The Hawaiian gazette., 1878-10-02
Labor.

As all wealth is the result of labor, it be-
comes matter OF the first Importance for
every country TO SO adjust its laws and usages /
that labor shall not only be abuudantly sup |
piled, but that it shall be properly protected /
and fostered. Political.aconomists in all ages !
and countries have ever held that in those |
countries where labor is abundant, the largest |
amount of happiness exists among those who |
labor for their daily bread provided that the
laws are impartial, and adequate in their pro
visions for the protection of the weak against
the strong; for while il is self-evident fact.
that without labor there can be no wealth,
there still appears to be an unnatural and un-
reasonable anIagOuism between labor and cap
i,Al. Capital is always sensitive and easily
alarmed. and when labor and capital do not
fully agree, society feels the result Of the dis
agreement in marked degree. in unnatural
exciEements, acrimonious discussions, and pub
lie outbreaks Of unbridled passion, that TOO
often end in riot and bloodshed, but always in
disaster to the weaker parties
This is the state of things in the United
States AZ the present moment; where, through
the excitement caused by sew demagOgues,
who are all the time making appeals to the
passions of the laboring classes about the iujus-
tiee and oppression Of capital. until the IN
thinking and ignorant are made TO believe that
these blatant agitators are really their friends.
In the midst Of all this, the pressure of hard
times, brought about by a combination of cir
cumstancss of q far different character to that
which the sand lot orators of the Pacific coast
attribute the misfortunes of the laboring
classes, makes those people the willing victims
Of the deception practiced upon them by the
demagOsue agitators, who are constantly STIR
ring up strife between the employer and the
employed.
Such state Of things in any country must
be productive Of widespread mischief and alb
solute distress. 1t is painful TO contemplate
the lengths TO which some people will 90 in
the blind pursuit Of theory gotten up by these
same ignorant sgitators, without ever stopping
TO examine the right or the wrong of the real
question at issue. Either from ignorance or
yiciOusness, too many men of whom better
things might be expected, join in the general
hue and cry simply because that cry is raised
10 keep up the excitement of the hour In San
Francisco, for instance, where there is perhaps
more of this kind of excitement than in any
other city in America, we find state of things
existing that fully explains the reason for the
wholesale denunciatious Of the Chinese which
ara Illuminated from the rostrum, and through
the public press Of the latter city, which keeps
the people in constant state Of wild excite
ment that tends TO divert attention from the
real csuse of suffering, In California there is
a spirit Of gambling fOstered which has so in |
fected the minds of the people that thousands
Of stalwart men, in the prime of life, are to be
found crOwding the streets of San Francisco,
who do nothing from one end of the year to
the other but gamble in stocks. This practice
has brought about terrible state of things in
th2t city the fortunes that are lost daily rem
der the unfortunates desperate, who are certain
TO attribute their misfortunes to any other than
the right cause
If these men were to employ one half the in
dustry and perseverance, not to say intelli- |
gence, to any legitimate pursuit of life that
they do TO gamble, they would all be wealthy
In few years, instead of being bankrupts, |
beggars and knaves and the insane denuncia- |
tons that are now mlde against the Mongo-
ians, who pursue legitimate course of life, |
and are content with the slow accumulations
Of patient industry as the reward of their labor,
II =, IL,
look al the matter with an unprejudiced eye,
that the class Of persons who SO roundIy berate
the Chinese and proclaim that they must be
expelled from America, are themselves for the
most part foreigners, many of whom are unnat-
uralized, and have no more political status than
the Cinnamon they denounce The better think
ing portion of the people in the States are be
ginning 10 see the inconsistency as well as in
justice Of the agitation, and better counsels will
undoubtedly prevail in short time The Chi
nese Ambassador who is now IN Washington,
and who did while in San Francisco, through
the columns Of the ArgoHdU, give utterance to
few historical truths in series of articles
(the first of which viii be found in another col
umn Of this paper) which must necessarily
cause people to think on this subject. We are
glad 10 see this discussion going on, because
it cannot but be productive of wholesome re-
suits, and will eventually bring about proper
understanding of the Chinese question in the
United States as well as elsewhere OF one
thing we are convinced; and that is, that the
more the Chinese question is discussed the bet
ter It VIII be understood, and the more certain
are peple to arrive at proper conclusion after
a patient and intelligent investigation. The
day is past when denunciation viii be taken
for argument, or unfounded prejudice accepted
as truth.
Progress i'm Japan.