A Comparative Analysis of Nineteenth-Century Californian and New Zealand Newspaper Representations of Chinese Gold Miners

Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248273 brill.
nl/jaer
A Comparative Analysis of Nineteenth-Century

Californian and New Zealand Newspaper
Representations of Chinese Gold Miners
Grant Hannis
Massey University
Email: G.D.Hannis@massey.ac.nz
Abstract
During the nineteenth-century gold rush era, Chinese gold miners arrived spontaneously
in California and, later, were invited in to work the Otago goldelds 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 benets that accrued and the
generally tolerant outlook of the newspapers editors. The structure of the papers coverage
diered, however, reecting the diering 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 newspapers 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
inux of thousands of Chinese gold miners. This demographic tsunami was
not conned 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 inuxes, 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) 248273 249
territory alone. Furthermore, although historians do quote from mainstream

newspapers to illustrate white societys 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 Zealands 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 dierences
were anticipated to produce new insights into newspaper representations of
ethnic minorities. Both California and Otago were white-dominated newspaper-
publishing pioneer communities into which Chinese arrived in signicant
numbers California in the 1850s and Otago fteen years later. However,
whereas in California Chinese arrived spontaneously, in Otago businesspeo-
ple 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 proling 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 & Littleeld,
2008); Adam McKeown, Chinese Migrant Networks and Cultural Change: Peru, Chicago, Hawaii,
1900-1936 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001). The Chinese inux 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
Krippendor, Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology (Thousand Oaks, California:
Sage Publications, 2004).
250 G. Hannis / Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248273
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 Sutters Mill that year.
The ensuing gold rush saw thousands ock 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 countrys entire population.4 Foreigners also came to the elds. 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 goldelds were initially unregulated. Instead, the
miners on many of the elds elected someone from within their midst to
administer and enforce mining claims, a generally eective 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 goldelds.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 & Littleeld,
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).
Dierences in language, culture, and customs meant that Chinese tended

