, 1870-06-29

CHARLES HITCHCOCK,
FOR Judges Of he Circuit Court for %
County:
WM. T. EARWELL, HENRY Door,
Election Saturday, July2
TIE CHINESE LABOR QUESTION.
The Chinese labor question is, perlap
engaging the thoughts Of more people
the Present time, than any other toni
1he a171val Of serenty-ive Asiatic sho,
makers, or rather laborers, who will 500
become shoemakers, in d little town !
western Massachusetts,, has produced a
electric shock in every town in tho Unto
States where men work for wases The
are the peaulnbra of ar awful shadow
Mnny rersozs See, in imagination, th
whole Mougolan race emptyine themselre
upon our shores, elbowing American ami
European labo1ers out of thci
Places and reducing them by inezora
Bile. competition to their own Low
Standard Of wages and cirilization-for the
Improvement of the working classes is gov.
e'ned and measured by what they receive,
over and above the cost of maintaining an
e1stence- Others see in the advent of the
Mongollans merely new instrument of
production, q new labor saving machine, to
be employed in developing the vast and
hidden resources of a new continent A
smaller, but influential class, look upon the
Chinese immigration as means of mission
ary grace for attacking and finally over
coming the powers of barbarism and
heathenis1n in Eastern Asia,
Ihe labor question is the most pe1plex-
ing OF all questions which social science At
tempts to deal with Adam Smith pointed
out IN q paragraph the fact that employers
OF labor arc always in tacit combination
to prevent rise in the rate of wages, eyen
when no formal combination has been On.
tered into from which it is necessary IN
ference, though he did not lay sufficient
stress upon it, that combinations among
laborers to counteract the influences op-
posed to them are justifable, and are Ger
tam to take place. Since his time, much
has been written On the labor question, and
few general formulas hare been deduced
by economists concerning the sswages fund" "
population, and capital, or the demand
and supply of labor, which are true as far
rs they 60, but come far short of exhaust
ing the subject. The growing strength Of
the trades-unions, and their international
organization their frequent mistakes but
percephb1e advance in intelligence, and es-
pec1a1iy their great power for mischief to
themselves and others, have lately turned
the attention Of some Of the best thinkers
IN England and America TO the labor COM
b1nadons, as distinct branch of political
economy, among whom may be mentioned
Nt- W. I. Thornton and Professor Leslie.
and also Mr. E. L. GodEn, whose contri-
buttons to the North american Resieso
are none the less useful because
they expose our Ignorance and poverty of
resources in dealing with the rades-unions
rather than oder any substitute for exist
ing remedies Mr.. Sampson, of North
Adams, being no philosopher but q practi-
cal man. has solved, to his own satisfaction
the problems surrounding the manufacture
of shoes, and the edicts Of the Order of
St Crispin, by introducing seTenty-dve
Cinnamon into his shop. His business, |
Like that of his new employees, is ssmakee a
shoe" He does not concern himself with
social science, although he is said to be
+ 4
American Industry" With him, it was :
only question of whether he should yield ! =
to the demands of the hades-union, OF
close his establishment, or find a different I :.
class of labore1s- He had already tried
Canada, but the Crispin Society had en- -
heed his men away. He has now tried =,
China, and, in SO doing, Las let loose upon
rs more winds than Eolus carried in his =
bag to plague the wandering Trojans. Al
ready has Senator Wilson, Of Massachusetts,, !.
expressed his eage1ness to restrain the =,
Chinese incursion by prohibiting all con- -
tracts for labor extending beyond =,
six months The trades-unions of
New York have resolved to ap-
peal to atms at once-that is, to kill or Z
a1pel the Chinese by mob violence-but +,
his remedy, however we'll adapted to the ~
meridian Of New York, is not likely to =
move effective in so sodate, and law-abid- -
ng, and proselyting q Commonwealth rs y,
~
It is useful to inquire, in the first place, =, -.
shat are the rights OF the parties. Tbs ~
'hinesc have right to come to America r
nd work for their living. They have this - -
light by the law Of nature, and also by =" ="
reaty, which treaty is superior to the enact -,
nents, or even the constitutions, OF the -.
everal States On the other hand, every O.
iyilized community has the right, and is ~
nder the obligation, to regulate immigra- y,
ion, both fur the good Of the immigrants AZ
nd that of the community. 1t is certainly -
ne Of the duties Of the State to see to it ~
~ S>,ka nf |
re not assailed by the importation of H.
eves. It is equally duty to prevent re
10 introduction of persons "held to w;
,rvice for q term of years." when, ;se
ON the circumstances of the case, these n,
ersons could have had no just conception lo
the nature of the contract they were ~
,tering into, nor any idea of tie market H.
due OF their labor in this country. Such NO
ntracts amount to servitude, no more, 49,
ID no less They are no legitimate form III,
competition, and We care not how Sc .b,
re enactments may be passed to prohibit t.,e
EN-. 1t is obviously necessary to do AZ
metling more than to declare such con- IL,
acts void, since the Chinese laborers hive ~.
} means Of knowing what the laws are in -.
e premises, and, perhaps, no desire to ,,o
nil themselves Of them. Sach contracts D.,
ter cer!aiu time, should be made mis- =
meanor cn the part of the employers.
by Indictment -
Whether we can 60 beyond this. and ~,
,ether it would be wise TO do So in re-
aiming Chinese immigration, is very ~
ubtf;L Iu practice, we think it woald ~.
be necessary to do so, even to meet the 'A
I'VE Of the workiugmen, since nearly I'LL ,>nu 49,
. common laborers from China are in 49,
ced to migrate by the certainty of stip- t-,so
ted SUN in wages for a stipulated time, 49,,
the end IT which they expect to return 49, =
Ia their accumulated earnings to their 49,
live country. But for this feature of the 1eAe
'A1ie immigration, there would be no dif- IT
ence, i'll an economical point of into
'w' between Chinese immigration and sets
other. We are accustomed to consider har ,
immigration Of the poorer classes of onar
dope to this country, notwithstanding it's shoe,
a~nacks' ns, on the whole, good thing. best
ice every man Who comes is under n OH,
edge to produce more tha,, he cs,,,.nr,a. .N,
d, generally, under necessity ID 1e.<zs p1ae
Accommodations here Hence, hoxsyef ,hs;r
eaply the Chinese 1nay work. ths;r aa.., |
vioes are not Us profitable to the coantrv c1,,n
those of other immigrants who mako in ~,