CALIFORNIA. 



cers, and have perverted the great republic of 

 lathers into a den of dishonest manipulators. ^ 

 concentration and control of wealth has impoverished 

 the people, producing crime and discontent, and re- 

 tarded the settlement and civilization of the country. 

 In California a slave labor has been introduced to 

 still further aggrandize the rich and_ degrade the 

 poor. And the whole tendency of this class legis- 

 lation is to undermine the foundations of the repub- 

 lic, and pave the way for anarchy and misrule, and 

 this Convention therefore declares as follows : 



SECTION 1. The workingmen of California desire 

 to unite with those of other States in effecting such 

 reforms in our General Government as may be neces- 

 sary to secure the rights of the people as against 

 those of capital ; to maintain life, liberty, and happi- 

 ness, against land and money monopoly. Only in 

 the people, the honest workingmen, can. we hope to 

 find a remedy. 



SEC. 2. Chinese cheap labor is a curse to our land, 

 a menace to our liberties and the institutions of our 

 country, and should therefore be restricted and for 

 ever abolished. 



SEC. 3. The land is the heritage of the people, and 

 its appropriation by the Government for the further- 

 ance of the schemes of individuals and corporations 

 is a robbery which must be restricted in future, and 

 all lands so held should revert to its lawful possessor. 

 to be held for actual settlement and cultivation ; and 

 individuals holding by purchase or imperfect title 

 land in excess of one square mile shall be restricted 

 to the use of that amount only for cultivation and 

 pasturage, and all lands of equal productive value 

 shall be subject to equal taxation. 



[Supplemental to section 3.] Our previous legis- 

 lators have abused the trust confidingly reposed in 

 them by a misguided people by allowing a corrupt 

 riu$r of land monopolists to exist, who have appro- 

 priated vast tracts of the fairest lands on earth to 

 themselves ; we therefore, in the name of humanity, 

 consider a resurvey of the State necessary, in order 

 to ascertain, as far as possible, the extent to which 

 the law in this respect has been violated. As the 

 land is the natural heritage of the children of men, 

 we deem, on the laws of equity and justice, that one 

 section of 640 acres is a sufficiency for any one man 

 to own or transmit to his offspring. 



All import duties on raw material not produced in 

 the United States should be abolished. 



SEC. 4. The industries of the country are depressed 

 or improved by the fluctuations in our financial sys- 

 tem, and we therefore insist that the National Gov- 

 ernment shall give to the people a system of finance 

 consistent with the agricultural, manufacturing, and 

 mercantile industries and requirements of the coun- 

 try, uncontrolled by rings, brokers, and bankers, but 

 for the interests of the whole people. 



SEC. 5. The pardoning power conferred on the 

 President of the United States and the Governors of 

 the several States should be abolished, and the same 

 be vested in commissions. 



SEC. 6. Malfeasance in public office should be pun- 

 ishable by imprisonment in the State prison for life, 

 without intervention of the pardoning power. 



SEC. 7. We demand the abolition of the contract 

 system in our State prisons and reformatory insti- 

 tutions. They should be managed in the interests 

 of the people, and the goods therein manufactured 

 should not be sold at less than current market rates 

 for like products of free labor. 



SEC. 8. All labor on public works, whether State 

 or municipal, should be performed by the day, at 

 current rates of wages. 



SEC. 9. Eight hours is a sufficient day's work for 

 any man, and the law should make it so. 



SEC. 10. All public officers should receive a fixed 

 salary, and the fees should be accounted for as pub- 

 lic moneys. 



Subsequently this resolution was adopted : 



We demand that the Constitution of the United 

 States be amended to the effect that the President 

 and V ice-President of the United States and Sena- 

 tors of the several States shall be elected by the 

 direct vote of the people. 



The following were adopted : 



Whereas, The Workingmen's political party of the 

 State of California, now permanently organized, de- 

 sires that no persons shall be promoted to any posi- 

 tions on our State Central Committee who are not 

 )revious political alliances, and 



work to promote and advance the interests of the 

 Workingmen's party : therefore 



Resolved, That this Convention appoint, from the 

 members thereof, a Committee of Investigation, to 

 examine the political antecedents of all persons prior 

 to their election or appointment to any position in 

 this party, or as a candidate therefor. 



Resolved, That the committee hereby appointed 

 shall apply to the city and county of San Francisco 

 only. 



Resolved, That a majority report of said commit- 

 tee in the county, when appointed, shall be sufficient 

 to admit or disqualify such person or candidate. 



Tlie immigration of the Chinese has been 

 a subject of absorbing interest in the State for 

 many years. The first treaty between China 

 and the United States was ratified in June, 

 1844. Though it granted no rights or privi- 

 leges to the Chinese, yet immediately there- 

 after they began to emigrate to the State of 

 California. Their numbers, few at first, grad- 

 ually and steadily increased up to the spring 

 of the year 1876, when the people of the Pa- 

 cific slope became alarmed at the great influx 

 of this class of immigrants, and by means of 

 the press and public meetings endeavored to 

 check it. The effect of this excitement against 

 the Chinese, and consequent danger to their 

 safety and welfare, was, however, of short 

 duration. The number of immigrants for the 

 quarter ending June 30, 1877, which was the 

 second quarter following the Chinese agita- 

 tion, was 6,691, the highest ever reached. The 

 rate of increase has been very rapid. Divid- 

 ing the last two decades into periods of five 

 years, the average number of immigrants for 

 the period from 1855 to 1859, inclusive, is as- 

 certained to have been 4,530 ; lor the second 

 period, 1860 to 1864, it was 6,600; from 1865 

 to 1870, 9,311 ; from 1871 to 1874, 13,000. In 

 other words, the increase for the four periods 

 of five years each has been at the rate of 50 

 per cent. The lowest estimate of Chinese in 

 the Pacific States is 150,000. Accepting this 

 as correct, it will be seen that at the above rate 

 of increase, and after deducting the large 

 number who return, the Chinese population 

 will in the near future exceed the male adult 

 population of Americans in those States and 

 all other races combined. It is apprehended 

 that this rate of immigration will continue in 

 consequence of the advantages to the immi- 

 grants. China is estimated to contain nearly 

 one third of the population of the earth. The 

 density of the population in many provinces 

 exceeds 400 persons to the square mile, and 

 the average of all the provinces is 300. The 