to keep to themselves and not mingle with whites, especially on the goldelds.
In San Francisco, Chinese congregated in the area that would eventually
become Chinatown. By the 1860 census, Californias 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, includ-
ing one celebrating California becoming a state. Furthermore, the outgo-
ing 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 citi-
zens.11 But as the Chinese population grew, so did concerns over Chinese
immigration. Californias next governor, John Bigler, was vehemently anti-
Chinese 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 for-
eign miners, a law largely directed at Chinese, and working-class whites
later attacked and murdered Chinese. The vitriol of anti-Chinese sentiment
intensied, 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 countrys domi-
nant 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).
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 ocked to the area Otago boomed. The provinces 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 goldelds
opened, with the miners largely working individually or in small groups, with
each eld overseen by a government-appointed warden. But, as was the case
overseas, the gold miners in Otago were transient, heading o to new gold-
elds should the potential pickings appear better. When large gold strikes were
made elsewhere in 1864, many miners abandoned Otago and the provinces
population dropped to 47,000 in 1865.15
With the decline in mining activity, Otagos economic development stalled
and the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce decided to invite Chinese miners
then working the goldelds in the Australian state of Victoria to relocate to the
Otago goldelds. Initially, virtually all the Chinese miners came from Australia
but later arrived directly from China.16
The rst 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, dierences in language and culture meant Chinese
tended to keep to themselves and not mingle with Europeans still working the
elds. 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 elds in other parts of New
Zealands 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 nations capital, where a rela-
tively 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).
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 countrys premiers (that is, prime ministers),
including Richard Seddon and Joseph Ward, were openly voicing ram-
pantly anti-Chinese, racist rhetoric.20 The poll-tax was removed in the middle
of the twentieth century, but other laws continued to favor European immi-
grants over those from Asia. It was not until the mid-1980s that legislative and
political changes saw signicant 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, becom-
ing the citys rst 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 journal-
ist and New York senator. Edward had come to California in 1846 as a
seventeen-year-old, and had soon become involved in newspaper publica-
tion. The papers primary editor was Kembles 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).
army ocer 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 conict with
Governor Bigler, with Gilbert using the Alta to question the competence of
Biglers administration. Consequently, one of Biglers 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 Gilberts 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 Scholeeld has said was the spirit of the province
and would inuence its development for eighty years.25 The Witness com-
menced 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 goldelds. Reecting 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 cul-
ture. 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 Otagos primary colonizers, Cutten was later a mem-
ber of the Otago Provincial Council and Parliament. Cutten was also an asso-
ciate of Julius Vogel, who would go on to become one of the colonys leading
journalists and politicians, including premier.27
The editor of the Witness during the current studys 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 Scholeeld, 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 1769-
1869) (Wellington: Allen & Unwin and the Department of Internal Aairs, 1990); Scholeeld,
Newspapers in New Zealand.
man who came to New Zealand in 1863. Bell rose to become a major news-
paper 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 inux 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 Zealands 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 newspa-
pers chose to depict them. (2) Voice. This was dened as the person(s) or
organization(s) quoted in the text. This information was collected to deter-
mine, rst, whether it was primarily members of the dominant white culture
28
George Griths, Bell, George, The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Vol. 2 1870-
1900) (Wellington: Bridget Williams Books and the Department of Internal Aairs, 1993);
Scholeeld, 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).
who told the stories about the Chinese and, second, whether Chinese them-
selves had a voice. (3) Tone. The tone of each voices comments was recorded,
as was the tone of all reportage. This information was collected to help deter-
mine 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 papers total coverage for all four years.
Eectively 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 Altas coverage (94 percent) were non-
Chinese, about two-thirds neutral in tone. Nearly all (91 percent) of the neu-
tral coverage was voiced by the Alta itself. This comprised matter-of-fact
statements, such as that losses in a recent re included the Chinese restau-
rant, 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 citizens34
