ABSTRACT
The Chinese are rapidly monopolizing employment in all the lighter branches of industry usually allotted to women, such as running sewing machines, making paperbags and boxes, binding shoes, labeling and packing medicines. The great characteristics of the Chinese as laborers are patience and economy: the first makes them efficient laborers, the second cheap laborers. The California legislature of 1861-62 imposed a special police tax of $5.00 per month upon all Chinamen, but after being collected a few months the Supreme Court of California declared the act null and void, as being in conflict with treaty stipulations. An effort was made to pass a similar law at the last session of the Oregon legislature. As the competition of Chinese labor with white has become more general and threatening, the feeling against them has become correspondingly intense. But a counteracting feeling in their favor has also been developed.
