The Riot That Never Happened

The spirit that animated the meeting at the Opera House on Saturday evening was such as should control the actions of all citizens at all times. The determination shown to defend the presence of the Chinese remains on the contrary, resolutions passed in good faith demand the strict enforcement of the exclusion act and urge all employers to employ white instead of Chinese labor. Those who are most active in the anti-Chinese agitation occupy precisely the same position as those who voted for resolution. We believe that ninety-nine out of every hundred of our people deprecate violence and are willing to abide by the laws. Why, then, one may ask, the Opera House meeting? Simply that the remaining one hundredth, or it may be less, of our people cannot be depended upon to regard the law. While there has been little public manifestation of a lawless spirit, the words offered by irresponsible men upon the streets, the talk to be heard at night, and the excited anticipations of men who fear law and who are always present at scenes of tumult and riot that they may rob and kill to their hearts content, certainly call for precisely such precautions as have been taken. The number of suspicious characters in Seattle is greater than it has been for many years. Constant arrivals are adding to the strength of these worthless ones. At such a time, no precaution can be considered unnecessary. Wherever a half dozen vagabonds, thugs and thieves burn a building or commit a murder, it is the custom in three days to telegraph over the country that a labor riot has taken place. No such cloud must rest upon the fair name of the working people of Seattle.