Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
brill.nl/jaer
A Comparative Analysis of Nineteenth-Century
Californian and New Zealand Newspaper
Representations of Chinese Gold Miners
Grant Hannis
Massey University
Email: [email protected]
Abstract
During the nineteenth-century gold rush era, Chinese gold miners arrived spontaneously
in California and, later, were invited in to work the Otago goldfields in New Zealand. This
article considers how the initial arrival of Chinese in those areas was represented in two major
newspapers of the time, the Daily Alta California and the Otago Witness. Both newspapers
initially favored Chinese immigration, due to the economic benefits that accrued and the
generally tolerant outlook of the newspapers’ editors. The structure of the papers’ coverage
differed, however, reflecting the differing historical circumstances of California and Otago.
Both papers gave little space to reporting Chinese in their own voices. The newspapers editors
played the crucial role in shaping each newspaper’s coverage over time. The editor of the Witness
remained at the helm of his newspaper throughout the survey period and his newspaper
consequently did not waver in its support of the Chinese. The editor of the Alta, by contrast,
died toward the end of the survey period and his newspaper subsequently descended into racist,
anti-Chinese rhetoric.
Keywords
Gold Rush, Chinese gold miners, Daily Alta California, Otago Witness, content analysis, Chinese
in California, Chinese in New Zealand
A dramatic change in the ethnic mix of the white-dominated western United
States occurred in the middle of the nineteenth century, with the sudden
influx of thousands of Chinese gold miners. This demographic tsunami was
not confined to the United States, of course. At broadly the same time,
Chinese gold miners also arrived en masse in parts of other white-dominated
countries, such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
A considerable literature has been produced on these Chinese influxes, but
until recently such research often considered the impact of Chinese in one
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2011
DOI 10.1163/187656111X610737
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
249
territory alone. Furthermore, although historians do quote from mainstream
newspapers to illustrate white society’s response to Chinese immigration, these
extracts are piecemeal and do not represent a comprehensive, quantitative
assessment of the coverage.1
This article undertakes a comparative study of newspaper coverage to
understand better the depiction of Chinese immigration in two areas:
California, in the western United States, and Otago, in the southern part of
New Zealand’s South Island. It uses content analysis, a systematic approach to
quantitatively and qualitatively assess the newspaper coverage.2 By adopting a
rigorous, comparative approach this article brings into sharper focus the
nature of the representation of Chinese in each newspaper and the reasons for
this representation.
California and Otago were chosen because their similarities and differences
were anticipated to produce new insights into newspaper representations of
ethnic minorities. Both California and Otago were white-dominated newspaperpublishing pioneer communities into which Chinese arrived in significant
numbers – California in the 1850s and Otago fifteen years later. However,
whereas in California Chinese arrived spontaneously, in Otago businesspeople and politicians invited them in. Further, whites in Otago would have been
aware of the impact of the Chinese in California.
The article begins by presenting the historical context, reviewing the
arrival of Chinese during both countries’ gold rushes, and profiling the two
newspapers included in the study. This is followed by details of the research
method and the results of the content analysis. The conclusions are then laid
out.
1
Recent work which puts Chinese immigration in a global context includes Philip A. Kuhn,
Chinese Among Others: Emigration in Modern Times (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield,
2008); Adam McKeown, Chinese Migrant Networks and Cultural Change: Peru, Chicago, Hawaii,
1900-1936 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001). The Chinese influx into New Zealand
is described in Stevan Eldred-Grigg, Diggers, Hatters and Whores: The New Zealand Gold Rushes
(Auckland: Random House, 2008); James Ng, Windows on a Chinese Past: How the Cantonese
Goldseekers and Their Heirs Settled in New Zealand (Dunedin: Otago Heritage Books, 1993); and
James Ng, Chinese Settlement in New Zealand (Christchurch: New Zealand Centre for Chinese
Studies, 1999).
2
For the methodology of content analysis, see, for instance, Kimberly Neuendorf, The
Content Analysis Guidebook (Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 2002) and Klaus
Krippendorff, Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology (Thousand Oaks, California:
Sage Publications, 2004).
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Historical Context
Californian Gold Rush
In 1848, California was a remote, sparsely populated backwater. But all this
dramatically changed after James Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill that year.
The ensuing gold rush saw thousands flock to the area in the hopes of making
their fortunes.3 In 1849, about 90,000 Americans from the east headed for
California, followed by about the same amount the next year, nearly 1 percent
of the country’s entire population.4 Foreigners also came to the fields. These
included French, Irish, Australians, and Chinese.5 Many of the miners arrived
by sea, with San Francisco the main entry point. The spontaneous nature of
the gold rush meant the goldfields were initially unregulated. Instead, the
miners on many of the fields elected someone from within their midst to
administer and enforce mining claims, a generally effective system.6
Most of the Chinese who arrived in California came from southeast China
and arrived in response to overpopulation, war, and poverty at home. In
January 1850, there were about 800 Chinese living in California; by the end
of that year the number was more than 4,000. In 1851 about 2,500 Chinese
arrived in California, and in 1852 about 20,000 arrived.7 Not all who arrived
stayed, of course, but in 1852 there were about 25,000 Chinese living in
California. Throughout the 1850s the Chinese population in the United
States was concentrated almost solely in California, with about 80 percent
living and working on the goldfields.8 As with immigrant miners generally, the
Chinese were overwhelmingly male and sojourners, hoping to strike it rich
and then return home. Some of the Chinese who came worked in support
industries, including as merchants and artisans.9
3
Roger Lotchin, San Francisco 1846-1856: From Hamlet to City (Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 1974).
4
John Gordon, An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power (New
York: HarperCollins, 2004).
5
Randall Rohe, “After the Gold Rush: Chinese Mining in the Far West, 1850-1890,” in
Arif Dirlik, ed., Chinese on the American Frontier (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield,
2001).
6
California State Archives, “Law and Order,” (2011), <http://www.learncalifornia.org/doc
.asp?id=1932> (acc. 10 Jan. 2011).
7
Rohe, “After the gold rush,” 4.
8
Ibid., 6.
9
Judy Yung, Gordon Chang, and Him Mark Lai, eds., Chinese American Voices from the Gold
Rush to the Present (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2006).
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251
Differences in language, culture, and customs meant that Chinese tended
to keep to themselves and not mingle with whites, especially on the goldfields.
In San Francisco, Chinese congregated in the area that would eventually
become Chinatown. By the 1860 census, California’s population had reached
380,000, with Chinese accounting for nearly 10 percent of the total.10
Initially, Chinese tended to be welcomed in California. In the early 1850s,
the newly arrived Chinese were invited to take part in street parades, including one celebrating California becoming a state. Furthermore, the outgoing governor of California, John McDougal, believed Chinese could be a
good source of labor for the new state, declaring in January 1852 that the
Chinese were “one of the most worthy classes of our newly adopted citizens.”11 But as the Chinese population grew, so did concerns over Chinese
immigration. California’s next governor, John Bigler, was vehemently antiChinese and as early as April 1852 was calling for their exclusion. Chinese
were accused of being degraded aliens incapable of assimilating into white
society, and of undercutting the wages of white workers and repatriating
the funds to China. The Californian legislature enacted a law to tax foreign miners, a law largely directed at Chinese, and working-class whites
later attacked and murdered Chinese. The vitriol of anti-Chinese sentiment
intensified, and in 1882 Congress banned further Chinese immigration into
the country. The legislative ban was not lifted until near the end of World
War II.12
Otago Gold Rush
Initially, New Zealand was solely populated by the Maori – the indigenous
people of the country. Following the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 between
Maori and the British crown, the formal white colonization of New Zealand
began. Soon English-speaking, white Europeans became the country’s dominant culture. Up until the 1860s there were virtually no Chinese in New
Zealand.13
10
Roger Daniels, Asian America: Chinese and Japanese in the United States since 1850 (Seattle:
University of Washington Press, 1988), 15.
