The Three Philanthropists
Three sketches of the good man.

by Robert G. Ingersoll
(1890)

From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll (Dresden Edition, 1900–1902), Volume 11.
Source: https://thegreatagnostic.com/works/the-three-philanthropists/
Public domain. CC0 / Public Domain Mark 1.0.

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"Well, while I am a beggar, I will rail,
    And say there is no sin but to be rich."

MR. A. lived in the kingdom of————. He was a sincere professional
philanthropist. He was absolutely certain that he loved his fellow-men,
and that his views were humane and scientific. He concluded to turn his
attention to taking care of people less fortunate than himself.

With this object in view he investigated the common people that lived
about him, and he found that they were extremely ignorant, that many of
them seemed to take no particular interest in life or in business, that
few of them had any theories of their own, and that, while many had
muscle, there was only now and then one who had any mind worth speaking
of. Nearly all of them were destitute of ambition. They were satisfied
if they got something to eat, a place to sleep, and could now and
then indulge in some form of dissipation. They seemed to have great
confidence in to-morrow—trusted to luck, and took no thought for the
future. Many of them were extravagant, most of them dissipated, and a
good many dishonest.

Mr. A. found that many of the husbands not only failed to support their
families, but that some of them lived on the labor of their wives; that
many of the wives were careless of their obligations, knew nothing about
the art of cooking; nothing about keeping house; and that parents, as a
general thing, neglected their children or treated them with cruelty. He
also found that many of the people were so shiftless that they died of
want and exposure.

After having obtained this information Mr. A. made up his mind to do
what little he could to better their condition. He petitioned the king
to assist him, and asked that he be allowed to take control of five
hundred people in consideration that he would pay a certain amount into
the treasury of the kingdom. The king being satisfied that Mr. A.
could take care of these people better than they were taking care of
themselves, granted the petition.

Mr. A., with the assistance of a few soldiers, took these people from
their old homes and haunts to a plantation of his own. He divided
them into groups, and over each group placed a superintendent. He
made certain rules and regulations for their conduct. They were only
compelled to work from twelve to fourteen hours a day, leaving ten hours
for sleep and recreation. Good and substantial food was provided. Their
houses were comfortable and their clothing sufficient. Their work was
laid out from day to day and from month to month, so that they knew
exactly what they were to do in each hour of every day. These rules
were made for the good of the people, to the end that they might not
interfere with each other, that they might attend to their duties, and
enjoy themselves in a reasonable way. They were not allowed to waste
their time, or to use stimulants or profane language. They were told to
be respectful to the superintendents, and especially to Mr. A.; to be
obedient, and, above all, to accept the position in which Providence had
placed them, without complaining, and to cheerfully perform their tasks.

Mr. A. had found out all that the five hundred persons had earned the
year before they were taken control of by him—just how much they had
added to the wealth of the world. He had statistics taken for the
year before with great care showing the number of deaths, the cases of
sickness and of destitution, the number who had committed suicide, how
many had been convicted of crimes and misdemeanors, how many days they
had been idle, and how much time and money they had spent in drink and
for worthless amusements.

During the first year of their enslavement he kept like statistics. He
found that they had earned several times as much; that there had been no
cases of destitution, no drunkenness; that no crimes had been committed;
that there had been but little sickness, owing to the regular course
of their lives; that few had been guilty of misdemeanors, owing to
the certainty of punishment; and that they had been so watched and
superintended that for the most part they had traveled the highway of
virtue and industry.

Mr. A. was delighted, and with a vast deal of pride showed these
statistics to his friends. He not only demonstrated that the five
hundred people were better off than they had been before, but that his
own income was very largely increased. He congratulated himself that he
had added to the well-being of these people not only, but had laid the
foundation of a great fortune for himself. On these facts and these
figures he claimed not only to be a philanthropist, but a philosopher;
and all the people who had a mind to go into the same business agreed
with him.

