The National tribune., 1884-03-20

atty Of ofIenses against humanity of which we
have not been guilty. Among the most adj
vaneed economists of Europe, aad among the
most thoughtful European working men, it is
an open question whether emigration is not a
curse to Europe to-day. The wboie social sys-
TEN of Europe is undergoing a transition which
bears cruelty upon the working classes, and the
withdrawal of hundreds of thousands yearly
from their number only prolongs their suffer
ing, delays the crisis, postpones the coming Eu-
ropean revolution, while it increases that
American competition WHICH is the immediate
cause of much, very much. of the hardship I'M
der which they suffer,
Meanwhile, thoughtful Americans abroad
rejoice in the Chinese law and the pauper i'm
migration law, watch with warm sympathy the
efforts of the Knights Of Labor to break up the
Importation of cheap contract labor, and hope
for re speedy adoption of a law embodying
Glr. Byers' provisions
This is I. subject worthy the most careful at
tention. In my last letter | referred to the
frightful poverty of the Swiss laborers Hap
PLY, Congress protects the American workman
against the competition Of the Swiss laborer III
EHrope: but so Ioag as it permits American
capitalists TO import Swiss labor, or any other
European labor to compete with the American
working man in America, so long is protection
a mere halfway measure How constantly and
to what an extent this has been done, and is
y
the German government has put the supervis-
ion of emigration into the hands of govern
ment agents and has declared all contracts for
work to be done in America invalid if made in
Germany. 1t only remains for the American
Government to enforce q like provision, and
for the American working man to consider care
fully the possibility of applying the Swiss idea
to the railroads and telegraphs of America.
Then there will be dawning hope Of security
against the descent of the American working
man to the starvation level of the Swiss. At
present there is no such security.
TENURE OF OFFICE.
I was sorry to see among the resolutions of a
recent meeting of the working men held in
Philadelphia one c0ndemning long tenure of
civil office. If there is one American who
ought to demand long tenure fer civil servants,
it is the working man. Directly or indirectly
he pays the taxes which are wasted by the
ever-needed training of new and ignorant Office
holders his interests suffer most seriously
from the mistakes and mismanagement of I'M
trained officials. Scientists of long and careful
training will never be ready to give themselves
to the public service Of America as they do in
Germany, France and England until they have
the assurance of long tenure, as they have in
the older countries. Meanwhile, our bad sani-
tary arrangements our lack of local statistics,
our chaotic municipal and county and State
t&AStlOIl. OuI poS3tlOtt Will
to the public education, must go from bad to
worse until we make ii possible for men of pre-
vious culture to accumulate lifelong skill and
experience in the service of the public. And
who suffers most from this :? If the rich mans
child is in danger of typhoid fever because the
streets are filthy and the city water supply
poisonous, the rich mans child can be sent to
the seaside, the mountains, or to Europe, If
the manufacturers little daughter breaks down
from overstudy, judicions private teachers can
be had. If the food at the physicians Ia
BILE suggests defective inspection of the mar
kets, he can readily have sealed milk d.
rectly from the farm, can guard against artif-
cial butter and addressed meat. But the
working mans child has no defense Foul
streets and poisoned water ill-managed public
schools and ill-inspected markets are so many
weapons of destruction which the working man
prepares for his children when he clamors for
short terms Of Office. For every one of these
things requires officers especially trained be-
forehand and made skillful by long experience.
Moreover, the Government must assume with
every passing year new functions, and for every
one new corps of trained officials will be need
ed. Buff the working men of America continue
to demand short tenure of Office, then viii our
civil service continue the worst IN the world.
+. 4.