11
Quoted in H. Brett Melendy, Chinese and Japanese Americans (New York: Hippocrene,
1984), 28.
12
Elmer Sandmeyer, The Anti-Chinese Movement in California (1939; Urbana: University of
Illinois, 1973).
13
Michael King, The Penguin History of New Zealand (Auckland: Penguin Books, 2003).
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G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
The Otago gold rush began in 1861, when Gabriel Read found gold near
the town of Lawrence in an area soon called Gabriels Gully.14 As European
miners flocked to the area Otago boomed. The province’s population rose
from 13,000 in 1861 to 67,000 in 1864. Most of the miners arrived by sea
and the main entry point, the city of Dunedin, prospered. Various goldfields
opened, with the miners largely working individually or in small groups, with
each field overseen by a government-appointed warden. But, as was the case
overseas, the gold miners in Otago were transient, heading off to new goldfields should the potential pickings appear better. When large gold strikes were
made elsewhere in 1864, many miners abandoned Otago and the province’s
population dropped to 47,000 in 1865.15
With the decline in mining activity, Otago’s economic development stalled
and the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce decided to invite Chinese miners
then working the goldfields in the Australian state of Victoria to relocate to the
Otago goldfields. Initially, virtually all the Chinese miners came from Australia
but later arrived directly from China.16
The first Chinese came ashore in December 1865 and by December 1867,
1,185 Chinese were at work in Otago. The Chinese were all male and, although
most were miners, a few worked as storekeepers, market gardeners, and in
similar support roles. The Chinese miners often worked areas abandoned by the
Europeans. As in California, differences in language and culture meant Chinese
tended to keep to themselves and not mingle with Europeans still working the
fields. By 1872, there were 3,683 Chinese miners and 5,867 European miners
in Otago, making the Chinese easily the largest non-European ethnic group in
the province. Chinese miners also began to work fields in other parts of New
Zealand’s South Island.17 As virtually all Chinese arrivals went to the mines,
no Chinatown formed in Dunedin. The only city in New Zealand to host any
semblance of a Chinatown was Wellington, the nation’s capital, where a relatively small number of Chinese congregated in the years after the gold was
exhausted.18
14
Te Ara, “Otago,” (2008). <http://www.teara.govt.nz/EarthSeaAndSky/MineralResources/
GoldAndGoldMining/3/en> (acc. 10 May 2008).
15
Eldred-Grigg, Diggers, Hatters and Whores, 123, 427; Ng, Windows on a Chinese Past, 123.
16
Ng, Windows on a Chinese Past, 134.
17
Ibid., 156; Te Ara, “Chinese,” (2008), <http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/
NewZealandPeoples/Chinese/en> (acc. 15 June 2008).
18
Lynette Shum, “Remembering Chinatown: Haining Street in Wellington,” in Manying Ip,
ed., Unfolding History, Evolving Identity: The Chinese in New Zealand (Auckland: Auckland
University Press, 2003).
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
253
Initially, opposition to the Chinese coming to New Zealand was mainly
only voiced by some European miners and politicians, but as the years
passed anti-Chinese sentiment became more pronounced.19 Simple racism,
coupled with concerns that Chinese would supplant European workers, saw
laws passed to limit Chinese entry. In 1881, the government introduced a
poll-tax on each new Chinese who entered the country, initially levied at
£10 per head, rising to £100 in 1896. As it was, the number of Chinese
fell markedly with the end of the gold rushes in the late 1880s, and by the
end of the century the Chinese population in New Zealand was negligible.
Nevertheless, by then, even the country’s premiers (that is, prime ministers),
including Richard Seddon and Joseph Ward, were openly voicing rampantly anti-Chinese, racist rhetoric.20 The poll-tax was removed in the middle
of the twentieth century, but other laws continued to favor European immigrants over those from Asia. It was not until the mid-1980s that legislative and
political changes saw significant numbers of Chinese again come to New
Zealand.21
Newspapers in the Study
The Californian newspaper considered in this study is the Daily Alta
California, published in San Francisco. It began publishing in 1849, becoming the city’s first daily newspaper in January 1850 as the city boomed.
The newspaper grew in popularity and was soon “the top journal in early San
Francisco.”22
Those behind the paper were youthful members of the dominant white
culture. The publisher was Edward Kemble, whose father had been a journalist and New York senator. Edward had come to California in 1846 as a
seventeen-year-old, and had soon become involved in newspaper publication. The paper’s primary editor was Kemble’s good friend Edward Gilbert.
As well as editing the paper, Gilbert also served as a member of Congress
for San Francisco. Gilbert arrived in California from the east as a volunteer
19
Nigel Murphy, The Poll-tax in New Zealand (Wellington: New Zealand Chinese Association,
1995); Shum, “Remembering Chinatown,” 77.
20
Te Ara, “Otago”; Murphy, Poll-tax in New Zealand.
21
Ng, Chinese Settlement in New Zealand, 17.
22
San Francisco Public Library Herb Caen Magazines and Newspapers Center, “Early SF
newspapers – Alta California,” (2009), <http://sfplmagsandnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/early
-sf-newspapers-alta-california.html>, para. 5 (acc. 19 May 2009).
254
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
army officer in 1847, aged in his late twenties.23 Gilbert was sympathetic
toward the Chinese, believing they would help bring prosperity and stability
to the state. In this, and many other matters, Gilbert came into conflict with
Governor Bigler, with Gilbert using the Alta to question the competence of
Bigler’s administration. Consequently, one of Bigler’s political supporters,
James Denver, challenged Gilbert to a duel and in August 1852 killed Gilbert
in the duel. After this, a range of editors steered the paper and Kemble,
stunned by Gilbert’s death, was largely absent from California. Kemble sold
the paper in 1855, and its last issue appeared in 1891.24
In the case of Otago, the paper analyzed is the Otago Witness. A popular
weekly newspaper published in Dunedin, the paper came to embody what
newspaper historian Guy Scholefield has said was “the spirit of the province”
and would “influence its development for eighty years.”25 The Witness commenced publication in 1851. After a slow start – the paper had only 210
subscribers in 1855 – the paper became successful, especially following the
establishment of the Otago goldfields. Reflecting the general economic boom
Otago enjoyed in the gold rush years, the paper was printing 4,500 copies a
week by 1864.26
Those behind the paper were leading members of the dominant white culture. The founding editor was William Cutten, who was born in London,
trained as a lawyer and came to New Zealand in 1848. The son-in-law of
William Cargill, one of Otago’s primary colonizers, Cutten was later a member of the Otago Provincial Council and Parliament. Cutten was also an associate of Julius Vogel, who would go on to become one of the colony’s leading
journalists and politicians, including premier.27
The editor of the Witness during the current study’s survey period was
George Bell, who edited the paper from 1863 to 1869. Bell was a Yorkshire
23
Helen Brentnor, “Foreword,” in idem, ed., Edward Kemble, A History of California
Newspapers 1846-1858 (1858; Los Gatos, CA: Talisman, 1962); The Virtual Museum of the
City of California, “San Francisco Streets Named for Pioneers,” (2010), <http://www.sfmuseum
.org/street/stnames4.html> (acc. 14 Mar. 2010); and “Early SF newspapers – Alta California.”
