The Push to Formalize Anti-Chinese Organizing
Dr. T. T. Minor proposes a territory-wide convention to systematically drive Chinese residents from Washington, mirroring efforts in California.
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.
Dr. T. T. Minor has a communication in the Post-Intelligencer, which is editorially endorsed by that paper, as to the direct line of recommendations urged repeatedly by the Argus within the past few months, namely, that the better class of our citizens should unite to settle this vexed Chinese question, in order to take it out of the hands of those who resort to unlawful and criminal methods. Dr. Minor, of Seattle, in the Post-Intelligencer, publishes a suggestion for the calling of a convention, to be made up of delegates from all parts of the Territory and representing the different municipal governments, boards of trade and chambers of commerce, for the purpose of taking intelligent action toward securing the entire freedom of our Territory from the Chinese, and by co-operation with other States, their utter exclusion from the country. This matter is suggested by the large and representative convention held at Sacramento. The suggestion is a good one and should be heartily supported, and the News is in entire sympathy with the move.
“The better class of our citizens should unite to settle this vexed Chinese question, in order to take it out of the hands of those who resort to unlawful and criminal methods.”
This reflects the organized, institutionalized phase of the anti-Chinese movement in the 1880s, where 'respectable' civic leaders sought to replace the chaotic mob violence of the era with state-sanctioned exclusionary policy. It is a stark reminder that exclusion was not just a fringe sentiment, but a central plank of regional political platforms.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.