The Knights of Labor Demand Action on the Border
A fiery 1885 exchange reveals deep tension between Seattle's labor unions and federal officials over the lax enforcement of Chinese immigration restrictions.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
To the Editor of the Post-Intelligencer: It is believed that the accompanying correspondence will sufficiently explain itself and be of interest to many of your readers. — Walter Walker, R.S. Queen City Assembly, K. of L., No. 3432.
Seattle, W.T., July 6, 1885. Hon. H. P. Beecher, Collector of Customs, Port Townsend — Dear Sir: I am instructed by the Seattle Assembly, Knights of Labor, to inquire of you if you have received any official instructions that in their nature would require or allow you to disregard the Chinese Restriction Act. There is a widespread feeling of dissatisfaction among workingmen at the almost entire failure of the Restriction Act, and the ease with which they (the Chinese) are crossing over the line in large numbers and often, and trouble is to be expected at any time in consequence. Please answer at your earliest convenience. Yours very respectfully, Walter Walker, Recording Secretary, Queen City Assembly, K. of L.
Custom House, Port Townsend, W.T., Collector's Office, July 8, 1885. Hon. Walter Walker, Recording Secretary Seattle Assembly, Knights of Labor — My Dear Sir: Your communication of July 6th has been received, in which you ask if I have received any official instructions that in their nature would require or allow me to disregard the Chinese Restriction Act. In reply to your inquiry I will say that I have not received any instructions concerning this act. My duty is to enforce the laws pertaining to my office. My sympathies are with the workingmen of America, and I assure you that the Restriction Act will be enforced to the full extent of the force at my command. I have the honor to remain, very truly yours, Gilbert Foote Beecher, Collector of Customs.
“My sympathies are with the workingmen of America, and I assure you that the Restriction Act will be enforced to the full extent of the force at my command.”
This 1885 correspondence captures the xenophobic labor politics of the era, where the Knights of Labor leveraged public pressure against federal agents to enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act. It echoes the historical pattern of using labor-rights rhetoric to advocate for discriminatory immigration policies, a stark reminder of how exclusionist sentiment was organized and sustained in early Seattle.
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