24
Brentnor, “Foreword.”; Kemble, History of California Newspapers; “Early SF newspapers –
Alta California part three” (2009), <http://sfplmagsandnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/early-sf
-newspapers-alta-california.html> (acc. 15 May 2009).
25
Guy Scholefield, Newspapers in New Zealand (Wellington: Reed, 1958), 168.
26
National Library of New Zealand, “Otago Witness,” (2008), <http://paperspast.natlib
.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=CL1.OW&sp=OW&essay=1&e=-------en--1----0-all>
(acc. 1 June 2008).
27
Tom Brooking, “Cargill, William,” The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Vol. 1 17691869) (Wellington: Allen & Unwin and the Department of Internal Affairs, 1990); Scholefield,
Newspapers in New Zealand.
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
255
man who came to New Zealand in 1863. Bell rose to become a major newspaper owner in New Zealand. His descendants would eventually establish
Allied Press, an organisation that still owns newspapers in New Zealand
today.28 The Witness eventually closed in 1932.29
Research Method
The current study undertakes a content analysis of coverage in the Alta and
Witness newspapers on the Chinese in California and Otago, respectively.
These two papers were selected as they were leading newspapers of the time,
published by – and for – the dominant white culture. They also provide a
good summary of general newspaper coverage in their respective areas because,
as was customary at the time, both reprinted news from newspapers in nearby
areas (duly credited), as well as gathering their own news. In California, the
survey period was 1850-53 inclusive and in Otago 1865-68 inclusive, in both
cases covering the four-year period of the initial influx of Chinese.
The Alta was searched online using the California Digital Newspaper
Collection database.30 Copies of the Witness were accessed and downloaded
from the National Library of New Zealand’s online database, Papers Past.31 For
both newspapers, all articles from the survey period that mentioned “Chinese”
(or contemporary synonyms such as “Celestial,” “Chinamen,” “John,” and
“Mongolian”) were obtained and coded. The searches returned 419 articles
published in the Alta (17,689 cm2 of copy) and 199 articles in the Witness
(18,794 cm2).
The author undertook the coding and the content analysis. Each line of
each article was coded by: (1) Topic. This was the subject of the text. This
information was collected to ascertain what stories about the Chinese miners
the newspapers chose to tell. This, in turn, helped reveal how the newspapers chose to depict them. (2) Voice. This was defined as the person(s) or
organization(s) quoted in the text. This information was collected to determine, first, whether it was primarily members of the dominant white culture
28
George Griffiths, “Bell, George,” The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Vol. 2 18701900) (Wellington: Bridget Williams Books and the Department of Internal Affairs, 1993);
Scholefield, Newspapers in New Zealand; Allied Press, “Allied press history” (2008), <http://
www.alliedpress.co.nz/history.php> (acc. 2 June 2008).
29
National Library of New Zealand, “Otago Witness.”
30
Available at <http://cdnc.ucr.edu/newsucr>, (acc. 1 Jan. 2008).
31
Available at <http://www.natlib.govt.nz> (acc. 1 Jan. 2008).
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G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
who told the stories about the Chinese and, second, whether Chinese themselves had a voice. (3) Tone. The tone of each voice’s comments was recorded,
as was the tone of all reportage. This information was collected to help determine the overall impression the newspapers chose to portray.
The results of the content analysis are reported by year.
Results
Tables 1 and 2 at the end of this article summarize the results of the content
analysis. The results are now discussed in detail.
The First Year
With few Chinese in California in 1850, the Alta barely mentioned them, the
reportage comprising 5 percent of the paper’s total coverage for all four years.
Effectively all the coverage was on the activities of Chinese already in
California. In turn, more than half of that coverage (54 percent) was of
Chinese cultural and religious activities. The Alta found that Chinese had a
charmingly exotic culture, although it did adopt a somewhat patronizing air.
For instance, the paper reported a reception for local “China Boys” – attended
by the mayor and other San Francisco dignitaries, including several reverends –
with the Alta noting the Chinese “were dressed in their native holiday suits,
with their pigtails nicely braided, and presented a perfectly neat and singularly
picturesque appearance.”32
Nearly all the voices heard in the Alta’s coverage (94 percent) were nonChinese, about two-thirds neutral in tone. Nearly all (91 percent) of the neutral coverage was voiced by the Alta itself. This comprised matter-of-fact
statements, such as that losses in a recent fire included the “Chinese restaurant, owned and occupied by Ahi, loss $2,800.”33 Just over a quarter of the
coverage was positive, with hardly any material in a negative tone. All of the
positive material was voiced by the newspaper. It was often glowing, with
the newspaper describing the Chinese as “very useful, quiet, good citizens”34
and declaring, “We have a great deal of respect for the Chinese.”35 Most of the
Chinese-voiced material was neutral (89 percent). This included the Chinese
32
33
34
35
Alta, 29 Aug. 1850, 2.
Ibid., 18 Sept. 1850, 2.
Ibid., 8 Mar. 1850, 2.
Ibid., 11 May 1850, 2.
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
257
speaking in broken English at a ceremony in a San Francisco plaza, where
books were donated to the Chinese community. The Chinese were grateful,
one commenting: “China boys plenty willing turn out in plaza, have good
bookeys.”36 The remaining copy was all positive, and comprised a Chinese at
the same ceremony assuring the newspaper: “China boys very good, plenty!
No have any bads.”37 The newspaper’s patronizing approach was illustrated by
quoting this broken English verbatim.
Whereas there was little coverage of the Chinese miners in the Alta in the
year before the Chinese influx began, in striking contrast there was a considerable amount of coverage in the Witness at the corresponding time. Despite the
total absence of Chinese in Otago in 1850, coverage of the Chinese in the
Witness that year accounted for a third of all its coverage for the survey period.
All of the 1865 coverage was on one topic: the proposal to invite Chinese to
Otago.
Over a third of the material (37 percent) supported having Chinese miners
in Otago. The paper reported on meetings of the Dunedin Chamber of
Commerce, where various members insisted that Chinese miners had acquitted themselves well in Australia and, with the Otago goldfields increasingly
deserted, were needed in Otago.38 The paper also reported on several public
meetings that supported the proposal. At one, a motion was passed that “an
almost unlimited field for profitable labor for the Chinese existed.”39 But not
everyone was convinced. Virtually the same proportion of material (36 percent) reported on those who opposed the Chinese coming to Otago. A dissenting member of the Chamber of Commerce brought up the familiar charge
that Chinese were mere sojourners, charging that Chinese, after a few years
prospecting, “would then take away with them what they had made and spend
it in another country.”40 Various public meetings also denounced the plan.
