Chinese settlers in early Alberta, Public attitudes as reflected in the newspapers, by Lydia Low
Anti-Chinese sentiments offered in newspapers of the period 1885 to 1912 alienated parts of society.
Date: 1885-1912
AbstractThe first Chinese pioneers arrived in Alberta in western Canada around 1885. These pioneers came from the United States of America as well as British Columbia, Alberta's neighboring province to the west. Soon after their arrival, the Anti-Chinese movement gained momentum. People who were a part of this movement had ideas which varied about the Chinese, however, nearly all those who were a part of this movement shared similar ideas of sinophobia; Chinamen were dangerous, disease carriers and should not be allowed into Canadian and Albertan society. Newspapers at that time stirred up commotion by presenting the Chinese people as a dangerous and sickly race, and presented a very biased and stereotypical viewpoint by using terms such as "Chink," "Celestials from the flowery kingdom," and "Chinaman". As a result, the newspapers became a source that fanned the flames of the already present anti-Chinese sentiments in Alberta. This essay will analyze the attitudes towards Chinese settlers in Alberta, as reflected in the papers, from the time of their arrival in 1885-86 until the end of the pre-war period.
Sinophobia, the hostility and fear towards those of Asiatic origin has played a direct role in the lives of countless Canadians in the past. In the 21st century, Canada is the home to around 400,000 people of Asian origin. While Canada can be proud to say that it is diverse and multicultural, it has not become the home of the 400,000 people of Chinese descent without some growing pains. Hostility towards those of Chinese origin, during the arrival of the first Chinese settlers in 1885 until the end of the pre-war period, was especially rampant in Alberta, a province in Western Canada. The attitudes towards Chinese settlers in Alberta, as reflected in the papers was one which was primarily negative.
The Arrival of the Chinese in the WestDuring the 1880s there occurred a wave of Chinese immigration to British Columbia to construct the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). More than 18 000 Chinese came from the United States and, mostly, from China. Often there were 6000 to 7500 Chinese men who battled the cold and the harsh conditions to work on the various subdivisions of track. Without the aid of these thousands of men, including the more than 1500 who perished in the process of construction, the railway would have taken a notably longer period to have been built. After the completion of the CPR, British Columbia underwent a serious economic recession. Chinese men who had worked on the CPR were left jobless and homeless. Those who had ample savings were able to return to China; the majority, however, suffered from disease and malnutrition and because of the stigma attached to being Asian, were forced to flee to neighboring cities and provinces in an attempt to survive. Many of the men followed the railroad and ended up in cities such as Calgary, which was then a small railway town, as well as in other parts of Alberta. Anti-Chinese sentiment and sinophobia were rampant in Canada. Newspapers did little to relieve these pressures on the Chinese. The terms such as "Chink," "Chinaman," "Mongolian," and "Celestial" were common in newspapers and indicative of hostility against the presence of the Chinese. Descriptions of "Celestials" created images of "Chinamen [lying] in various stages of bliss induced by smoking opium...withered and shrunken."1
Although there is no written record of the first Chinese presence in Alberta, the period between 1885 and 1911 were crucial in the development of the four major Albertan cities ( Calgary, Edmonton, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge) and the evolution of their Chinese communities or lack thereof.
Table 1. Population of Chinese in Alberta from 1881 -19112
From the table, we see that the Chinese population in Alberta had a phenomenal rate of growth. Between 1881 and 1901, the Chinese population increased by 235% and in the following 10 years, it grew by an astronomical leap of over 760%. Such rapid growth was likely to result in a great deal of growing pains, and this was exactly what happened.