Some denounced the entire proceeding as unwarranted, as contrary to
reason and justice. These insisted that the five hundred people had
a right to live in their own way provided they did not interfere with
others; that they had the right to go through the world with little food
and with poor clothes, and to live in huts, if such was their choice.
But Mr. A. had no trouble in answering these objectors. He insisted
that well-being is the only good, and that every human being is under
obligation, not only to take care of himself, but to do what little
he can towards taking care of others; that where five hundred people
neglect to take care of themselves, it is the duty of somebody else, who
has more intelligence and more means, to take care of them; that the man
who takes five hundred people and improves their condition, gives
them on the average better food, better clothes, and keeps them out of
mischief, is a benefactor.

"These people," said Mr. A., "were tried. They were found incapable of
taking care of themselves. They lacked intelligence or will or honesty
or industry or ambition or something, so that in the struggle for
existence they fell behind, became stragglers, dropped by the wayside,
died in gutters; while many were destined to end their days either in
dungeons or on scaffolds. Besides all this, they were a nuisance to
their prosperous fellow-citizens, a perpetual menace to the peace of
society. They increased the burden of taxation; they filled the ranks
of the criminal classes, they made it necessary to build more jails, to
employ more policemen and judges; so that I, by enslaving them, not
only assisted them, not only protected them against themselves, not only
bettered their condition, not only added to the well-being of-society at
large, but greatly increased my own fortune."

Mr. A. also took the ground that Providence, by giving him superior
intelligence, the genius of command, the aptitude for taking charge
of others, had made it his duty to exercise these faculties for the
well-being of the people and for the glory of God. Mr. A. frequently
declared that he was God's steward. He often said he thanked God that he
was not governed by a sickly sentiment, but that he was a man of sense,
of judgment, of force of character, and that the means employeed by him
were in accordance with the logic of facts.

Some of the people thus enslaved objected, saying that they had the same
right to control themselves that Mr. A. had to control himself. But it
only required a little discipline to satisfy them that they were wrong.
Some of the people were quite happy, and declared that nothing gave them
such perfect contentment as the absence of all responsibility. Mr. A.
insisted that all men had not been endowed with the same capacity; that
the weak ought to be cared for by the strong; that such was evidently
the design of the Creator, and that he intended to do what little he
could to carry that design into effect.

Mr. A. was very successful. In a few years he had several thousands of
men, women, and children working for him. He amassed a large fortune.
He felt that he had been intrusted with this money by Providence. He
therefore built several churches, and once in a while gave large sums to
societies for the spread of civilization. He passed away regretted by a
great many people—not including those who had lived under his immediate
administration. He was buried with great pomp, the king being one of the
pall-bearers, and on his tomb was this:

He Was the Providence of the Poor

II.
    "And, being rich, my virtue then shall be
    To say there is no vice but beggary."

Mr. B. did not believe in slavery. He despised the institution with
every drop of his blood, and was an advocate of universal freedom. He
held all the ideas of Mr. A. in supreme contempt, and frequently spent
whole evenings in denouncing the inhumanity and injustice of the whole
business. He even went so far as to contend that many of A.'s slaves had
more intelligence than A. himself, and that, whether they had
intelligence or not, they had the right to be free. He insisted that Mr.
A.'s philanthropy was a sham; that he never bought a human being for the
purpose of bettering that being's condition; that he went into the
business simply to make money for himself; and that his talk about his
slaves committing less crime than when they were free was simply to
justify the crime committed by himself in enslaving his fellow-men.

Mr. B. was a manufacturer, and he employeed some five or six thousand
men. He used to say that these men were not forced to work for him; that
they were at perfect liberty to accept or reject the terms; that, so far
as he was concerned, he would just as soon commit larceny or robbery as
to force a man to work for him. "Every laborer under my roof," he used
to say, "is as free to choose as I am."

Mr B. believed in absolutely free trade; thought it an outrage to
interfere with the free interplay of forces; said that every man should
buy, or at least have the privilege of buying, where he could buy
cheapest, and should have the privilege of selling where he could get
the most. He insisted that a man who has labor to sell has the right to
sell it to the best advantage, and that the purchaser has the right to
buy it at the lowest price. He did not enslave men—he hired them. Some
said that he took advantage of their necessities; but he answered
that he created no necessities, that he was not responsible for their
condition, that he did not make them poor, that he found them poor and
gave them work, and gave them the same wages that he could employ others
for. He insisted that he was absolutely just to all; he did not give one
man more than another, and he never refused to employ a man on account
of the man's religion or politics; all that he did was simply to employ
that man if the man wished to be employed, and give him the wages, no
more and no less, that some other man of like capacity was willing to
work for.