As one speaker noted, it “would be a great injustice to the hard-working
and enterprising European miner, to allow the produce of his enterprise
and toil to be usurped by the Mongolians, whose dishonest propensities are
notorious.”41
Given the demographic characteristics of Otago at the time, it was hardly
surprising that virtually all the voices heard in the coverage were non-Chinese
36
37
38
39
40
41
Ibid., 13 Aug. 1850, 2.
Ibid.
Witness, 23 Sept. 1865, 15; 14 Oct. 1865, 17.
Ibid., 14 Oct. 1865, 11.
Ibid., 23 Sept. 1865, 15.
Ibid., 14 Oct. 1865, 6.
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G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
(99 percent). There was an approximately equal spread of positive and negative coverage (about 36 percent each), with the rest neutral. The main voice
heard in the positive coverage was the Witness itself, accounting for two-thirds
of all the positive material. For instance, the paper praised Chinese as “temperate, frugal, and well behaved,”42 noting that their “industry and patient application to work is proverbial.”43 A further 27 percent of the positive material
was voiced by community leaders, including the Chamber of Commerce.
Chamber member W. Tolmie said his experience “of the Chinese in Australia
was that they made very valuable colonists; were a well-behaved class, and
produced large quantities of gold, and were large consumers.”44 The negative
material was largely voiced by members of the general public (78 percent),
often at public meetings. Some of these comments focused on the supposed
detrimental effects on wages, but other comments were simply racist. At one
meeting, a speaker said the Chinese were not “a moral, well conducted class”
and that “the bed of the river would be the best place for them.”45
Only 1 percent of the coverage was in a Chinese voice, all neutral, and even
this was all paraphrased. The Chinese in Australia were clearly all too aware of
the potential dangers of travelling to Otago. The Chamber of Commerce’s
vice-president, G. Turnbull, reported to members of the provincial government that “Some correspondence has taken place between one of the firms
here and gentlemen in Victoria, from which it appears that there is an inclination on the part of the Chinese to try this Province for gold mining; but that
they want a guarantee that they will be protected.”46
The Second Year
In 1851, in keeping with the steady rise in the numbers of Chinese arriving in
California, more reportage of the Chinese miners took place in the Alta, representing 12 percent of all the paper’s reportage for the survey period. Likewise,
28 percent of all reportage this year was on Chinese immigration. About twothirds of this material was general reportage, such as shipping-news statistics
on Chinese arrivals, including that on the ship Lebanon came “260 Chinese.”47
Other reportage went into some detail about the Chinese arrivals, such as that
42
43
44
45
46
47
Ibid., 30 Sept. 1865, 10.
Ibid., 31 Mar. 1865, 10.
Ibid., 23 Sept. 1865, 15.
Ibid., 30 Sept. 1865, 14.
Ibid., 13.
Alta, 22 July 1851, 2.
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
259
“California must at present have a population of several thousand Chinese;
singularly enough, however, scarcely any female Celestials ever come.”48
The other 72 percent of coverage was on Chinese activity. Forty-four percent of this coverage was on Chinese as the victims of crime. This included
various assaults by white men on Chinese in town49 as well as brawls among
Chinese.50
Ninety-one percent of the voices heard in the 1851 coverage were nonChinese. Sixty-three percent of those voices were neutral in tone and was primarily (86 percent) the newspaper, such as: “Ching, a genteel looking
Chinaman, was fined ten dollars for beating Acum.”51 A further third of the
non-Chinese voices were positive in tone. This was solely the newspaper,
which declared, for instance, that the Chinese “are among the most industrious, quiet, patient people among us,”52 who “industriously labor” at the gold
mines.53
All of the 9 percent of coverage in a Chinese voice was neutral. This was
confined to Chinese giving evidence in various legal disputes. The lengthiest
involved a trial about a white man accused of stealing a ring from a Chinese
woman. At one point she turned on the defendant’s lawyer, insisting, “You no
tinkee dat man teefy ‘cause he give you some money.”54 The quoting of such
broken English again indicates a patronizing air to the coverage. Certainly the
newspaper took to describing the sound of the Chinese language as “broken
China,” going so far as, after listing the names of several Chinese who had died
in San Francisco, to conclude that the names were “broken China with a
vengeance!”55
Whereas the Alta’s coverage of the Chinese miners increased as they arrived
in numbers, at the Witness the reverse happened. Judging by the extent of its
coverage, the actual arrival and presence of Chinese in Otago in 1866 seems
to have been anti-climactic. Only 7 percent of all its material on the Chinese
in Otago published by the paper in the survey period appeared in 1866.
Nearly two-thirds of this material (63 percent) centered on Chinese activity in
New Zealand. In turn, most of this (87 percent) reported on Chinese gold
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
Ibid., 20 Aug. 1851, 2.
Ibid., 15 May 1851, 2; 23 May 1851, 2; and 24 May 1851, 2.
Ibid., 29 Oct. 1851, 2.
Ibid.
Ibid., 12 May 1851, 2.
Ibid., 11 Dec. 1851, 2.
Ibid., 14 Dec. 1851, 2.
Ibid., 29 Dec. 1851, 1.
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G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
mining. This coverage was often extracts of regular reports from the goldfields,
prepared by the wardens. For instance, Warden Robinson reported from the
Dunstan goldfields that “The great event of the month has been the arrival at
Clyde of a party of Chinese – ten in number. These men are understood to be
the advance-guard of a large body of their countrymen.”56
The ongoing debate of the desirability of having Chinese in Otago
accounted for the remaining 37 percent of material. Over half (54 percent)
reported on those who did not welcome the Chinese. Most dramatically, the
newspaper reported on the ugly reception a group of Chinese miners had at
the Nevis goldfield: “no sooner did the news of John’s arrival get to the ears of
the resident miners, than they rose en masse, at the dead hour of night, and
drove the unwelcome visitors down the gorge … [the Chinese left] in a state
of fear and trembling.”57 But a quarter of the material reported on the Chinese
being welcome in Otago. At the Dunstan, for instance, Warden Robinson
noted that “The people here seem disposed to receive the Chinamen in a
friendly spirit.”58
The overwhelming majority of the voices heard in the 1866 coverage were
non-Chinese (95 percent). Fifty-eight percent of this was neutral reportage.
Of this, 54 percent was the newspaper, including a report that “A party of
eight Chinese who came from Melbourne in the [ship] Tararua started yesterday for Blackstone Hill.”59 A further 33 percent were wardens’ reports. Twentyseven percent of the non-Chinese voice was positive. Most of this (86 percent)
was the newspaper itself. The paper noted that at the Cardrona goldfield “the
most sensible of the population there are favorable to the immigration of
Chinese labor.”60 Likewise, the paper described the Chinese miners as “industrious,” pay “ready money” for goods and “are well nigh total abstainers from
intoxicating drinks.”61 The 5 percent of coverage that was in a Chinese voice
was all neutral in tone. This comprised comments from Chinese miners
regarding their work and wages. The main example quoted “headman, Ah
Teng,” who informed a reporter at the Dunstan that “Plenty of Chinamen
come by and bye [sic]. Country much better than Victoria.”62
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
Witness, 16 June 1866, 11.