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
Alta, 29 Aug. 1850, 2.
33
Ibid., 18 Sept. 1850, 2.
34
Ibid., 8 Mar. 1850, 2.
35
Ibid., 11 May 1850, 2.
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 newspapers 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 inux began, in striking contrast there was a consider-
able 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 acquit-
ted themselves well in Australia and, with the Otago goldelds 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 eld for protable labor for the Chinese existed.39 But not
everyone was convinced. Virtually the same proportion of material (36 per-
cent) reported on those who opposed the Chinese coming to Otago. A dis-
senting 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
Ibid., 13 Aug. 1850, 2.
37
Ibid.
38
Witness, 23 Sept. 1865, 15; 14 Oct. 1865, 17.
39
Ibid., 14 Oct. 1865, 11.
40
Ibid., 23 Sept. 1865, 15.
41
Ibid., 14 Oct. 1865, 6.
(99 percent). There was an approximately equal spread of positive and nega-
tive 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 temper-
ate, frugal, and well behaved,42 noting that their industry and patient appli-
cation 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 eects 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 Commerces
vice-president, G. Turnbull, reported to members of the provincial govern-
ment that Some correspondence has taken place between one of the rms
here and gentlemen in Victoria, from which it appears that there is an inclina-
tion 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, rep-
resenting 12 percent of all the papers reportage for the survey period. Likewise,
28 percent of all reportage this year was on Chinese immigration. About two-
thirds 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
Ibid., 30 Sept. 1865, 10.
43
Ibid., 31 Mar. 1865, 10.
44
Ibid., 23 Sept. 1865, 15.
45
Ibid., 30 Sept. 1865, 14.
46
Ibid., 13.
47
Alta, 22 July 1851, 2.
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 per-
cent 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 non-
Chinese. Sixty-three percent of those voices were neutral in tone and was pri-
marily (86 percent) the newspaper, such as: Ching, a genteel looking
Chinaman, was ned 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 industri-
ous, 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
conned 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 defendants 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 Altas 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
Ibid., 20 Aug. 1851, 2.
49
Ibid., 15 May 1851, 2; 23 May 1851, 2; and 24 May 1851, 2.
50
Ibid., 29 Oct. 1851, 2.
51
Ibid.
52
Ibid., 12 May 1851, 2.
53
Ibid., 11 Dec. 1851, 2.
54
Ibid., 14 Dec. 1851, 2.
55
Ibid., 29 Dec. 1851, 1.
mining. This coverage was often extracts of regular reports from the goldelds,
prepared by the wardens. For instance, Warden Robinson reported from the
Dunstan goldelds 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 goldeld: no sooner did the news of Johns 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 yester-
day for Blackstone Hill.59 A further 33 percent were wardens reports. Twenty-
seven percent of the non-Chinese voice was positive. Most of this (86 percent)
was the newspaper itself. The paper noted that at the Cardrona goldeld the
most sensible of the population there are favorable to the immigration of
Chinese labor.60 Likewise, the paper described the Chinese miners as indus-
trious, 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
Witness, 16 June 1866, 11.
57
Ibid., 28 Dec. 1866, 7.
58
Ibid., 16 June 1866, 11.
59
Ibid., 27 Jan. 1866, 11.
60
Ibid., 15 Dec. 1866, 17.
61
Ibid., 3 Nov. 1866, 4.
62
Ibid., 16 June 1866, 3.
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. Fifty-
three 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 gov-
ernor, 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 per-
cent of the coverage was in favor of Chinese immigration, which largely
remained the newspapers position. The newspaper argued the Chinese con-
tribute 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 per-
cent 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 busi-
ness;69 and a Chilean miner breaking a Chinese miners leg.70 A further
23 percent of the coverage was Chinese cultural and religious activities, includ-
ing a visit by a Chinese theatrical troupe, which, the newspaper said, were
63
Alta, 3 May 1852, 2; see also 12 May 1852, 2.
64
Ibid., 25 Apr. 1852, 2.
65
For instance, ibid., 15 May 1852, 15; 21 May 1852, 2.
66
Ibid., 26 Apr. 1852, 2.
67
Ibid., 17 Nov. 1852, 2.
68
Ibid., 29 Sept. 1852, 2.
69
Ibid., 18 Mar. 1852, 3.
70
Ibid., 20 Sept. 1852, 5.
well worth seeing.71 The paper also reported miners in San Joaquin were
expelling Chinese miners from the goldelds.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 inoensive class of adventurers that come among us.74 The newspaper
said Biglers attack on the Chinese was based on exaggerated and distorted
views that will pass away as suddenly as they were created.75 Gilberts murder
in August did not alter the newspapers 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 Biglers 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
rst year negatively toned material was a signicantly large category. Most of
this (73 percent) was voiced by a politician, that is to say, Biglers attack on the
Chinese. A further 20 percent was voiced by the newspaper, but these were com-
paratively 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 citizens78 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.
72
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
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 Altas