Mr. B. also said that the price of the article manufactured by him
fixed the wages of the persons employed, and that he, Mr. B., was not
responsible for the price of the article he manufactured; consequently
he was not responsible for the wages of the workmen. He agreed to pay
them a certain price, he taking the risk of selling his articles, and he
paid them regularly just on the day he agreed to pay them, and if they
were not satisfied with the wages, they were at perfect liberty to
leave. One of his private sayings was: "The poor ye have always with
you." And from this he argued that some men were made poor so that
others could be generous. "Take poverty and suffering from the world,"
he said, "and you destroy sympathy and generosity."

Mr. B. made a large amount of money. Many of his workmen complained
that their wages did not allow them to live in comfort. Many had large
families, and therefore but little to eat. Some of them lived in crowded
rooms. Many of the children were carried off by disease; but Mr. B. took
the ground that all these people had the right to go, that he did not
force them to remain, that if they were not healthy it was not his
fault, and that whenever it pleased Providence to remove a child, or one
of the parents, he, Mr. B., was not responsible.

Mr. B. insisted that many of his workmen were extravagant; that they
bought things that they did not need; that they wasted in beer and
tobacco, money that they should save for funerals; that many of them
visited places of amusement when they should have been thinking about
death, and that others bought toys to please the children when
they hardly had bread enough to eat. He felt that he was in no way
accountable for this extravagance, nor for the fact that their wages did
not give them the necessaries of life, because he not only gave them the
same wages that other manufacturers gave, but the same wages that other
workmen were willing to work for.

Mr. B. said,—and he always said this as though it ended the
argument,—and he generally stood up to say it: "The great law of supply
and demand is of divine origin; it is the only law that will work in
all possible or conceivable cases; and this law fixes the price of all
labor, and from it there is no appeal. If people are not satisfied
with the operation of the law, then let them make a new world for
themselves."

Some of Mr. B.'s friends reported that on several occasions, forgetting
what he had said on others, he did declare that his confidence was
somewhat weakened in the law of supply and demand; but this was only
when there seemed to be an over-production of the things he was engaged
in manufacturing, and at such times he seemed to doubt the absolute
equity of the great law.

Mr. B. made even a larger fortune than Mr. A., because when his workmen
got old he did not have to care for them, when they were sick he paid no
doctors, and when their children died he bought no coffins. In this way
he was relieved of a large part of the expenses that had to be borne by
Mr. A. When his workmen became too old, they were sent to the poorhouse;
when they were sick, they were assisted by charitable societies; and
when they died, they were buried by pity.

In a few years Mr. B. was the owner of many millions. He also considered
himself as one of God's stewards; felt that Providence had given him the
intelligence to combine interests, to carry out great schemes, and
that he was specially raised up to give employment to many thousands
of people. He often regretted that he could do no more for his laborers
without lessening his own profits, or, rather, without lessening his
fund for the blessing of mankind—the blessing to begin immediately
after his death. He was so anxious to be the providence of posterity
that he was sometimes almost heartless in his dealings with
contemporaries. He felt that it was necessary for him to be economical,
to save every dollar that he could, because in this way he could
increase the fund that was finally to bless mankind. He also felt that
in this way he could lay the foundations of a permanent fame—that
he could build, through his executors, an asylum to be called the "B.
Asylum," that he could fill a building with books to be called the
"B. Library," and that he could also build and endow an institution of
learning to be called the "B. College," and that, in addition, a
large amount of money could be given for the purpose of civilizing the
citizens of less fortunate countries, to the end that they might become
imbued with that spirit of combination and manufacture that results in
putting large fortunes in the hands of those who have been selected by
Providence, on account of their talents, to make a better distribution
of wealth than those who earned it could have done.

Mr. B. spent many thousands of dollars to procure such legislation as
would protect him from foreign competition. He did not believe the law
of supply and demand would work when interfered with by manufacturers
living in other countries.

