Mr. Luttrell moved in Congress that the steamboat bills be so amended as to forbid the employment of a Chinaman in any capacity whatsoever. Congressman Shelley, of Alabama, introduced a bill providing that all Chinamen coming to the United States, except officially, be taxed $250 per capita, or serve five years in the penitentiary. The Chinese in California are made to pay more than $42,000 school taxes annually, while their children are not admitted to the public schools, neither are there other schools provided for them. Thirteen hundred Chinamen asked the California Legislature for school privileges for 3,000 of their children, seeking only such as are provided for those of African and Indian descent. Their petition was immediately laid on the table, and stigmatized as dangerous. This is only a specimen of this class legislation on the Pacific Coast. They are very ingenious there. Just as fast as one law is decided unconstitutional, they have another. Communism crushes the Chinese. The politician says, “They sha’n’t come here if we can prevent it by oppressive legislation.” As a protest against the unreasonableness of this course of procedure, the testimony of Postmaster-General Key is of special value. In a recent conversation, he gave the following as the result of his observations during his visit to the Pacific Coast: “The politicians,” said Mr. Key, “are almost to a man against the Chinese, and antagonize them bitterly. The merchants, the manufacturers, the farmers, and nearly the entire employing class, are very fond of the Chinese, and prefer them to any other laborers. They speak in the highest terms of the Chinese; they say that they are docile, obedient, obliging, punctual, hardworking, and faithful; they are exceedingly thrifty and economical; they are temperate in their habits, do not drink liquor of any kind, eat very little meat, and live almost entirely on rice. It is wonderful to see how little a Chinaman can live on. Their economy struck me as something marvellous. Large numbers of them sleep in a single ill-ventilated room; they constantly violate the fundamental laws of health, yet they are seemingly very healthy. I was astonished to learn they had no hospital. I was shown through the Chinese Quarter of San Francisco by the Mayor, and saw everything in that locality; but there are a number of places here in Washington fully as bad, if not worse, than anything I saw in Chinatown. I also observed that the railroad companies employed a large number of Chinamen, and found them excellent workmen.” Evidently, the politicians are not competent to the settlement of the Chinese question.