reports of what Chinese newspapers were saying about the Chinese in
California,82 and Chinese immigrants giving their ships 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 buer, 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 rst 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 simi-
lar 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.
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 pas-
sengers arrived on Wednesday by the barque Torquil.90
The dominant voice in the Witnesss 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 particu-
lar name, except that I have heard that sort called Chinamens hats,91
A further 30 percent was the newspaper. This was often coverage of the tri-
als, 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 reected 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 primar-
ily evidence the Chinese gave during the trials, some of which Chinese deliv-
ered 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 nal 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 signicant 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 dierent, 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
Ibid., 2 Feb. 1867, 11.
91
Ibid., 6 Sept. 1867, 7.
92
Ibid., 5 Jan. 1867, 7.
93
Ibid., 15 Dec. 1867, 3.
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 benets American commerce, at the
expense of American civilization.96 The newspaper claimed the Chinese diet
of Rats, lizards, mud-terrapins, rank and indigestible shell-sh 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 rac-
ist material. Indeed, bookending those comments the newspaper described
the Chinese in February as industrious, peaceable and law-abiding98 and in
October as the most harmless, inoensive 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 Altas 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
Ibid., 4 June 1853, 2.
95
Ibid., 12 May 1853, 2.
96
Ibid., 21 May 1853, 2.
97
Ibid., 15 June 1853, 2.
98
Ibid., 8 Feb. 1853, 2.
99
Ibid., 11 Oct. 1853, 2.
100
For instance, ibid., 23 May 1853, 2; 12 Sept. 1853, 2.
101
Ibid., 13 Nov. 1853, 2.
102
Ibid., 16 Feb. 1853, 2.
103
Ibid., 1 June 1853, 2; 17 Nov. 1853, 3.
104
Ibid., 26 Aug. 1853, 1.
105
Ibid., 8 Feb. 1853, 2.
106
Ibid., 11 Apr. 1853, 2.
107
Ibid., 3 May 1853, 2.
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 oensive.108 There was little posi-
tively 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 Altas racist editorials. Lo pointed to Chinas 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 Los 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 suer rude treatment from some of our ignorant and brutal
people.110 The remaining Chinese-voiced material was all neutral, and com-
prised 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 nal 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 goldelds113 and the police issu-
ing a proclamation re-committing themselves that, if made aware of any
injury having been illegally inicted 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 goldelds Chinese are doing remarkably well in this
once abandoned locality,115 and that at the Lake Wanaka elds, the Chinese
appeared well contented with their earnings.116 The paper also reported
that Chinese miners were moving to new goldelds, including on the South
108
Ibid., 21 May 1853, 2.
109
Ibid., 23 June 1853, 2; emphasis in original.
110
Ibid.; emphasis in original.
111
For instance, ibid., 26 Aug. 1853, 1; 28 Sept. 1853, 1.
112
Witness, 8 Feb. 1868, 1.
113
Ibid., 7 Mar. 1868, 11.
114
Ibid., 8 Feb. 1868, 5.
115
Ibid., 22 Feb. 1868, 7.
116
Ibid., 31 Oct. 1868, 8.
Islands 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 con-
ducting 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
goldeld expected a constantly increasing arrival of their countrymen.121
Twenty percent of the material favored Chinese immigration, which remained
the newspapers position, with the paper declaring the Chinese frugal and
industrious122 and that Chinese have many times beneted Europeans by
opening up new goldelds.123 For the rst time, the paper also made refer-
ence to the initial arrival of Chinese gold miners in California, although it
was not an entirely glowing assessment. The paper declared the Chinese
who rst arrived in Victoria and California were mostly very inferior sam-
ples, 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 benet of the Chinese, racial
stereotyping was also addressed, with the paper declaring we shall be told the
Chinese have peculiar vices and disqualications. So, till very lately, the French
declared of the English. Wholesale national disqualications 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 rst-rate customers to the storekeepers;
and, what is better, they almost invariably pay ready money.126 Only 1 per-
cent of the coverage was negative, most (80 percent) coming from the news-
paper. This comprised the disparaging comments about the rst Chinese
arrivals in California and Victoria, mentioned above, and a passage reprinted
from a West Coast newspaper, which declared Chinamen are not desirable
117
For instance, ibid., 25 Jan. 1868, 9; 26 Sept. 1868, 13.
118
Ibid., 5 Dec. 1868, 5.
119
Ibid., 1 Aug. 1868, 4.
120
Ibid., 11 July 1868, 4.
121
Ibid., 25 Jan. 1868, 9.
122
Ibid., 8 Feb. 1868, 1.
123
Ibid., 1 Aug. 1868, 4.
124
Ibid., 8 Feb. 1868, 1.
125
Ibid.
126
Ibid., 18 Apr. 1868, 13.
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 celebrat-
ing Queen Victorias birthday, they carried banners bearing Chinese inscrip-
tions, 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 to-
day, but many are in the country [the goldelds].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 elds, the paper could only report the migration is said to
