Speech #470034196

I intend to do the Senator full justice in lintt respet. I simply want to state. by the way. that the cooly is stuterely lborer in India or in China. but according to tIhe intorpretation in this country a cooly is a man whose passage is paid to the United States by some one who has the money. aid who in return receives the promise of the emigrant to repay the advance with intorest either in money or labor after his arrival. lu what particular does the Senator find anything wrong or contrary to public policy in this trausaction? When did povertyget to be such a crime that this socalled inalienable birthright of coming to this country could be alienated for any such causes Does the Senator flom Massachusetts wish to deprive any man of Iis inalienable rights merely because he is poor ? Is it a crine if he has not the money to bring him here. if he borrows it from sotie one who is willing to advance it? Certainly when he gets here k6 is not a pauper. because whoever pays his passage would find it inciumbent on himself in order to get his money back to find him employment as soon as he arrived. Is there anything criminal in a contract like that ? A large proportion of the inunigration from Europe caine here in that way. a large proportion of the emigration front the Eastern States to California went in that way. and yet in neither case (lid I over hear of any forfeiture of rights on account of the immigrant having borrowed the passagemoney. and it seems impossible that the Senator should maintain that the newly discovered inalienable birthright of the foreigner to leave his country and settle in whatever other country he chooses could be alienated for such a cause. Ifso. it certainly is not sohuportant a birthright as I thought it was. The pretext that his labor is owned by the contractor after lie guts here is dissipated by the fact that there is no law in this country to enforce specilic performance of any such contract. and therefore no greater harm could come by reason of the importation of contracl coolies than of the coming of Chinese laborers at their own expense. Does the Senator know of any coolies being sent here from China against their will? If so. then I can understand that his objection to cooly importation would be good. but not because the person coming happens to Ie poor. Then.