Ibid., 28 Dec. 1866, 7.
Ibid., 16 June 1866, 11.
Ibid., 27 Jan. 1866, 11.
Ibid., 15 Dec. 1866, 17.
Ibid., 3 Nov. 1866, 4.
Ibid., 16 June 1866, 3.
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
261
The Third Year
In 1852, Chinese arrived in California in their thousands and, accordingly,
this was the year the Chinese attracted the most coverage in the Alta. Fiftythree percent of all the material in the survey period appeared in 1852. Chinese
immigration dominated coverage, accounting for about two-thirds of the
copy. Most (61 percent) was general discussions of the issue, often centered on
the growing debate about whether the Chinese should be excluded, such as
the report that “The subject of the Chinese immigration has been transmitted
to the State Legislature in an executive document, and has been discussed with
some spirit and occupied no small share of public debate.”63 Twenty-eight
percent of the Chinese immigration coverage was material stating that the
Chinese were unwanted. This included a lengthy statement from the new governor, John Bigler. He said he wished to stop Chinese immigration in order to
“prevent the exportation by them of the precious metal which they dig up
from our soil without charge.”64 The newspaper also reported that white gold
miners were increasingly calling for the Chinese to be removed.65 Eleven percent of the coverage was in favor of Chinese immigration, which largely
remained the newspaper’s position. The newspaper argued the Chinese contribute “in no small degree to the general prosperity by consuming food,
clothing and implements of labor, [and] by giving employment to ocean and
inland shipping.”66
The remaining third of reportage was on Chinese activity. Forty-seven percent of this was reports on Chinese as the perpetrators or victims of crime (in
broadly equal proportions). These reports included an incident in which two
Chinese robbed two Germans, resulting in two deaths;67 a Chinese who
attempted to steal $500 in gold from a store;68 the robbery of a Chinese business;69 and a Chilean miner breaking a Chinese miner’s leg.70 A further
23 percent of the coverage was Chinese cultural and religious activities, including a visit by a Chinese theatrical troupe, which, the newspaper said, were
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
Alta, 3 May 1852, 2; see also 12 May 1852, 2.
Ibid., 25 Apr. 1852, 2.
For instance, ibid., 15 May 1852, 15; 21 May 1852, 2.
Ibid., 26 Apr. 1852, 2.
Ibid., 17 Nov. 1852, 2.
Ibid., 29 Sept. 1852, 2.
Ibid., 18 Mar. 1852, 3.
Ibid., 20 Sept. 1852, 5.
262
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
“well worth seeing.”71 The paper also reported miners in San Joaquin were
expelling Chinese miners from the goldfields.72
The dominant voice was non-Chinese (92 percent). Of this, 41 percent was
neutral, which was primarily the newspaper (95 percent), including a report
about a missing Chinese man, who “was dressed in the usual Chinese style,
wore long hair and spoke a few words of English.”73 Thirty-seven percent
depicted the Chinese in a positive light. This was entirely the newspaper,
which continued to describe the Chinese as “the most peaceable, unmolesting
and inoffensive class of adventurers that come among us.”74 The newspaper
said Bigler’s attack on the Chinese was based on “exaggerated and distorted”
views that “will pass away as suddenly as they were created.”75 Gilbert’s murder
in August did not alter the newspaper’s generally positive stance toward the
Chinese. In October, the paper reported a decline in the number of Chinese
entering California, apparently as a result of reports in China of Bigler’s views.
“Discreet and virtuous John Bigler!”76 the paper declared ironically. As late as
December, the paper reported that the large numbers of Chinese living in the
gold rush town of Columbia were “quiet and orderly citizens.”77
The remaining 22 percent of coverage was voiced in a negative tone – the
first year negatively toned material was a significantly large category. Most of
this (73 percent) was voiced by a politician, that is to say, Bigler’s attack on the
Chinese. A further 20 percent was voiced by the newspaper, but these were comparatively mild complaints. For instance, the paper noted that, because Chinese
could not legally intermarry with Californians, the Chinese will become “the
least permanent class in our population, and of least value as citizens”78 and
that “acts of rascality have become more frequent among them of late.”79 The
newspaper also mocked the supposed Chinese propensity to eat cats and rats,
punning, for instance, that a Chinese restaurant was a “Chinese roast-a-rat.”80
Of the 8 percent of coverage voiced by Chinese, 64 percent was positive.
This was essentially a lengthy open letter to Governor Bigler written by
71
Ibid., 20 Oct. 1852, 2.
Ibid., 6 Nov. 1852.
73
Ibid., 1 Oct. 1852, 2.
74
Ibid., 15 May 1852, 6.
75
Ibid., 3 May 1852, 2.
76
Ibid., 31 Oct. 1852, 1.
77
Ibid., 1 Dec. 1852, 2.
78
Ibid., 8 Mar. 1852, 2.
79
Ibid., 15 Dec. 1852, 2.
80
Ibid., 31 Dec. 1852, 2. The Otago Witness, 18 Oct. 1867, 9, also discussed the eating
habits of the Chinese, commending them for ridding the area of a pest: “The pigs, which were
72
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
263
Norman Asing, a naturalized Chinese resident of California. Asing noted that
the Chinese were civilized and follow “every honorable business of life.”81
A further 35 percent of the Chinese voice was neutral, including the Alta’s
reports of what Chinese newspapers were saying about the Chinese in
California,82 and Chinese immigrants giving their ship’s captain a gift.83 There
was a small amount of negatively toned material, comprising an altercation
between a naturalized Chinese and a Chinese immigrant, the naturalized
Chinese regarding the recent Chinese immigrants as “outsiders.” One of the
recent Chinese immigrants had verbally assaulted him in the street, calling
him an “‘d – d old buffer,’ ‘old horse,’ and a number of others, which would
not bear rendering into English.”84
As with the Alta, the third year of the Witness survey period saw the most
coverage of the Chinese miners, at 42 percent. With a relatively large Chinese
mining community working in Otago by 1867, Chinese activity in the region
dominated coverage (92 percent). Of this, about two-thirds (65 percent) was
Chinese as the perpetrators of crime. This coverage mostly centered on lengthy
reports on the arrest and trial of two Chinese men. The first was a Chinese
miner charged and convicted for a violent assault on a European miner.85 The
second was the arrest and trial of a Chinese miner, accused of murdering
another Chinese in the Kawarau Gorge.86 Other Chinese criminal activity was
also reported, such as a Chinese man tried for theft and a Chinese man who
killed himself after being apprehended in Otago on a charge of committing a
murder in Australia.87 Twenty percent of the material centered on Chinese as
the victims of crime. This was the Chinese man murdered in the Kawarau case
mentioned above and a Chinese man assaulted by a European.88 A further
11 percent of the coverage was on Chinese gold-mining activity, akin to similar material reported in 1866.89 With Chinese having by then arrived in large
numbers in Otago, the heat seemed to have been taken out of the immigration
disagreeably numerous some twelve months since, have had their numbers considerably thinned
by Celestial appetites.”
