26 THE ACORN we will first name Captain Doxey. He is one of last year's players and one who has played in every game this season, His pitching, high jumping, and the way he got the boys out to practice made him a leader among them. For the benefit of those who don't know it may be said that Belnap still plays his usual game. He can jump just as high, reach as far, and run as fast as he ever could. If you ever knew him you know what that means. Cragun and Berlin have done well considering that this is their first year at this game. Irvine was not able to play in all the games, and be out regularly to practice, but when he was the team received one of its greatest supports. Much thanks is due to the students from the Basket Ball boys for the interest shown in all the games this year. The Academy Juniors have been handicapped in the same way that the First team has in size. They have never but once been able to meet anything anyway near their size. They have challenged any team in the state with an average weight of. one hundred thirty-five pounds. They average only one hundred and thirty. Out of seven games played they have won five. MISCELLANEOUS. THE RESTRICTION OF CHINESE IMMIGRATION. There are at present two great questions before the American nation, and a serious consideration from every citizen is due them. They are the questions that are today involving arguments and debates; questions that Congress failed to answer in her last session; questions that are becoming planks in the Party and National platforms; and that were once in a Presidential campaign, and will be used again. The questions are: First, the Negro Problem, which is: Shall we continue to permit him to advance, vote, hold office, and in general be on par with the white citizen of America; or shall we treat him as an inferior, with aversion and contumely, persecute and finally disfranchise him? The second is in regard to Chinese immigration Shall we permit the yellow man to enter America and take away the labor from the citizen; or shall we permit him to come and continue to help cultivate the land and to do the menial work for the American people, helping in general to raise the commercial and natural resources? As we all know, the people of the South hold the negro in subjection while the people of the North are trying to raise him upon a higher standard both in intellectual and moral education. For years the negro has fought for his equality among the white population; but odds were against him. While some have advanced others have remained on the same level and today we are not decided upon the, course to pursue, that will be most beneficial to the negro. But we are not permitted to go into detail here so will hasten to the next question. We cannot go into the detailed history of the Chinese immigration, but we can say that it was encouraged and welcomed by all classes of people when first introduced into the country. For it gave to the Territories and States bordering the Pacific coast a class of labor which was much needed; and by its aid the Transcontinental railway lines were constructed, THE ACORN 27 which united the States and brought the two coasts into closer relationship. The natural resources of the western coast were developed; mining and the cultivation of land were encouraged; in fact the Chinese became such a factor, especially in California and Oregon, that some of the most prominent men of the west, introduced a bill in 1867 which suggested that a treaty be formed with the Chinese Emperor, allowing the Chinamen to immigrate from their country at will. This treaty was ratified by the Emperor, and for the first time in years, the inalienable rights of every human being to exchange his domicile and national allegiance, were recognized. And so within a short time a great number of Chinese were landed in America, "Lonely, homesick, ignorant of our language, laws, customs and rules of life, eagerly seeking something to do, yet not knowing what that something might be or where to look for it, strangers in a strange land in the most emphatic sense of the phrase, what could they do but herd with their fellows, who were earlier arrivals, accept any scraps of labor that might be offered, and in some few cases only a few crowd into a place that others could have better filled." But as the railroads drew nearer completion and mining assumed more complete methods, when individual business enterprises were swallowed up by the trusts and corporations, after most of the menial labor had been performed and a State assured, it was then that the foreign immigrants began to pour in and an attempt was made by Dennis Kearney to crowd the Chinese from the labor field. Why was it that the people went wild over the question of Chinese Ex- clusion? Was it because they were afraid of the Yellow Pe!? Or was it because the question and agitation was raised by an ignorant, foreign parasite, in the person of Kearney, who possessed a strong personality and was able to gather around him all the foreign element of the west and was also able to gain the aid of politicians as well as the local and central Government? Why were the people so interested in the Exclusion? Was it because they were alarmed about the evil habits and practices which the Chinese were bringing into the country? For John Chinaman, as you know, is accused of having the most vicious habits, but as one writer has said: "It is not to be denied that some of them have these habits and soon acquire others from association with foreigners and with native born Americans. But the worst of them are not more objectionable an addition to our population than many whom we accept from the slums and sinks of foulness in Europe; admit to citizenship and even elect to office, nor are they lower in the scale of humanity than some of the products of our own centers of vice. The most hopelessly vicious and irredeemable specimens of beastliness in the form of man must be sought, not in heathen Asia, but in so-called Christian Europe and America." But it was not against these habits that they were worried. It was the industry, frugality of time among the Chinese and for the control of the labor market. This is shown in a speech given at one of Kearney's labor meetings, at which the speaker was an Irishman and he said, "He did not care whether the Chinese were worse than other men, but," said he, "the Chinaman wurrks all the toime