New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-03-22
I" RY TILE HdIR.V

owed, hau not tne TdTiidncHt 'o'o" "i' INV
ton down-the solution of the Chinese prob
lem. And even now it is not too late to APP
ply his plan in this country, though it
has been rejected in Canada. MIR. Bun
sted's proposition took the problem not
merely figuratively. but literally, by 1.-THE
"hair.n 1t was during discussion OF
that bold enterprise of our Northern neigh
bors known as the Canada Pacific Railway,
which proposes to make the series of desola-
lions across the Continent north of the Lakes
and through the Saskatchewan Valley popu-
lous and lively by strnging them together.
Mr.. Bunsted fears that the Chinese residents
of British Columbia will be employed to do
the work. Like Kearney, the San Francisco
agitator, Butler, the Massachusetts labor
champion, and Bill Nye, the euchre
player, he is opposed to "Chinese cheap
"labor." He has accordingly wrestlcd with
the question how to prevent the Heather
Chnee from having hand IN the work.
He discovered way out OF the difficulties
cnvironing this great National question. and
promulgated it in the Parliament on Tuesday.
And it is as simple as falling off n log; as
easy as Mr.. Buffers scheme OF finance to
wit, to print your dollars as fast as you need
them. Bunstcd considers not the idolatrOus
practices of the heather; neither his pigeon
English. nor his unique apparel, nor his
almond eyes, nor his tawny complexion. nor
his economical diet, nor the abomnably low
price he sets upon his labor. All these may
be Objectionable, but to discriminate against
him in any of these particulars would be to
raise questions of nationality, which must be
avoided. SO Bunsted takes the heather by
the hair. He proposes that no man wear
ing his hair longer than five and half inches
shall be deemed eligible for employment
on the Canada Pacific, and that clause to
this effect shall be inserted in all contracts for
the construction of the road. And they voted
ii down.
Strange that they voted it down. And stranger
that no statesman has ever thought of 1T be-
fore. For, leaving ont the great question OF
Chinese labor, which Bunsted particularly
swooped down upon, no man ought to be per-
mtted to take more than five and half
inches of hair into any public employment.
More than that involves the care and labor
and expense of hair-drcssing, the cost OF
bears oil and cosmetics, and possibly OF
dye, the danger of exciting envy and
jealousy, and, what is of more consequence.
raises the possibility of employing on public
works persons of unique theological opinions
and cratic notions regarding the sphere OF
woman. Had this limitation been placed upon
the public service in this country twenty-five
or thirty years ago, particularly with refer
ence to Members of Congress, there is rea-
son to believe we might have escaped
the War of the Rebellion, which was
urged on mostly by statesmen who wore
their hair anywhere from ten to twelve
inches long. 1t has been in operation prac-
tically in Ncw-York City politics for many
years, under the benign rule Of Tammany
Hall. Mr. Bunstcds proposition doyetails with
the Tammany practice perfectly. the require
ments of the latter being, however, much
more strict than those proposed by Bunsted.
Not only has Tammany Hall refused to
trust in official position any man with
five and half inches Of hair; it has
extended the principle and said, the shorter a
candidates hair the better Some of the
ablcst statesmen that Tamniany has set up to
administer the affairs of the city-enforcc, III
terpret and expound the law, manage the
finances and supcrintend the schools and con-
duet the elections-have been men of singu-
larly short hair BY shorthared, we do not
mean bald-headcd statesmen, but those
who have, in the process of training
for the duties Of official position, so to speak,
filed their heads close.
1t seems a great pity that Mr.. Bunsteds
plan was not adopted, and the experiment at
least allowed trial Should the Canada
Pacific ever DC built, it would be great
fact to hand down with it to pOstcrity
that no man with more than five and n
half inches Of hair turned shovel on
the work. And then from this it would be
so easy to extend the reform to all Govern
ment positions, and gradually shorten up
the cut of the hair until Canada might
boast rs pure and honest and efficient
and shOrt-haired n Government rs that
which this metropolis rcjoices in under
the rule of Tammany and tho Boss"
1t may be that Bunstcd got his ideas from our
city government; though we would not for a
moment detract from the merit of his plan by
any questioning of its originality. Wherever
it came from, whether original or borrowed. it
is craftsmanship of the highest order. We
commend it to the attention OF our own Con-
gress. Let us establish standard length of
hair for Congressman, and keep the present
Doorkeeper of the House in Office to appoint
the measurers That would give us a genuine
Democratic short-haired Congress, and furnish
places for the few Tenncsseeans whom Mr..
Polk has not already, in the kindness of his
heart, bestowed in soft places.
COMMUNISM At THE SOUTHWEST.