Chinese Settlement in CalgaryIn 1885, Anti-Chinese sentiment and sinophobia were rampant throughout Canada, although Calgary had had very little exposure to Chinese immigrants. However, even before this time, the newspapers' portrayals of the Chinese peoples was not especially positive. Descriptions of "Celestials" created images of "Chinamen [lying] in various stages of bliss induced by smoking opium...withered and shrunken."3 On September 21,1883, The Calgary Herald reported that " The Chinaman thinks a great deal of his queue...therefore the only way to preserve their queues is to keep out of prison."4 Already this image of a foreigner-dangerous, felony-committing "Chinaman" with a queue-lends itself to the stimulation of Anti-Chinese sentiment and even more so, sinophobia accompanied by ridicule towards the Chinese. Furthermore, in 1883, there were no Chinese residing in Alberta, and therefore no one to give lie to these rumors. The Calgary Herald stirred racial tensions when it published an editorial from the Hamilton Spectator: " We do not want Chinamen in Canada. It is desirable that this country shall not be peopled by any servile race...the million who will soon people the great Prairie of the West shall be children of the Indo-Germanic parents...not the degenerate children of the Mongols."5 By using a form of nationalism and class distinction the Calgary Herald as well as the Hamilton Spectator were guilty of aiding the spread of racism, prejudice and discrimination. The Calgary Herald further commented on the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration, "...[the] experiment of introducing Chinese into America has proved a disastrous and terrible experiment...We have a right to be indignant and a reason to sympathize with the British Columbians, for we are their neighbors, and what proves a curse to them will presently become a curse to us."6 In reading these negative portrayals, Albertans were being shaped to believe that the Chinese peoples were a 'curse' and a 'servile' race.
These unfavorable attitudes against the Chinese were most evident during the first anti-Chinese riot in Alberta in 1892. A Chinese resident of Calgary was recovering from smallpox in a shack behind a local Chinese laundry, and was discovered on June 28 1892. " He was at once, with the other Chinese inmates, sent out of town to an empty shack...where they [had] been under strict quarantine, guarded by a detachment of Mounted Police. The shack and all its contents, including the washing, were burnt up the same day."7 Eventually, nine people in Calgary contracted smallpox, and three persons died. The Calgary Herald and the town's citizens determined that Calgary's Chinese population was to blame for the disease ; civic officials were issued a strong warning by the Calgary Herald: " The local feeling against the race is strong and it is well for the authorities to recognize the fact. If the Chinese now at the quarantine be sent back into town there will be trouble."8 Sure as the prediction, when the four Chinese men who had been in quarantine were released and went to stay at a nearby Chinese laundry, a mob of over 300 men congregated on the streets in an attempt to evict the Chinese peoples from the town. The mob smashed in doors and windows of Chinese laundries, and attempted to burn the laundries down. The Calgary Herald condemned the actions of the rioters, stating that their actions were a "thoughtless demonstration [and] that everything approaching the mob spirit was to be condemned."9 However, even though the Calgary Herald did not agree with the 'thoughtless' actions of the rioters, the newspaper made it clear that it agreed with the motives of the 'mob'. It advocated a boycott of all of Calgary's Chinese businesses. "In a short time, without violence, without any interference with personal liberty, we can be rid of what the majority regard as an obnoxious element [through the boycotting of the Chinese]... If public element decides that he shall go the country will not be a loser by his absence."10 This boycott that the Herald advocated influenced the choices of many Albertan consumers, and many Chinese were forced to leave Calgary for elsewhere. " Such reporting, even encased in editorial parlance, could only foster hostility and antipathy toward local Chinese. The abusive editorial policy of the Herald lasted many years and was typical of almost all Alberta papers."11 Letters published in the Herald reflected its viewpoints;
The Chinamen have had their good run in Calgary for several years, and must have made quite a pile of money, all of which is either taken or sent out of the country and nothing invested in locally...other towns and cities protect themselves, some of them by permanent injunction against the admission of any Chinese on any condition.12
A more accepting attitude was provided by the Calgary Tribune during this smallpox era. "Although the newspaper felt that the alleged harboring of smallpox was wrong, there were no accusatory condemnations of the Chinese as a people. The Tribune heartily denounced the rioters from the outset and 'called for the punishment of its ringleaders.'13"14 The episode of small pox demonstrated that the Chinese as a people were not welcome residents of Calgary.
