, 1873-02-18
C00L1E LABOR IN PENNsYLvaN1a

tomptib1o bodies.
o0oL1E LABOR tn PENNSYLVANIA,
a maas meoting WIS held by tho citizens OF
Beaver Falls, Pa., q few days since, to protect
againBt tho employment of Chinese labor in d
manufacturing establishment located at tia,
place. Two hundred Chinese laborere have al
roady boon employed In tho cutlery works thoro,
and one hundred more are aaid to be on their
way from ohina, under contract with the samo
Company. Those lnboro1H diuplaco an equal
number Of American mechanics and worknen,
and, aH 1t is reported that thoy work for q ay,
boarding thomselveg, II ie, Of course, impoeBi-
bio TOR tho Americans to compete with tho1n.
This Was tho grievance. Tho people OF Beaver
Falls, however, have roHortod to no
violence to break down movement
which, sufficiently extended, would
loavo thom without employment, as theira Ia q
community Of worlsingmon. They diacounton-
ancod reaort to force, but adopted q sories Of
resolutions setting forth their complaints, and
appointed q committee to proaent them to tho
AAtNANGoAo "a eA4V HSAA1s AAGp6 IEfu4ut1uQH TX
press general disapproval Of tho prncticc Of
importing Chinese laborers into tho United
States for two reasons: 1. Because tho ol1arao-
tor Of the Coolies is Of kind that unfits them
for contact with Christian communities and Q.
Because their habita and manner Of living arc
snch as to forbid tho competition of American
mechanics and 1aborers. Aside from these
general reasons, tho people OF Beaver Falls hare
special cause for protest. eince tho agents OF tho
Company made promises Of constant en-
p1oyment to ali who would purchase
property at Beaver Falls and make that place
their homo. They, therefore, regard the ern-
ployment Of Cooliosas a breach Of faith, and
Furthermore assert that, If they had known
Coolies wero to DO employed there, they would
have Stunned tho town as they would shun q
leprosy." The Cutlery Company has evidently
given Us q reaHon why they hare employed tho
Chinese that they have been losing money; for,
in roply to this, tho people Of Beaver Fails OK
presses tho opinion TINT apoodier recovery Of
loHsoa would DO accomplished by tho immediate
remova1 Of tho Coolies and tho selection of citi-
zon mechanics. This was probably On tho
ground TINT skilled labor would bo more proHta-
bio than cheap, unskilled 1abor In tho long run.
Such is statement Of the Beaver Falls case.
There are two pointB Of Wow from which this
Chinese problem may DO contemplated. In tho
ono caso, tho general right OF all mon to find
employment whore they can, and at such prices
as they mar, is not to he denied. II would DO
absurd for America, Of all countries, to oppose
this axiom Of equal: rights, though scarcely
more absurd, perhaps, than to make laws by
which superior advantages are guaranteed to
certain business pursuits under tho namo Of
Protection" But thoao who cannot justify
the lattor could certainly not excuge tho former.
In this view Of the case, Cinnamon have tho
same right to come into the United States and
engage themselves in work. at auch prices as
they may desire, that ia enjoyed by the Afri-
can, tho Irishman, tho German, and every other
man Of whatever raee, color, or nativity
he may be. But it is d mistake, commonly
made by those who look at the Chinese problem
from this standpoint, to suppose that this gtato-
ment comprehends the whole case. There Is an
other axiom equally well Defined. No corpora
tion has the right to introduce an element into
civilized society which has tendency to break
down tho civilization OF the community, into
which 1t is introduced. Government and civil
ization are Of twin growth and mutual dopond-
euce. Il It is ono Of tho main purposes Of CIV
ilization to provide good Government, it Ia the
Highest duty Of Government to protect civilian.
tion. As Demonstrated nuisance Ia abatod for
the protection Of the public health, 30 every
rolic Of barbarism muat be rooted out for tho
bonolt Of civilization. Az it would DO
q social crimo to force tho society Of
ignorant and doprayed people upon
an educatod and cultivated person, 30 1t would
bo political crime to discourage skill and good
citizenship by placing incompetoncy and vag-
abondism upon an equal footing, in any commu-
nifty. This general principle Of Political Econ
ony, 1t will DO remembered, was applied to the
Chinese problom by Mr. Hill, in answor to
letter Addressed to linn by Mr. Thomas George,
of California,
The caso In .noayor Falls may be fair]y TALON
to illustrate the two political axioms quoted, md
to show that there ia no antagouism between
them. Had ono chinaman, or two or half-a-
dozen, como voluntarily to Beaver Fails
to earn their living, It is not probable
that their presence would havo boon re-
garded a. Objectionable. Tho natural course
Of events would have been to pay them accord
ing to tho current value Of the service which
they could render. They would have learned
the language as best they could, and would have
munity In which thoy wore to live. Had they
found their labor more romunerative, aud their
associations moro pleasant, than in their own