The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1028, 6 August 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1879.

Whiot the question of how the Chinese ditlicuity is to be compassed is fast becoming an all-absorbing one on thU side of the Faeifie, our friends on the other side are—tit the exercise of their proverbial appreciation of stringent and prompt action—taking the bull by the horns. The new Constitution of the State of California forbids that any Chinaman is to attain to citizenship- This has been the work of demagogism, whose agitator is Mr. Kearna, a retired drayman. He intends to make California State an elyatutn for the class from whteh he sprung, and he has started bv registering a law tliat " yettow skins" are only to enjoy the privileges of beasts of burthen. flny may rise from a state of semi-barbarism to civilisation through contact with Mr. Kearns and his confreres —they may, :n fact, become philosophers compared with Mr. Kearns and hi-t fellow demagogues - but they have offended against the laws of the California!! laborer, and although the punishment that is being meted out to them may be as foreign from the offence

aa Mr. Kearns is from a gentleman, yet, oKt pf thtf unfathomable depths of his i w £,3,torn. Mr. Ivearns and his crew have issued the ttVcrcc. Thereare men of another stamp nearer Atlantic shores or m-gro emancipation w.mtf n thwr - v to " v carried into effect. We have no sympathy | with the idlers ot San i'ranctseo themselves working men. -ihere is a strong probability that they arc as faulty physically as they have just proved themselves to'be mentally, and, if so, it would i jirove .«itaastx»«s to California should the /striata of immigration from China cease, 'as appears to be the desire of Mr. Kearns ami party. These Chinamen that are so ioath'3" me to r cr3ccutor3 willj we think, jndgtng from what we have read of the conditio" of kbortrs and labor in California,- ** "pessary to the development of the* ftUtl numerous purees ■of that great sffi! ttgUuttS to it.* H or shutting Chiren nan nut would -<nly rendei it unnecessary for them to be brought in, they would enlts 4 ** ie S J nipat ues am co-operation of tft«T propertied classes. Hut the conduct of writing men is too often unthonghtful at. seiksh. At anj rate these seetn to be xialing charac i teristies of the working , of California, [ who have no w engendered ® ibitter struggle ; between labor and capit. -wnich must !end in their defeat. In the loeantitiv?, i' they, taking advantage of tl ,c .scareilj <>' tabor, insist upon high wag ss? »md shiu the Chinese out, they will get Ec:r '" vil way. But the d(-.e!np:ueut of tlw resources of the 'St.ato will be refca. "*?-«!,, and. they wilt, in the end, be poorer % tk.sy would havo been had fhey, short: their pmi-!oj\-r:; a.i welt as thomwh *•'*♦ not interfered, but allowed thoir wages i" be rvM-id-'i-od by the taws of supply ar '4 •'*«- mattkf. We hate dwelt ttpon this au because it is somewhat Interesting * t,J os in this part of the workl. Th «re are p«rio<ls in the history of cv Jtry country when all classes suffer. Thcpresi

crises is evidence of this. The man with his broad acre 3 is in no better situation j than anybody else. He made money! when times were good, and those whom he !•;.-* employed have doubtless thought th.-.t he was taking his ease and rolling in riches, whilst they were, by the sweat of their brows., doing all the work. Wool and irrain have fallen in price, and the veil having been thrust aside, the true position of matters has been revealed. There are some men in this di.stricr, for instance, who. because they cannot afiord to pay the wages demanded—which, although nut too high in ordinary times, are too high during iimcs of depressionare obliged io cease operations in the hope that more prosperous times will enable them to pay the wages demanded and utilise their land. This district is not singular in this respect. Our remarks appiv with equal force to the whole Colony. Every day we arc afforded sad instances of the depreciation of the value of property on account of the fall in the prices of produce and the scarcity of money-. We are sure it is the desire of all that the present depression should be cut as short as possible. Laborers havo it in their power to hasten a recovery to our wonted prosperity by agreeing to a re-adjustment of their wages, and unless they do so, it will soon be their turn to feel the hard iimcs, as they have not felt them yet. We cannot think that they will adopt the short-sighted policy of their brethren over the wp.ter, and set their backs up against what are called capitalists, who, after all, are only their coadjutors in the great work of developing the resources of the country and endeavoring to contribute to the commonwealth.