Even eleven years after the smallpox episode in Calgary, there was relatively little change in the sentiments of newspapers towards the Chinese. Perhaps the most significant change was that now, instead of condemning the "celestials", there was condemnation, but also a sense of curiosity towards the Chinese. On September 22, 1909, the Calgary Herald published a "detailed portrayal" of Chinatown as "the nest of Celestials" :
Almost every room in the building held Chinamen talking, gambling, smoking and sleeping...Every inch of these parts is utilized and each rabbit warren is connected with the other by some means or the other... there was one or more Chinamen on each floor, lying on the ordinary opium bed... where the smokers lie and drag the poison fumes down into their lungs. In every place... the sickening smell of the "dope" was strong...Other Chinamen sat around and the liquid in their water pipes bubbled merrily.15
Newspapers, particularly the Calgary Herald harped on the seemingly negative characteristics of the Chinese. As seen above, the major themes of the newspapers were the unsanitary living conditions of the Chinese, their incessant opium-smoking and gambling, as well as female slavery and prostitution. Calgarian newspapers often created panic within the community by speaking of " The Asian Menace to Western civilization." In 1910, the Calgary Herald circulated an article entitled "Chinks come in thousands," which spoke of the "oriental menace" which "threatened Alberta's future as a white province." There were also many "articles which were published in Albertan newspapers which concerned British hostility toward Chinese residents, as well as the restrictive measures against them...acquainting readers with anti-Asian sentiment in the Pacific province."16
Looking at the newspapers in Calgary and how they dealt with a new race in their community is not particularly encouraging. They steered away from the facts, which would have had some semblance of being justified if they had depicted the two faces of the coin. However, this was not so. Rather, Calgary's newspapers presented a biased and stereotypical image of the Chinese as an unsanitary and immoral race, all of whom did nothing but gamble and smoke opium. As well, Calgary's newspapers encouraged a boycott of all the Chinese stores and employment. And while there were periodically some articles about the good done by the Chinese, the majority of the newspapers held the Chinese in derision and disrespect.
Chinese Settlement in Edmonton
In 1892 the first Chinese settler, Chung Gee, arrived in Edmonton. He was formerly a Calgarian, but fled after the smallpox episode in fear of the rising tension and anti-Chinese sentiments. Ten years prior to this, the prominent newspaper in Edmonton, the Edmonton Bulletin, was shown to be a moderate and tolerant newspaper towards the Chinese, going so far as to condemn the Victoria Colonist for demanding the exclusion of the Chinese. The Bulletin went on to suggest that " it [had] not been shown that the Chinese [were] injurous in any way, and in fact they [were] helping to develop the natural resources by their cheap labour."17
Ten years later, however the attitudes of Edmonton's newspapers towards the Chinese had drastically changed. Gone were the days of acceptance. Chung Yan, the brother of Chung Gee, " a laundry man, had trouble keeping warm, and then on top of that, bore the brunt of intolerant neighbors. During March, he inadvertently caused a minor fire by throwing his ashes out on the back of the lot. For a while he was in grave danger of mob action."18 A few days later, the Edmonton Bulletin's editor wrote that Albertans could do without Jews, Mormons and Chinese. " The newspaper's tolerant editorial stance of a decade earlier regarding the Chinese had disappeared altogether."19 The Edmonton Bulletin reported about the Chinatown in Edmonton:
There were long strange pipes of the Celestials, strange looking masses of Chinese food, lacquer work, ivory carvings, silk clothing and other curious unknown articles. The entire part of the building [was] connected from end to end with mysterious doors and passages. The basements were filled with bunk beds and were used for smoking opium...In one room half a dozen Chinamen lay in various stages of bliss induced by the smoking of opium, the acrid fumes of which hung heavy in the air.20
This "expose" on Chinatown and the Chinese residing there was superficial and flawed; the reporter only made a "one-night tour" of the premises. Even so, the writers and editors found it sound to ascribe this way of life to all Chinese. The author, however, failed to mention that smoking as well as importing and manufacturing opium in Canada was legal at the time this article was published. The Bulletin also failed to mention that many Caucasians in Canada also smoked opium and the smoking of opium was a regular way of life for those of races other than only the Chinese.
