Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-04-17
TIE comM sRCIkL VIEW.

" the banks in the Clearing House Associ.
sc alton, by all the members of the sugar,
"tea and coffee trade, by ninety per cent.
"of the dry goods trade, and by seventy
"seven per cent. of the insurance people,
" against restriction OF Chinese immigrs-
ton, claiming it to be an affront to a
" friendly nation, was forwarded to Presi-
"dent Arthur from this city on Wednes-
day" This is the expression of the mer-
camille mind, and it ought not to surprise US.
1t would be wrong to conclude that such
a petition really represents the views OF the
whole business element but it as certainly
does represent class which has always, IN
all countries and under all circumstances,
regarded the pursuit of gain as the only
end of human existence worth protecting
or considering, and which has repeatedly
exhibited the most complete want of pat.
riotisn, humanity, sense of justice, and
moral perception. Ia the eyes Of the sordid
traders whose names are signed to this Pc
tition, the only thing deserving to be
thought of in this connection is the danger
of losing the trade with China. No sacri-
fees are too great to be made for this OBJ
ject. 1t matters nothing to these people
whether the Pacific States are Mongolian-
lied, so long as the trade with China is not
interfered with. This class of sordid and
narrow minded hucksters has always ex.
listed, and has always left its mark upon
the page of history in mean or infamous
deeds or doctrines. Under the plea of ex-
tending commerce the most indefensible
outrages have been perpetrated upon weak
nations. Under that plea England forced
the opium trade upon China at the cannon .
mouth. Under that plea her war.ships
have again and again carried devastation
into simple and peaceful communities.
Under that plea some of the worst deeds
recorded in history have been done. The
lust of gain, whenever and wherever it has
controlled governmental policy: has re-
suited in wrong and injustice. From the
Punic War down to the present day the
most selfish and unlovely attribute Of hu-
manity has been gratifed at the expense Of
the higher requirements of the race, and
historians have not scrupled to boast Of
the triumphs which were merely piracies
and robberies on grand scale.
The +roJ;,r 4,l-ao
plete possession of men, seems to extin-
guish every elevating tendency in them.
There has never been great war in
which traders did not sell even munitions
of war to the enemy, if they could. In
the rebellion many of the very New York
merchants who signed this petition were
doubtless willing and ready to sell any
thing to the rebels. The same base spirit
leads men to sell rifles and ammunition to
the Indians, though it is well understood
that the weapons will be used to shoot
white men with. No matter what the
extremity of country may be, there are
always plenty OF its own people ready to
take advantage of it for the sake of the
profit, utterly regardless of the mischief
done. We cannot doubt that the New
York merchants who want no restraint put
upon Chinese immigration would if they
could cancel that treaty provision which
prevents US from dealing in opium with
the Chinese. They would barter away the
entire prospect of future American colo
nization of the Pacific Slope, and surrender
the whole country to the Chinese, rather
than lose the insignificant trade which
they at present possess with that country.
1t is not from this class that reform ever
springs. When the great anti-slavery
movement was beginning to convulse Amer
lean society, the mercantile classes of
the North were the first to oppose it, and
the last to recognize its justice. They had
business relations with the South, and
sooner than endanger these relations they
weuld have been glad to extend the area of
slavery over the whole country.
These men were averse to any agitation,
because they felt, as they always feel,
through their pockets alone. The mi.
guilty of slavery never affected them. 1t
was simply business transaction, and
they had been willing even to engage in
the slave-trade so long as there was more
profit than risk in it. There never would
have been a war against secession if they
had held the balance of power. They
would have echoed Greeley's advice, "Err-
ling Sisters, part in peace" if they had
not been overborne. And when they saw
that the conflict was unavoidable, for that
forces were at work beyond their compre.
hension or influence, their only thought
was how to turn it to account for them.
selves. 1t was from this class that the
army Of fraudulent contractors was re-
cruited scoundrels who cheated the Gov
eminent and the soldiers together whose
shameless dishonesty prolonged the war,
swelled the lists of mortality, deprived the
sick and wounded of necessaries and CON-
forts, and created an enormous and world.
wide scandal. But they filled their pock-
cts in this and other ways. It was the
lack of public spirit in this class that made
it necessary to conduct the war upon
credit, and thus doubled its cost. They re.
fused to come forward and support the
Government at the critical moment. They
thought only OF evading their taxes. At a
later period they swindled the treasury
by false income returns, and again made
money out of the depreciation of the
greenbacks.
Their patriotism is on level with that of
the man who thanked God he had coun
try to sell. They would sell it to the Chi
nese to-day, and think they had made an
excellent bargain, if in return for the
commerce they yearn after the Pacific
States were given over to the Chinese alto
gether. In truth, there is no hope or ex.
pectation of public spirit or craftsmanship
or enlightened intelligence, from these
greedy money. grubbers. The question
whether an integral part of the republic