INDEX.

In this Index the names of Contributors of Articles are printed in Italics.

1 Henry (F. A.), The Inward and the

Outward or the Concrete in Na-

ture, Morals, and Art. Article, 24

Hill (Thomas), The Rational Sources

of Theology, noticed, -

Hitchcock (E.), Relation of the Stu-
dent-life to Health and Longev-
ity. Article,

THE

NEW ENGLANDER.

No. CXXXVIII.

JANUARY, 1877.

ARTICLE I-CHINESE IMMIGRATION AND POLITICAL ECONOMY.

THERE are indications that we are on the eve of a movement not altogether unlike the anti-slavery agitation. This time, however, the color under discussion is not black, but yellow. Books and pamphlets, letters and leading articles, begin to appear, the scattered snowflakes that come before the overwhelming storm Reports from the Pacific coast, at first vague but recently more distinct, make it plain that there at least the agitation is no insignificant matter. A delegation of Californians has already visited Washington to influence Congress; an immense meeting has been held in San Francisco, attended by tens of thousands of citizens, the governor, several exgovernors and members of Congress; and finally a committee of the State Senate appointed to take evidence on the general effect of the presence of the Chinese in America, has made its report, copies of which have been widely circulated at the East. Whatever else may be said of this document, it shows one thing piainly enough: that there are passions aroused that will not be quieted by being disregarded. Already our astute party-leaders have scented political capital from afar, and the platforms of this year are a little varied by the appearance of a

Chinese plank. And really the questions involved are so grave that there is little danger that they will attract too much attention.

As in the anti-slavery times, the first step will be to arouse the feelings of those who are not directly concerned. California is even more remote than the Southern States, and it will be hard at first to awaken a genuine public interest in matters thousands of miles away. Only by constant and vivid representation are we aroused to the reality of the feelings of those who are far from us. The deplorable condition of the Heathen has always been a cause of distress to the Christian mind; but the uncomfortable sense of personal responsibility slumbers until some returned missionary moves the purse-strings with the recital of what he has actually witnessed. Perhaps in the fullness of time we shall have novels after the fashion of Uncle Tom's Cabin, with Chinese heroes and heroines, and San Francisco "Hoodlums" instead of Legrees. We shall hear comparisons of white horses with bay in place of black, as an argument for the equality of races, and perhaps again the scornful question will be asked as a crushing blow to all opposing reasons:-"Would you let your sister marry a Chinaman?" Yet in the case of Negro slavery, back of all the feelings of wrath at tales of cruelty, and affected contempt at such tales, there was a great underlying sense of right, that revolted against the idea that beings so much like ourselves should be forced to submit to the treatment of convicts; in the case of the Chinese, although the same principle is involved, it assumes the modified form of an enquiry whether all men have a right to settle in our boundaries. Once there was a stern determination that no more Negroes should be forced to come to America; now we must decide whether the Chinese shall be forced to stay away.

Unquestionably it is the feelings of men that will decide in the matter; yet the problem is by no means so simple as that of slavery, and perhaps stands even more in need of thoroughly statesmanlike treatment. The proposition, "Slavery is wrong," passed for self-evident; the proposition, "All men have a right to emigrate to America," does not so directly appeal to the conscience. The majority of mankind are indifferent to what does not affect either themselves or their friends; and

even those who desire to act justly require a certain amount of time to grasp the meaning of the terms of a question before their inward mentor begins to prick them on. In the case of such a problem as we have before us, the strangeness and vastness of the conditions and the remoteness of the scene, cause a pardonable hesitation about deciding at once. We need to consider all the bearings of the presence of a Chinese element in our complex nationality before we resolve either to admit or to exclude it. Not the least prominent of the considerations suggested are those derived from Political Economy, and we now proceed to give a brief statement of some of the more important of these suggestions.

The science of Political Economy has from various causes been developed in its economical rather than political aspect. The questions discussed relate to wealth, its production, distribution, and exchange, more than to the conditions of the growth and strength of nations in other respects than commercial prosperity. The causes most favorable to an immediate increase of wealth in a people may not be those that promote national stability. England is to-day the wealthiest of nations, wealthier because her population has long been engaged in peaceful production, but Prussia, it has been suggested, might perhaps turn the wealth of England to her own account, because she has followed a policy that, although economically speaking wasteful, politically may be economical. We may then depend upon the precepts of this science in considering the economic results of Chinese immigration, but for the political effects we shall have no such trusty guidance.

The factors in the production of wealth are land, labor, and capital, according to the nature and proportion of which elements is a country rich or poor. Under the term land are embraced all the natural materials and conditions of production; under the term capital are included the artificial materials, the results of previous production; while labor signifies the human element regarded mainly as a natural force. If we disregard land, we find that when labor is scarce and capital abundant, wages, or the reward of labor, tend to increase. If capital is scarce and labor abundant, then wages are less. In a new country, however, where land is as yet unlimited in supply,