Mr. B., like Mr. A., was a man of judgment. He had what is called a
level head, was not easily turned aside from his purpose, and felt that
he was in accord with the general sentiment of his time. By his own
exertions he rose from poverty to wealth. He was born in a hut and died
in a palace. He was a patron of art and enriched his walls with the
works of the masters. He insisted that others could and should follow
his example. For those who failed or refused he had no sympathy. He
accounted for their poverty and wretchedness by saying: "These paupers
have only themselves to blame." He died without ever having lost a
dollar. His funeral was magnificent, and clergymen vied with each other
in laudations of the dead. Over his dust rises a monument of marble with
the words:

He Lived for Others

III
    "But there are men who steal, and vainly try
    To gild the crime with pompous charity."

There was another man, Mr. C., who also had the genius for combination.
He understood the value of capital, the value of labor; knew exactly
how much could be done with machinery; understood the economy of things;
knew how to do everything in the easiest and shortest way. And he, too,
was a manufacturer and had in his employ many thousands of men, women,
and children. He was what is called a visionary, a sentimentalist,
rather weak in his will, not very obstinate, had but little egotism; and
it never occurred to him that he had been selected by Providence, or any
supernatural power, to divide the property of others. It did not seem
to him that he had any right to take from other men their labor without
giving them a full equivalent. He felt that if he had more intelligence
than his fellow-men he ought to use that intelligence not only for his
own good but for theirs; that he certainly ought not to use it for the
purpose of gaining an advantage over those who were his intellectual
inferiors. He used to say that a man strong intellectually had no more
right to take advantage of a man weak intellectually than the physically
strong had to rob the physically weak.

He also insisted that we should not take advantage of each other's
necessities; that you should not ask a drowning man a greater price for
lumber than you would if he stood on the shore; that if you took into
consideration the necessities of your fellow-man, it should be only to
lessen the price of that which you would sell to him, not to increase
it. He insisted that honest men do not take advantage of their fellows.
He was so weak that he had not perfect confidence in the great law
of supply and demand as applied to flesh and blood. He took into
consideration another law of supply and demand; he knew that the
workingman had to be supplied with food, and that his nature demanded
something to eat, a house to live in, clothes to wear.

Mr. C. used to think about this law of supply and demand as applicable
to individuals. He found that men would work for exceedingly small wages
when pressed for the necessaries of life; that under some circumstances
they would give their labor for half of what it was worth to the
employer, because they were in a position where they must do something
for wife or child. He concluded that he had no right to take advantage
of the necessities of others, and that he should in the first place
honestly find what the work was worth to him, and then give to the man
who did the work that amount.

Other manufacturers regarded Mr. C. as substantially insane, while
most of his workmen looked upon him as an exceedingly good-natured
man, without any particular genius for business. Mr. C., however,
cared little about the opinions of others, so long as he maintained his
respect for himself.

At the end of the first year he found that he had made a large profit,
and thereupon he divided this profit with the people who had earned
it. Some of his friends said to him that he ought to endow some public
institution; that there should be a college in his native town; but Mr.
C. was of such a peculiar turn of mind that he thought justice ought
to go before charity, and a little in front of egotism, and a desire
to immortalize one's self. He said that it seemed to him that of all
persons in the world entitled to this profit were the men who had earned
it, the men who had made it by their labor, by days of actual toil. He
insisted that, as they had earned it, it was really theirs, and if it
was theirs, they should have it and should spend it in their own way.
Mr. C. was told that he would make the workmen in other factories
dissatisfied, that other manufacturers would become his enemies, and
that his course would scandalize some of the greatest men who had
done so much for the civilization of the world and for the spread of
intelligence. Mr. C. became extremely unpopular with men of talent, with
those who had a genius for business. He, however, pursued his way, and
carried on his business with the idea that the men who did the work were
entitled to a fair share of the profits; that, after all, money was not
as sacred as men, and that the law of supply and demand, as understood,
did not apply to flesh and blood.