be the result of some private information received from the Chinese popula-
tion at Mount Ida.131
Conclusions
Our analysis reveals much about the editorial decision-making at both news-
papers and the papers resulting depiction of the Chinese.
First, although we may be accustomed to think that the news media of the
time reected the dominant white cultures 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 per-
ceived Chinese to be a potential economic benet 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 busi-
nesspeople actually invited Chinese in to work the abandoned goldelds.
127
Ibid., 30 June 1868, 3.
128
Ibid., 3 July 1868, 4.
129
Ibid., 30 May 1868, 5.
130
Ibid.
131
Ibid., 26 Sept. 1868, 13.
132
Alta, 8 Mar. 1850, 2.
In spite of protests from those opposed to the invitation, George Bell sup-
ported the initiative, his Witness describing Chinese as temperate, frugal
well behaved133 and insisting the most sensible of the population134 sup-
ported 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 disqualications are singularly unreliable.135
Second, the editors diered in how they constructed their depiction of the
Chinese, reecting the diering historical circumstances in the two areas
served by the newspapers. In the rst year of the survey period, the Alta essen-
tially gave eectively 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 Altas coverage. By contrast, in the rst 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 cover-
age. The elite felt the need to publicly justify at length the decision to invite
Chinese in, justications that the Witness reported and supported, reecting
how this issue had become potentially divisive within white communities on
the Pacic Rim.
Likewise, the coverage reected the diering patterns of Chinese settle-
ment in the two areas and the resources available to the newspapers. Although
the great majority of Chinese arriving in California headed for the goldelds,
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 signicant amount of space in
the Altas pages. The paper reported little on the activities of the Chinese at the
goldelds. The Witness, by contrast, wrote virtually nothing about the Chinese
in Dunedin. Instead, the focus was on the Chinese at the goldelds. This sug-
gests the Chinese miners had little impact, at least in the early years, on
Dunedins social and cultural life. This pattern of reportage also reected that
133
Witness, 30 Sept. 1865, 10.
134
Ibid., 15 Dec. 1866, 17.
135
Ibid., 8 Feb. 1868, 1.
both papers were small concerns. Few reporters ventured to the Californian
goldelds, 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 goldelds 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 perpetra-
tors 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 dif-
cult to prejudice the public mind against them [ie, the Chinese] on the score
of criminal behavior because Chinese are more sinned against than sin-
ning.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 domi-
nant voice in both newspapers was overwhelmingly non-Chinese, mostly the
newspapers themselves. Reportage depicted Chinese from a distance, inter-
preting 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 goldelds and were wel-
comed by some and attacked by others. We learn that they made an eort to
t in taking part in parades to celebrate Californian statehood and Queen
Victorias 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 suered in the white-dominated Pacic 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 rearms the importance of leadership,
in this case newspaper editors. Gilberts 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.
Chinese when this was no longer politically popular. Initially, Gilberts murder
did not alter the newspapers generally positive stance toward the Chinese.
But that changed in the nal year of the survey period, when the newspaper
indulged in lengthy anti-Chinese diatribes alongside some favorable assess-
ments of the Chinese. Such striking contrasts in editorial attitudes in the nal
year clearly imply the hands of dierent editors working in the void created by
Gilberts death and a distracted (and often absent) Kemble.
In Otago, by striking contrast, Bell remained editor of his paper through-
out the survey period and the Witnesss support for Chinese remained stead-
fast. Bringing our discussion full circle, in the nal survey year the Witness
considered the Californian experience of Chinese gold miners, insisting the
inux of Chinese had been economically advantageous to the state. Bell
remained true to the dominant cultures prevailing conventional wisdom
and his own conscience throughout the survey period. Gilbert broke with
his cultures conventional wisdom when it no longer accorded with his con-
science, a schism that contributed to his death. Ultimately, the nature of the
coverage of the initial inux 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 eco-
nomic distress, the white nations of the Pacic Rim would eventually form
deeply racist attitudes toward the Chinese, attitudes that led to exclusion.
Table 1. Content analysis of the Altas coverage of the Chinese in California, 1850-
1853 (Number of articles=419. Cm2=17,689)
Year 1850 1851 1852 1853
% of 4-year 4.9 12.0 53.2 29.9
Total
Topic % of % of % of % of % of % of % of % of
Total Category Total Category Total Category Total Category
Chinese 0.1 28.3 67.4 23.5
immigration
- Chinese 0.0 34.8 10.9 0.0
wanted
- Chinese 0.0 0.0 28.0 82.9
unwanted
- General 100.0 65.2 61.1 17.1
discussion
Chinese 99.9 71.7 32.6 76.5
activity
- Committing 1.4 13.8 25.8 17.4
crime
- Victims of 13.9 44.4 20.8 31.8
crime
- Cultural, 53.7 5.8 22.6 18.4
religious
- Gold mining 1.7 1.1 8.6 0.4
- Other 29.3 34.8 22.2 31.9
Voice and Tone