81
Alta, 5 May 1852, 2.
82
For instance, ibid., 29 Mar. 1852, 2; 26 Sept. 1852, 2.
83
Ibid., 12 June 1852, 2.
84
Ibid., 23 Jan. 1852, 2.
85
For instance, Witness, 15 June 1867, 9; 5 July 1867, 14; 6 Sept. 1867, 7; and 11 Oct.
1867, 11.
86
For instance, ibid., 1 Nov. 1867, 8; 8 Nov. 1867, 11; 6 Dec. 1867, 3; and 13 Dec. 867, 3.
87
Ibid., 6 Sept. 1867, 4; 16 Aug. 1867, 11.
88
Ibid., 30 Aug. 1867, 11.
89
For instance, ibid., 19 Jan. 1867, 4; 19 July 1867, 11; and 18 Oct. 1867, 11.
264
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
issue. Only 8 percent of the material was on Chinese coming to Otago, and
41 percent of that was general reportage, such as “Seventy-six Chinese passengers arrived on Wednesday by the barque Torquil.”90
The dominant voice in the Witness’s coverage was non-Chinese (86 percent).
Most of this was neutral (89 percent) and often voiced by the general
public. Nearly half was primarily European miners giving evidence in
the various trials mentioned above. For instance, James Clague, an associate
of an assaulted miner, gave evidence that in the tent where the alleged assault
took place Clague found a hat and that “I cannot give the hat any particular name, except that I have heard that sort called ‘Chinamen’s hats,’”91
A further 30 percent was the newspaper. This was often coverage of the trials, although there were further accounts of Chinese arrivals: “The steamers
Phoebe and Rangitoto brought a large number of Chinese en route for the
Otago diggings.”92
Fourteen percent of the material was in a Chinese voice. This was easily the
largest amount in the four-year period, and reflected the focus on crime
reporting this year. Eighty-eight percent of this was neutral in tone, nearly all
(96 percent) being Chinese miners, laborers, and merchants. This was primarily evidence the Chinese gave during the trials, some of which Chinese delivered in English with the rest translated. For instance, Augustus Blewitt acted
as interpreter at one trial and the translated opening comments of one Chinese
witness were rendered thus: “Ah Kong: I knew [murder victim] Ah Hang,
both in Sydney and when he lived with the prisoner at the Kawarau.”93
The Fourth Year
In the final survey year, the Chinese in California continued to command the
attention of the Alta, accounting for 30 percent of all the coverage throughout
the survey period. Although not as significant as the previous year, Chinese
immigration was still a major topic, accounting for 24 percent of all coverage
for this year. The nature of this coverage was dramatically different, however.
Only 17 percent of the coverage was general discussion and there was no
material in support of Chinese immigration. Instead, the great bulk of the
material (83 percent) was about the Chinese not being wanted. In a striking
90
91
92
93
Ibid., 2 Feb. 1867, 11.
Ibid., 6 Sept. 1867, 7.
Ibid., 5 Jan. 1867, 7.
Ibid., 15 Dec. 1867, 3.
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
265
reversal of its earlier stance, the newspaper led the way, charging that the
Chinese were “mentally far inferior to our own people,”94 that marriage
between Americans and Chinese was “too disgusting to entertain,”95 and that
having Chinese in the United States “benefits American commerce, at the
expense of American civilization.”96 The newspaper claimed the Chinese diet
of “Rats, lizards, mud-terrapins, rank and indigestible shell-fish” would “turn
the stomachs of the stoutest Anglo-Saxon.”97 This material was concentrated
in a series of editorials that appeared in May and June, suggesting a short-term
editor was writing the pieces and took the opportunity to write stridently racist material. Indeed, bookending those comments the newspaper described
the Chinese in February as “industrious, peaceable and law-abiding”98 and in
October as “the most harmless, inoffensive race.”99 The paper also reported
that various miners meetings had called for the Chinese to be ousted.100
Just over three-quarters of the reportage was on Chinese activity. About a
third of this was general reports, such as the building of a church for Chinese
Christians.101 Approximately another third was Chinese as the victims of
crime, including the lynching of three Chinese accused of stealing $900102 and
brawls among the Chinese.103 Seventeen percent of the reportage covered
Chinese as the perpetrators of crime, such as a Chinese charged with robbing
a gambling house.104 Eighteen percent was Chinese cultural and religious
activities, such as Chinese New Year celebrations105 and Chinese paying their
respects to their dead compatriots.106
Again, non-Chinese voices dominated the Alta’s reportage, accounting for
91 percent of the material. Fifty-seven percent of the reportage was neutral,
97 percent of which was the newspaper, such as “State vs Ahoy (Chinaman.) –
Found guilty of burglary and continued until Monday for sentence.”107
A third of the reportage was negative in tone, easily the largest proportion in
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
Ibid., 4 June 1853, 2.
Ibid., 12 May 1853, 2.
Ibid., 21 May 1853, 2.
Ibid., 15 June 1853, 2.
Ibid., 8 Feb. 1853, 2.
Ibid., 11 Oct. 1853, 2.
For instance, ibid., 23 May 1853, 2; 12 Sept. 1853, 2.
Ibid., 13 Nov. 1853, 2.
Ibid., 16 Feb. 1853, 2.
Ibid., 1 June 1853, 2; 17 Nov. 1853, 3.
Ibid., 26 Aug. 1853, 1.
Ibid., 8 Feb. 1853, 2.
Ibid., 11 Apr. 1853, 2.
Ibid., 3 May 1853, 2.
266
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
the survey period. Ninety-seven percent of this was the newspaper, largely due
to the editorials discussed above. The newspaper stated that the Chinese are
“cunning and deceitful … libidinous and offensive.”108 There was little positively toned material, but 87 percent of it was also voiced by the newspaper.
Of the 9 percent of Chinese-voiced material, well over half (61 percent)
was positive in tone. This comprised a response from local Chinese resident
Lo Chum Qui to one of the Alta’s racist editorials. Lo pointed to China’s long
history of civilization. He also denied that Chinese in the United States ate
rats and lizards, demanding, “Did you ever see anything of the kind?” and
noting that people in some “civilized nations” eat frogs and snails.109 But even
here the Chinese voice was heavily mediated, in that the Alta added its own
introduction to Lo’s letter. The paper described Lo Chum Qui as “a chop-stick
logician, [who] should have a better regard for truth,” although it did concede
the Chinese do suffer ‘rude treatment … from some of our ignorant and brutal
people.”110 The remaining Chinese-voiced material was all neutral, and comprised evidence Chinese gave in various court cases.111
The Chinese in Otago continued to command a reasonable amount of
interest at the Otago Witness in the final survey year, accounting for 17 percent
of all coverage at the paper for the four years. As with the previous year,
Chinese activity was still the main topic, accounting for 83 percent of the
coverage. The main topic (38 percent) was Chinese as the victims of crime.
