120 Chinese Cannery Workers Headed North, Papers in Hand
A Portland crowd of 120 Chinese laborers left for Blaine, Washington, to cut salmon under contract—each carrying the residence certificate that might keep him out of trouble.
A crowd of Chinese, 120 in number, left Portland yesterday for Blaine, Wash., where they will work in a cannery during the salmon season. Their departure created a good deal of commotion in the quarter, as the loading of their baggage onto wagons was watched closely. Every one of the Chinese had his residence certificate carefully stowed away, so that no trouble would overtake him. The men are to work on contract in cutting up the salmon and expect to make money during the season.
“Every one of the Chinese had his residence certificate carefully stowed away, so that no trouble would overtake him.”
This brief item opens a window onto the Chinese labor networks that supplied Pacific Coast canneries after the 1885–86 expulsions. The residence certificates were a direct response to exclusion laws—documents that made belonging conditional and deportable.
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