g a rock at the son of H o n o r
a b le C h in g C hoo l'o u Lee of N ob
H ill; a n d I heard th e ven u e of th e
co m p la in t stated as S an F ra n cisc o .
T h e ju ry were C elestials, and th e
c h ic k e n 's head was severed in the
a d m in is tra tio n of th e o ath , as in
th e F lo w ery K ingdom . A t th e
E x eh an g o 1 found m ore o f th em ;
in d ee d , th ey had u s u rp e d every
avenue held by th e A m ericans two
h u n d re d y e a rs b efore, am i had
ee le stia liz ed C a lifo rn ia .
T h a t 1 m ig h t have an idea how
these c h a n g es had been effected
from a h u m an s ta n d p o in t, 1 c o n
c lu d e d to refe r to som e n o ted h is
to ria n , and g et from him w hat
w ere th e view s of m en th ereo n .
U pon in q u iry of th e c le rk of the
h o tel, I was p ro m p tly re fe rre d to
P ro fe s s o r H a p L ee, No. 1910 C a n
ton stre e t. I set o u t, and soon
found th is w as w h at had once
been C a lifo rn ia s tre e t, and th a t
the p ro fe s s o r’s resid e n ce w as an
e le g a n t sto n e m ansion situ a te d in
th e v icin ity of w here J . C. F lo o d ,
in 1880, c o n te m p la te d e re c tin g a
resid e n ce o r, ra th e r, as com pared
to th is of th e p ro fe sso r, a cottage.
F o rtu n a te ly , I fo u n d th e p ro fe s
so r at hom e, and was received in
g reat s ta te —not th at he c o n s id e r
ed it was d u e m e, b u t to h im se lf,
as th e lead er of social and lite ra ry
to n in th e c ity . M ak in g know n to
him my w ish th a t 1 d e sire d a s h o rt
resu m e of th e last tw o h u n d re d
y e a rs of A m erican h is to ry , and
th a t I had been re fe rre d to him as
th e m o st le a rn e d of liv in g h is to
ria n s , he gave m e, in su b sta n c e ,
tho fo llo w in g a c c o u n t, w hich,
from its g e n e ra l a c cu ra cy , I in c o r
p o ra te in th is le tte r:
“ I t has now been o x e r tw o h u n
d re d y e a rs since o u r a n c esto rs
cam e ac ro ss from th e F low ery
K in g d o m on a w h a lin g e x p e d itio n ,
an d a rriv e d u p o n th e se sh o re s to
find th is m o st b e a u tifu l land
sp a re e ly in h o h iteil by a b o rig in e s
of th e race to w h ich I p re su m e
you b e lo n g , I add w ith re g re t, to
y o u r sham o. T hese p eo p le wore
v ery a rro g a n t, a n d , for th e tim es,
w e a lth y ; in d ee d , th e ir w ealth was
b a rb a ric , lik e th em se lv e s. T hey
spoke a v illa in o u s ja rg o n , th a t
h a p p ily now is m odified by eon-
ta c t w ith o u r s u p e rio r to n g u e , and
wero e g o tistic to a p a in f i l l deg ree.
O u r a n c esto rs w ere p o o r, b u t n o
b le, an d fin d in g hero fa ir o p p o r
tu n itie s to b e tte r th e ir fo rtu n e s
a p p lie d th em se lv e s to tho task.
W o u ld y o u b e lie v e it, o u r a n c ie n t
h is to ria n , C olonel Bee, w ho n o u r
ish ed a b o u t th a t p e rio d , w rit
that th o se b e n ig h te d p eo p le look'
am i d o m estic c h o w d e r as obje.
tio n a b le d ish e s, an d p re fe rri
th e ir own o d o rs to th o se of tl.