This included a Chinese victimized in a town by being rolled around the town
in a barrel,112 whites attacking Chinese on the goldfields113 and the police issuing a proclamation re-committing themselves that, if “made aware of any
injury having been illegally inflicted on any of the Chinese population, to lose
no time in bringing the perpetrators thereof to justice.”114 Nearly a third of
the coverage was Chinese gold mining. The gold-mining reports included
that, at the Fraser River goldfields “Chinese are doing remarkably well in this
once abandoned locality,”115 and that at the Lake Wanaka fields, the Chinese
“appeared well contented with their earnings.”116 The paper also reported
that Chinese miners were moving to new goldfields, including on the South
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
Ibid., 21 May 1853, 2.
Ibid., 23 June 1853, 2; emphasis in original.
Ibid.; emphasis in original.
For instance, ibid., 26 Aug. 1853, 1; 28 Sept. 1853, 1.
Witness, 8 Feb. 1868, 1.
Ibid., 7 Mar. 1868, 11.
Ibid., 8 Feb. 1868, 5.
Ibid., 22 Feb. 1868, 7.
Ibid., 31 Oct. 1868, 8.
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
267
Island’s West Coast.117 Other activity accounted for a further 23 percent of the
coverage, such as Chinese buying gold,118 setting up a butchery,119 and conducting daily life in a mining village – including cooking, gambling, running
a shop, and teaching themselves a little English.120
Chinese immigration comprised 17 percent of the coverage. This was
mostly (63 percent) general discussion, such as a report that Chinese on one
goldfield “expected a constantly increasing arrival of their countrymen.”121
Twenty percent of the material favored Chinese immigration, which remained
the newspaper’s position, with the paper declaring the Chinese “frugal and
industrious”122 and that “Chinese have many times benefited Europeans by
opening up new goldfields.”123 For the first time, the paper also made reference to the initial arrival of Chinese gold miners in California, although it
was not an entirely glowing assessment. The paper declared the Chinese
who first arrived in Victoria and California were mostly “very inferior samples,” but that since then the quality of the Chinese arriving had improved,
and “a gigantic trade has grown up between that State and China.”124 Although
the focus of the comments was on the economic benefit of the Chinese, racial
stereotyping was also addressed, with the paper declaring “we shall be told the
Chinese have peculiar vices and disqualifications. So, till very lately, the French
declared of the English. Wholesale national disqualifications are singularly
unreliable.”125
As ever, non-Chinese voices dominated coverage (99 percent). Two-thirds
was neutral reportage, mostly the newspaper itself (71 percent). Nearly a third
was positively toned, well over half (57 percent) being the newspaper, which,
for instance, described the Chinese as “first-rate customers to the storekeepers;
and, what is better, they almost invariably pay ready money.”126 Only 1 percent of the coverage was negative, most (80 percent) coming from the newspaper. This comprised the disparaging comments about the first Chinese
arrivals in California and Victoria, mentioned above, and a passage reprinted
from a West Coast newspaper, which declared “Chinamen are not desirable
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
For instance, ibid., 25 Jan. 1868, 9; 26 Sept. 1868, 13.
Ibid., 5 Dec. 1868, 5.
Ibid., 1 Aug. 1868, 4.
Ibid., 11 July 1868, 4.
Ibid., 25 Jan. 1868, 9.
Ibid., 8 Feb. 1868, 1.
Ibid., 1 Aug. 1868, 4.
Ibid., 8 Feb. 1868, 1.
Ibid.
Ibid., 18 Apr. 1868, 13.
268
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
neighbours, and we can fully appreciate the dislike evinced towards them by
our miners.”127
The minute amount of Chinese-voiced material was all neutral in tone.
It included snippets of English spoken by Chinese gold miners. When a
reporter asked one miner whether he felt ill, the Chinese replied, “No fear.”128
Also, when a small group of Chinese took part in a large parade celebrating Queen Victoria’s birthday, they carried banners bearing Chinese inscriptions, which the paper had translated, including “May she live long” and
“This is a good country.”129 Another banner explained the relatively small
number of Chinese in the parade: “There would have been more present today, but many are in the country [the goldfields].”130 Indeed, the language
barrier meant the paper often had to infer what was motivating the Chinese.
For instance, when a large group of Chinese moved to join their colleagues
at the Mount Ida fields, the paper could only report the “migration is said to
be the result of some private information received from the Chinese population at Mount Ida.”131
Conclusions
Our analysis reveals much about the editorial decision-making at both newspapers and the papers’ resulting depiction of the Chinese.
First, although we may be accustomed to think that the news media of the
time reflected the dominant white culture’s view that the Chinese were a
Yellow Peril that had to be excluded, in both California and Otago Chinese
were initially welcomed by many powerful voices among the white culture,
including the newspapers surveyed. The dominant white culture clearly perceived Chinese to be a potential economic benefit to the areas. In California,
Governor John McDougal regarded the Chinese as a good source of labor for
the embryonic state and a mayoral reception welcomed them to San Francisco.
Edward Gilbert concurred, his Alta describing the Chinese as “very useful,
quiet, good citizens.”132 Likewise, in Otago, the local government and businesspeople actually invited Chinese in to work the abandoned goldfields.
127
128
129
130
131
132
Ibid., 30 June 1868, 3.
Ibid., 3 July 1868, 4.
Ibid., 30 May 1868, 5.
Ibid.
Ibid., 26 Sept. 1868, 13.
Alta, 8 Mar. 1850, 2.
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
269
In spite of protests from those opposed to the invitation, George Bell supported the initiative, his Witness describing Chinese as “temperate, frugal …
well behaved”133 and insisting “the most sensible of the population”134 supported Chinese immigration. But beyond this, by the standards of their day,
Gilbert and Bell appear to have been genuinely tolerant men, impressed by the
Chinese and uninterested in invidious racial stereotyping. As the Witness
observed, “Wholesale national disqualifications are singularly unreliable.”135
Second, the editors differed in how they constructed their depiction of the
Chinese, reflecting the differing historical circumstances in the two areas
served by the newspapers. In the first year of the survey period, the Alta essentially gave effectively no coverage to the issue of Chinese immigration and
little coverage of the Chinese generally. This was because Chinese immigration
only became an increasingly important issue for white California when
Chinese arrived en masse, with the newly elected Governor Bigler riding a tide
of anti-Chinese sentiment. Thus, by 1852 the issue of Chinese immigration
dominated the Alta’s coverage. By contrast, in the first year of the survey
period, the Witness published a considerable amount on the topic of Chinese
immigration, despite the fact no Chinese lived in Otago at the time. By 1865,
the impact of Chinese immigration into white areas was well known, and the
newspaper knew the issue would be controversial and merited extensive coverage. The elite felt the need to publicly justify at length the decision to invite
Chinese in, justifications that the Witness reported and supported, reflecting
how this issue had become potentially divisive within white communities on
the Pacific Rim.
Likewise, the coverage reflected the differing patterns of Chinese settlement in the two areas and the resources available to the newspapers. Although
the great majority of Chinese arriving in California headed for the goldfields,
enough stayed in San Francisco to rapidly become a conspicuous ethnic
group. The physical appearance of the Chinese, their parades, their food, their
daily activities and businesses, commanded a significant amount of space in
the Alta’s pages. The paper reported little on the activities of the Chinese at the
goldfields. The Witness, by contrast, wrote virtually nothing about the Chinese
in Dunedin. Instead, the focus was on the Chinese at the goldfields. This suggests the Chinese miners had little impact, at least in the early years, on
Dunedin’s social and cultural life. This pattern of reportage also reflected that
133
134
135
Witness, 30 Sept. 1865, 10.