The owner and one of the editors of the Edmonton Bulletin, Frank Oliver, was extremely anti-Oriental. During the smallpox episode of 1892, the editors of the Bulleting published an article sympathizing with the mob who formed in an attempt to evict the Chinese from Calgary. The Bulletin referred to the Chinese as "foreign heathens who [chose] to engage in the distribution of opium, leprosy, small-pox, and diabolism..." The editors continued by sayingWe have a Chinese question in all its hideousness and harmfulness; and as if that were not enough a part of our own press must use Chinese dirt...to besmirch those who believe that the highest and best charity is that which begins at home. It is quite possible that what these people are pleased to call the Calgary outrage is not sanctioned by law, but let the action of the Chinese which led to the outrage be considered.21
Later, Oliver became a Member of Parliament, and was one of the key leaders in introducing head taxed upon those of the Negro, Chinese, or East Indian race. Again, relating to the smallpox episode in Calgary, the Edmonton Bulletin emphatically announced that the Chinese " did more harm than good, and Canada should follow the good example of the United States in excluding the Chinamen."22
Racial slurs were also freely printed among newspapers in Edmonton. One famous racial slur was printed by the Edmonton Journal : " A Toronto detective says that he secured evidence that the Chinamen were playing fantan by looking through cracks in the wall. In other words, he saw through the Chinks."23 Through Edmonton newspapers, Edmontonians could gain their laughs at the expense and mockery of the Chinese. Several Chinese in the city of Edmonton were supposedly interviewed regarding their views on the pig tail ( the queue of hair) by the Edmonton Journal. On January 21, 1911, they were reported as saying, " Restaurant boys must keep on their pigtail. Good soup will lose all flavour when pigtail not flop in him once in a while." The Chinese that were interviewed all supposedly had a common agreement: " the pigtail on a cold night in Edmonton was just as useful as a night cap. It could be twisted about the head and ears in such a way as to keep that portion of the anatomy warm."24
The once tolerant stance of the newspapers in Edmonton were now replaced by shameless and biased criticism. Similar to newspapers in Calgary, those in Edmonton held highly negative attitudes towards the Chinese from the arrival of the first Chinese settler in Edmonton, Chung Gee, to the end of the pre-war period.
Chinese Settlers in Medicine Hat and LethbridgeThere is relatively little to speak of in terms of the attitudes of newspapers in Medicine Hat towards Chinese .The first Chinese resident in Medicine Hat, a small city in Southern Alberta, opened a laundry in 1887. The Medicine Hat Times described him as " an intelligent Chinaman."25There were rarely reports in the Times about any violence against the Chinese residents. The Medicine Hat Times did, however, reprimand the men involved in a rare act of violence when shafts of a wagon and a broken wagon wheel were thrown into a Chinese laundry through the windows: " [the men involved committed] a dastardly, most cowardly act."26
"Although there were times when the local Chinese launders were severely criticized on occasion for spreading ashes in the lanes and depositing dirty water into the streets, condemnations of Chinese as a people did not appear on the pages of Medicine Hat newspapers."27 This could be attributed to the fact that the size of Medicine Hat was relatively small in relation to Calgary and Edmonton. There was not only a small population, but a small Chinese population, therefore there was more social interaction between the two groups, promoting less hostility from both the residents of Medicine Hat as well as the newspapers.
Lethbridge, however, was a completely different case from Medicine Hat. During the smallpox episode in Calgary, the Lethbridge News claimed that Chinese residents were " plague breeding celestials."28 Between 1902 and 1909 were the peak years in which there were many editorials in the Lethbridge newspapers which demonstrated the hostility and animosity of the newspapers towards the Chinese. The Lethbridge News denounced Chinese business, and in 1902, wrote an article about the takeover of the garden market industry by the Chinese. It also added that the Chinese were unsanitary in their dealings with the garden market industry.