Non-Chinese 93.7 90.8 92.0 91.0
- Positive 28.0 34.4 36.6 9.7
- Negative 4.3 2.4 22.0 33.6
- Neutral 67.7 63.2 41.3 56.7
Chinese 6.3 9.2 8.0 9.0
- Positive 10.8 0.0 63.8 60.8
- Negative 0.0 0.0 1.5 0.0
- Neutral 89.2 100.0 34.6 39.2
Overall Tone
- Positive 26.9 31.2 38.8 14.3
- Negative 4.1 2.2 20.4 30.6
- Neutral 69.0 66.6 40.8 55.2
Source: Author survey
Table 2. Content analysis of Witnesss coverage of the Chinese in Otago, 1865-1868

(Number of articles=199. Cm2=18,794)
Year 1865 1866 1867 1868
% of 4-year 33.1 7.0 42.4 17.4
Total
Topic % of % of % of % of % of % of % of % of
Total Category Total Category Total Category Total Category
Chinese 100.0 36.6 8.1 16.6
immigration
- Chinese 36.6 24.7 34.3 19.8
wanted
- Chinese 35.9 53.6 24.4 16.8
unwanted
- General 27.5 21.7 41.3 63.4
discussion
Chinese 0.0 63.4 91.9 83.4
activity
- Committing 0.0 7.6 65.0 3.8
crime
- Victims of 0.0 0.0 19.5 38.3
crime
- Cultural, 0.0 0.0 1.4 2.8
religious
- Gold mining 0.0 86.8 10.7 31.8
- Other 0.0 5.6 3.3 23.3
Voice and Tone
Non-Chinese 99.2 95.3 86.4 98.8
- Positive 36.0 26.5 5.8 31.7
- Negative 35.5 15.7 5.7 1.4
- Neutral 28.6 57.8 88.5 67.0
Chinese 0.8 4.7 13.6 1.2
- Positive 0.0 0.0 11.8 0.0
- Negative 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
- Neutral 100.0 100.0 88.2 100.0
Overall Tone
- Positive 35.7 25.2 6.6 31.3
- Negative 35.2 15.0 5.0 1.3
- Neutral 29.2 59.8 88.5 67.4
Source: Author survey

A Comparative Analysis of Nineteenth-Century Californian and New Zealand Newspaper Representations of Chinese Gold Miners

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A Comparative Analysis of Nineteenth-Century Californian and New Zealand Newspaper Representations of Chinese Gold Miners

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Journal of American-East Asian Relations 18 (2011) 248273 brill.

A Comparative Analysis of Nineteenth-Century

A dramatic change in the ethnic mix of the white-dominated western United

Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2011 DOI 10.1163/187656111X610737

territory alone. Furthermore, although historians do quote from mainstream

Californian Gold Rush

Dierences in language, culture, and customs meant that Chinese tended

Otago Gold Rush

Initially, opposition to the Chinese coming to New Zealand was mainly

Newspapers in the Study

The Californian newspaper considered in this study is the Daily Alta

The First Year

speaking in broken English at a ceremony in a San Francisco plaza, where

The Second Year

California must at present have a population of several thousand Chinese;

The Third Year

In 1852, Chinese arrived in California in their thousands and, accordingly,

Norman Asing, a naturalized Chinese resident of California. Asing noted that

The Fourth Year

Voice and Tone

Table 2. Content analysis of Witnesss coverage of the Chinese in Otago, 1865-1868

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