Ibid., 15 Dec. 1866, 17.
Ibid., 8 Feb. 1868, 1.
270
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
both papers were small concerns. Few reporters ventured to the Californian
goldfields, so most reports in the Alta concerned the activities of Chinese in
the city, where the paper and its writers were based. Although the Witness was
similarly constrained, wardens based at the Otago goldfields produced regular
reports that included the activities of the Chinese miners, reprinted at length
in the Witness.
Newspapers have always featured crime stories.136 As Chinese became
established in California and Otago, some inevitably became either perpetrators or victims of crime. Gilbert and Bell both eagerly included in their papers
crime stories involving Chinese, and this became a major part of both papers’
reportage. In keeping with both papers’ generally favorable depiction of the
Chinese, however, neither paper used reports of the Chinese committing
crimes as an excuse to vilify them. Indeed, the Alta insisted that “it will be difficult to prejudice the public mind against them [ie, the Chinese] on the score
of … criminal behavior” because Chinese are “more sinned against than sinning.”137 Although the Witness gave relatively more coverage to the Chinese
accused of criminal activity, this reportage was generally neutral in tone.
Third, the newspapers’ reportage tells us much about how Chinese were
perceived by white culture but little about the Chinese themselves. The dominant voice in both newspapers was overwhelmingly non-Chinese, mostly the
newspapers themselves. Reportage depicted Chinese from a distance, interpreting them through white eyes. What little we do learn about the Chinese
miners is poignant, however. We learn that they worked hard – establishing
and running businesses, as well as working on the goldfields – and were welcomed by some and attacked by others. We learn that they made an effort to
fit in – taking part in parades to celebrate Californian statehood and Queen
Victoria’s birthday. They were not passive. In the Alta we hear from Norman
Asing and Lo Chum Qui, who published eloquent defenses of their people.
Perhaps most movingly, we learn that – in light of the outrages Chinese had
regularly suffered in the white-dominated Pacific Rim countries since the start
of the Californian gold rush – Chinese would not come to New Zealand until
they had been assured they would be protected from violence.
Finally, and crucially, the analysis reaffirms the importance of leadership,
in this case newspaper editors’. Gilbert’s support for Chinese immigration
accorded with the view of the then governor, but he continued to support the
136
A survey of newspapers’ age-old interest in crime stories can be found in Mitchell Stephens,
A History of News (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 96-104.
137
Alta, 15 May 1852, 2.
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
271
Chinese when this was no longer politically popular. Initially, Gilbert’s murder
did not alter the newspaper’s generally positive stance toward the Chinese.
But that changed in the final year of the survey period, when the newspaper
indulged in lengthy anti-Chinese diatribes alongside some favorable assessments of the Chinese. Such striking contrasts in editorial attitudes in the final
year clearly imply the hands of different editors working in the void created by
Gilbert’s death and a distracted (and often absent) Kemble.
In Otago, by striking contrast, Bell remained editor of his paper throughout the survey period and the Witness’s support for Chinese remained steadfast. Bringing our discussion full circle, in the final survey year the Witness
considered the Californian experience of Chinese gold miners, insisting the
influx of Chinese had been economically advantageous to the state. Bell
remained true to the dominant culture’s prevailing conventional wisdom –
and his own conscience – throughout the survey period. Gilbert broke with
his culture’s conventional wisdom when it no longer accorded with his conscience, a schism that contributed to his death. Ultimately, the nature of the
coverage of the initial influx of Chinese gold miners found in both editors’
newspapers is explained by those cold facts.
This article has highlighted a generally positive view among members of the
white elite toward the Chinese during the initial years of large-scale Chinese
entry into California and Otago. That view would not last. Bred out of economic distress, the white nations of the Pacific Rim would eventually form
deeply racist attitudes toward the Chinese, attitudes that led to exclusion.
272
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
Table 1. Content analysis of the Alta’s coverage of the Chinese in California, 18501853 (Number of articles=419. Cm2=17,689)
Year
1850
1851
1852
1853
4.9
12.0
53.2
29.9
% of 4-year
Total
Topic
% of % of
% of % of
% of % of
% of % of
Total Category Total Category Total Category Total Category
Chinese
0.1
immigration
- Chinese
0.0
wanted
- Chinese
0.0
unwanted
- General
100.0
discussion
Chinese
99.9
activity
- Committing
1.4
crime
- Victims of
13.9
crime
- Cultural,
53.7
religious
- Gold mining
1.7
- Other
29.3
28.3
67.4
23.5
34.8
10.9
0.0
0.0
28.0
82.9
65.2
61.1
17.1
71.7
32.6
76.5
13.8
25.8
17.4
44.4
20.8
31.8
5.8
22.6
18.4
1.1
34.8
8.6
22.2
0.4
31.9
Voice and Tone
Non-Chinese
- Positive
- Negative
- Neutral
Chinese
- Positive
- Negative
- Neutral
93.7
90.8
28.0
4.3
67.7
6.3
92.0
34.4
2.4
63.2
9.2
10.8
0.0
89.2
91.0
36.6
22.0
41.3
8.0
0.0
0.0
100.0
9.7
33.6
56.7
9.0
63.8
1.5
34.6
60.8
0.0
39.2
Overall Tone
- Positive
- Negative
- Neutral
26.9
4.1
69.0
Source: Author survey
31.2
2.2
66.6
38.8
20.4
40.8
14.3
30.6
55.2
273
G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248–273
Table 2. Content analysis of Witness’s coverage of the Chinese in Otago, 1865-1868
(Number of articles=199. Cm2=18,794)
Year
1865
1866
1867
1868
% of 4-year
Total
33.1
7.0
42.4
17.4
Topic
% of % of
% of % of
% of % of
% of % of
Total Category Total Category Total Category Total Category
Chinese
100.0
immigration
- Chinese
36.6
wanted
- Chinese
35.9
unwanted
- General
27.5
discussion
Chinese
0.0
activity
- Committing
0.0
crime
- Victims of
0.0
crime
- Cultural,
0.0
religious
- Gold mining
0.0
- Other
0.0
36.6
8.1
16.6
24.7
34.3
19.8
53.6
24.4
16.8
21.7
41.3
63.4
63.4
91.9
83.4
7.6
65.0
3.8
0.0
19.5
38.3
0.0
1.4
2.8
86.8
5.6
10.7
3.3
31.8
23.3
Voice and Tone
Non-Chinese
- Positive
- Negative
- Neutral
Chinese
- Positive
- Negative
- Neutral
99.2
95.3
36.0
35.5
28.6
0.8
86.4
26.5
15.7
57.8
4.7
0.0
0.0
100.0
98.8
5.8
5.7
88.5
13.6
0.0
0.0
100.0
31.7
1.4
67.0
1.2
11.8
0.0
88.2
0.0
0.0
100.0
Overall Tone
- Positive
- Negative
- Neutral
35.7
35.2
29.2
Source: Author survey
25.2
15.0
59.8
6.6
5.0
88.5
31.3
1.3
67.4