Lethbridge newspapers were also strong advocates for the disenfranchisement of the Chinese in Alberta. On October 17, 1907, the Lethbridge Herald printed the following statement in the newspaper: " The Alberta Government would be well advised if it passed legislation making it impossible for a Chinaman to have a vote in this province. Make these yellow men understand we are not going to allow them to secure any influence in our affairs. They have no right...to compete with white votes." The paper further exclaimed that " We do not want people without our ideas of civilization, without our ideas of government, and without our aspirations as a province and a nation to bear any part in the election of our representatives," and " we have enough poor stuff in the voting class now."29
The Lethbridge Herald advised its readers to boycott Chinese laundries and patronize " a white institution"30 upon the opening of the first modern steam laundry opened in town in 1905. Also in 1905, the Lethbridge News urged racial segregation: "A matter which calls for prompt attention is the restriction of Chinese to certain quarters. This is done in other towns and should be done here."31 Three days later, the Lethbridge News continued by stating that "the Chinese in Lethbridge should be assigned to certain quarters and made to stay there."32 The Chinese were depicted by the Lethbridge News as people who were "repulsive looking" and who "chattered in a hideous manner."33 Quite unlike Medicine Hat, but similar to Calgary and Edmonton, Lethbridge newspapers allowed the popular sentiment of the time to dominate their reporting, promoting and endorsing racist sentiment.
ConclusionAttitudes towards Chinese settlers in Alberta, as reflected in the papers were extremely negative. This is apparent through the use of racial slurs and terms such as "Chink," "Celestial," "Mongolian,", and " Chinaman". While there were some positive feelings towards the Chinese-primarily in Medicine Hat-the majority of newspapers viewed the Chinese as gambling drunks, who were constantly smoking opium in their dens with "mysterious doors and passages." Hostility and fear towards the early Chinese settlers in Alberta were rampant, and were reflected through the papers. From their arrival to Alberta around 1885, the Chinese were faced with little else but racial discrimination, anti-Chinese sentiments and sinophobia. However, perhaps the worst of these was the anti-Chinese sentiments that were even included in the newspapers.
Endnotes1 Calgary Herald, September 22, 1909.2 Ban Seng Hoe, Structural Changes of two Chinese communities in Alberta, Canada, Ottawa, 1976 p. 2243 Edmonton Bulletin, May 23, 1892.4 Calgary Herald, September 21,1883.5 Ibid., September 24, 1884.6 Ibid., November 5, 1884.7 Ibid., July 15, 1892.8 Ibid., July 19, 1892.9 Ibid., August 3, 1892.10 Ibid., August 5, 1892.11 J.Brian Dawson, Moon Cakes in Gold Mountain: From China to the Canadian Plains,Calgary,1991, p.32.12 Calgary Herald, July 23, 1892.13 Calgary Tribune, August 5, 1892.14 J.Brian Dawson, Moon Cakes in Gold Mountain: From China to the Canadian Plains,Calgary,1991, p.32.15 Calgary Herald, September 22, 1909.16 J.Brian Dawson, Moon Cakes in Gold Mountain: From China to the Canadian Plains,Calgary,1991, p.121.17 Edmonton Bulletin, September 1, 1883.18 J.G. Macgregor, Edmonton, A History, Edmonton,1975, p.114.19 J.Brian Dawson, Moon Cakes in Gold Mountain: From China to the Canadian Plains,Calgary,1991, p.40.20 Edmonton Bulletin, May 23, 1908.21 Ibid., August 15, 1892.22 Ibid., August 8, 1892.23 Edmonton Journal, May 23, 1910.24 Ibid., Jan 24, 1911.25 Medicine Hat Times, April 16, 1887.26 Medicine Hat Times, April 14, 1892.27 J.Brian Dawson, Moon Cakes in Gold Mountain: From China to the Canadian Plains,Calgary,1991, p.36.28 Lethbridge News, August 10, 1892.29 Lethbridge Herald, October 24, 1907.30 Lethbridge Herald, November 22, 1905.31 Lethbridge News, October 3, 1905.32 Ibid., October 6, 1905.33 Ibid. December 11, 1908.
BibliographyCalgary Herald, 1892-1911Calgary Tribune, 1892- 1910Dawson, J.Brian. Moon Cakes in Gold Mountain: From China to the Canadian Plains, Calgary: Detselig Enterprises Ltd., 1991Edmonton Bulletin, 1892-1910Edmonton Journal, 1910-1912Hoe, Ban Seng. Structural Changes of two Chinese communities in Alberta, Canada. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1976Lethbridge Herald,1900-1910Lethbridge News, 1900-1907Macgregor, J.G. Edmonton, A History, Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1975Medicine Hat Times, 1885-1910