The Evening Star FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1870.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2351, 14 October 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1870.

The great difficulty in dealing with a certain class of minds is that they either will not listen to what is said, or that they wilfully or ignorantly blind themselves to its meaning. Mr Birch was reported to have said that in this Province a jjopulation of ten thousand people could find employment and prosper. It appears from his explanation that was not what he said; but no matter whether or not, it is true. The Evening titar has been en deavoring to put the labor question in so perfect a train of organisation, that in time to come those who live by the work of their hands may not be subj *ct to those alternations of work and idleness that are alike detrimental to national and individual prosperity. Whether those who read under--6t nd the meaning of words, and wilfully pervert them to suit private ends,

or are really ignorant of what is meant, matters little if misrepresentations are made. Mr Birch has explained what he said. The Evening Star has been charged with comparing the population of the Province with Chinese, and we suppose this is intended to be counted a grave offence. We pass by the folly of the assumption that there is something inconsistent with our national dignity in measuring ourselves with other people. It may suit unscrupulous orators of the Grant stamp to pander to prejudices. Por our own parts, we have always felt it one of the greatest privileges of intellect to be able to investigate the manners, customs, and institutions of other nations or people —to learn in what they dihei from our own. Boast as we will, oven semi-civilised races can beat us in some art or manufacture. Maori fishermen taught us the art of catching barracoota, and we have yet to discover machinery that will dress flax to equal that cleaned by Maoris with a flint or shell. With regard to the labor question, our argument is where there is defective arrangement there are waste of time, and injustice to those who come and those who are here. Now what we have said with regard to the Chinese is, that because they have arrangement, there is no waste of time : because they work on a welldevised plan, they succeed. We do not pretend for one moment to compare a free-born Briton with a Chinaman. A Briton may bully his Government, slander his fellow-countrymen in the Octagon, bonnet passers-by who do not agree with the stump orator, and carry votes adverse to common sense at public meetings. But what Chinaman, even if naturalised, would have the audacity to do that 1 A Chinaman among superior races is looked upon something like an intelligent chimpanzee or a harmless gorilla—a mark for little Britons to aim at, to crow over, and learn to ridicule. We should feel we sadly wronged our countrymen to compare them with the Chinese. They cannot booze in public-houses, and sympathise in the wrongs done to the working-classes —that is no part of their business. Their heathen souls cannot comprehend the glorious privilege of British independence, which is hourly manifested in not doing to a foreigner Avhat you would do to a Briton ; in short, when they come here they know they must behave themselves, and go to work and stick to it —which they do and get rich. Now we hope from this full explanation of our appreciation of British superiority in all the essentials of freedom, the Evening Star will not be charged in future with any sympathy with such a set of outlandish-looking beings; and that it will be henceforth clearly understood that what it really does find fault with is that there is a social law which is as unvarying in its operation as the law of gravitation : That in order to get rich men must work, and that that work must be well directed. We know it is very inconvenient, but as we did not make the law, we are not responsible for it; and all we can do is to point it out as one of the conditions on which prosperity depends. We see people try to evade this law. Some, like Mr Micawbeb, are waiting for something to turn up —they don’t got rich. Some have work offered, but the wages ottered are too lo\y, although somebody else accepts them —they don t got rich. Some blame the Government, and go from one place to another telling their grievances—they don’t get rich. Some listen to the ravings of Mr Grant, and follow his directions—they don’t get rich. Mr Grant himself has adopted the trade of public agitator—lie does not get rich. But somehow, while all those people who are thus defying this inconvenient law remain poor, these opium-eating heathen, who we admit without argument are not half so worthy of prosperity as those intelligent Christian men whoso free spirits turn against this unjust enactment, band themselves together, and submitting like slaves to destiny, delve patiently on day by day and week by week, grow cabbages, wasli gold, grow rich- —and leave us. Now it is just this secret of co-operation and well-devised plan that we want to learn. If these chimpanzee-like, opium-eating, puppy-dog-cooking, match-swearing, pig-tail-wearing heathen—(we don't think Grant can beat that) —know how to get rich out of our lands; if they go straight oft’ as soon as they land to some work marked out beforehand without loss of time, there must be something radically wrong in our arrangements if our own countrymen cannot do the same. All that ever the Evening Star has said is, tint it is a disgrace to us and our Government that arrangements which appear so well adapted to Provincial and individual prosperity should not bo kpown, and if posible adapted to our circumstances.