C
I elestials? Tliex * w ere at first, it
d u lg e n t, m erely la u g h in g at <h
sacred C uem , an d vow ed the
" J o h n " as th ey fac e tio u sly spoke
of o u r sain ted a n c e s to rs , woi
¡ th e i r s h ir ts o u tsid e th e ir pantn
' loons. It is, my d e a r s ir, diffieul
at th is d ista n c e of tim e to perceiv«
how su ch p e rv e rsio n of taste eonlu
ev
' er have e x iste d . T h ese peo p le,
y o u r a n c e sto rs, w ere s p ru n g from
a sm all trib e know n o rig in a lly as
D ig g ers, as we learn from C olonel
Bee, because th ey w ero all given
to d ig g in g in the h ills and m o u n
tain s for p re c io u s m eta ls. O u r
a n c e s to rs (m ay B u d d h a keep th e ir
e te rn a l sto m ach s well re g u la te d !)
soon d isco v ered that th e a b o rig i
lies, th e a n c e sto rs of th e p resent
M elicnns of th is lan d , w ere loose
and c a re le ss in th e ir b u sin e ss, w ere
s c o rn fu l of sm all su m s, and w ere
n e v e r h a lf satisfied w ith any e n te r
p rise th at d id n o t p ro m ise a m il
lion d o lla rs in a few m o n th s; but
they o fte n e r lost th a n won. W hile
all classes of M elicnns w ero th u s
p u r s u in g b ig su m s, th e d espised
"Jo h n ”
set a b o u t
p r o e u r ’n g
th o se o c c u p a tio n s s e c u rin g m o d
e ra te b u t p e rm a n e n t incom es.
In d e e d , ho n o t o n ly m ade c ig a rs,
w hich w ere a t
first . d e risiv e ly
called ‘s tin k e rs ,’ and d id a great
m any o th e r th in g s , b u t even b e
cam e se rv a n ts in th e h o u se s of the
w ealthy. He was k ick ed , rev iled ,
an d m eta p h o ric a lly s p it u p o n , but
th e se q u el for th e h u n d re d th
tim e proved to th e w orld th a t p e r
s e c u tio n s of that, c h a ra c te r u lti
m utely b le ss th e ir o b je c ts as n o th
in g else can. I t is tho h e a lth y
food of n a tu re .
" I t did n o t take ‘J o h n ’ lo n g to
get, a fo o tin g , am i no so o n e r was
th is re a lise d th an th e b a rb a ria n s
becam e v ery je a lo u s of h im , and
to such an e x te n t was th e jealousy
d eveloped in to o p p o sitio n , th at an
a g ita to r aro se, one G e n e ral K e r
N ee, w ho in cited a g re a t deal of
b itte r fee lin g a g a in st o u r slowly
th riv in g a n c e sto rs. In d e e d , he
u rg e d h is follow ers on to kick th e
sh in s a n d p u ll th e q u e u e s of o u r
peo p le, and even th re a te n e d to
h a n g , b u rn , and to r tu r e th em .
A n o th e r of th is c ity w rote many
w indy th in g s a g a in s t ns, by w h ich ,
it is said, h is nam e was, a b o u t tlm
tim e of h is d e a th , blow n away in
a t’lcreo galo and lost, l ie even
w ent so far as to ad v ise th e follow
e rs of G e n e ral K er N ee to b u rn a
s h ip ju s t a r r iv in g w ith m ore of
th e p ilg rim s from C h in a ; but, as
a ll th o se h e ro e s knew th is was in
ten d e d o n ly as w ind, a n sw ered it
in th e sam e c o m m o d ity , as it was
c h eap a n d p le n ty , b u t th e y did
n o th in g beyond th a t he ad v ised .
G en eral K er N ee, ho w ev er, raised
a m ore se rio u s gale a t one tim e,
and fiercely a ttack ed som e w ash
houses, b u rn e d th e m , an d kicked
th e in m a te s in to th e s tre e t. He
c re a te d an a lta r to h is b a rb a ro u s
p rin c ip le s a t a place called ‘Hand
L o t,’ w h ich , a c c o rd in g to th e
b e st a u th o rity e x ta n t, was s itu a te d
ac ro ss th e bay, in th e p ro v in c e of
M arin, w hence h e m ade fre q u e n t
in c u rs io n s in to th e city .
[ to iie OONTINt
ij >
]