Mr. C. said: "I cannot be happy if those who work for me are defrauded.
If I feel I am taking what belongs to them, then my life becomes
miserable. To feel that I have done justice is one of the necessities of
my nature. I do not wish to establish colleges. I wish to establish
no public institution. My desire is to enable those who work for me to
establish a few thousand homes for themselves. My ambition is to
enable them to buy the books they really want to read. I do not wish to
establish a hospital, but I want to make it possible for my workmen
to have the services of the best physicians—physicians of their own
choice.

"It is not for me to take their money and use it for the good of others
or for my own glory. It is for me to give what they have earned to them.
After I have given them the money that belongs to them, I can give them
my advice—I can tell them how I hope they will use it; and after I have
advised them, they will use it as they please. You cannot make great
men and great women by suppression. Slavery is not the school in
which genius is born. Every human being must make his own mistakes for
himself, must learn for himself, must have his own experience; and if
the world improves, it must be from choice, not from force; and every
man who does justice, who sets the example of fair dealing, hastens the
coming of universal honesty, of universal civilization."

Mr. C. carried his doctrine out to the fullest extent, honestly and
faithfully. When he died, there were at the funeral those who had worked
for him, their wives and their children. Their tears fell upon his
grave. They planted flowers and paid to him the tribute of their love.
Above his silent dust they erected a monument with this inscription:

He Allowed Others to Live for Themselves

North American Review, December, 1831.

Should the Chinese Be Excluded

THE average American, like the average man of any country, has but
little imagination. People who speak a different language, or worship
some other god, or wear clothing unlike his own, are beyond the horizon
of his sympathy. He cares but little or nothing for the sufferings or
misfortunes of those who are of a different complexion or of another
race. His imagination is not powerful enough to recognize the human
being, in spite of peculiarities. Instead of this he looks upon every
difference as an evidence of inferiority, and for the inferior he has
but little if any feeling. If these "inferior people" claim equal
rights he feels insulted, and for the purpose of establishing his own
superiority tramples on the rights of the so-called inferior.

In our own country the native has always considered himself as much
better than the immigrant, and as far superior to all people of a
different complexion. At one time our people hated the Irish, then the
Germans, then the Italians, and now the Chinese. The Irish and Germans,
however, became numerous. They became citizens, and, most important of
all, they had votes. They combined, became powerful, and the political
parties sought their aid. They had something to give in exchange for
protection—in exchange for political rights. In consequence of this
they were flattered by candidates, praised by the political press, and
became powerful enough not only to protect themselves, but at last to
govern the principal cities in the United States. As a matter of fact
the Irish and the Germans drove the native Americans out of the trades
and from the lower forms of labor. They built the railways and canals.
They became servants. Afterward the Irish and the Germans were driven
from the canals and railways by the Italians.

The Irish and Germans improved their condition. They went into other
businesses, into the higher and more lucrative trades. They entered
the professions, turned their attention to politics, became merchants,
brokers, and professors in colleges. They are not now building railroads
or digging on public works. They are contractors, legislators, holders
of office, and the Italians and Chinese are doing the old work.

If matters had been allowed to work in a natural way, without the
interference of mobs or legislators, the Chinese would have driven the
Italians to better employments, and all menial labor would, in time, be
done by the Mongolians.

In olden times each nation hated all others. This was considered natural
and patriotic. Spain, after many centuries of war, expelled the Moors,
then the Moriscoes, and then the Jews. And Spain, in the name of
religion and patriotism, succeeded in driving from its territory its
industry, its taste and its intelligence, and by these mistakes became
poor, ignorant and weak. France started on the same path when the
Huguenots were expelled, and even England at one time deported the Jews.
In those days a difference of race or religion was sufficient to justify
any absurdity and any cruelty.

In our country, as a matter of fact, there is but little prejudice
against emigrants coming from Europe, except among naturalized citizens;
but nearly all foreign-born citizens are united in their prejudice
against the Chinese.

The truth is that the Chinese came to this country by invitation. Under
the Burlingame Treaty, China and the United States recognized:

"The inherent and inalienable right of man to change his home and
allegiance, and also the mutual advantage of free migration and
emigration of their citizens and subjects respectively from one country
to the other for purposes of curiosity, of trade, or as permanent
residents."

And it was provided:

"That the citizens of the United States visiting or residing in China
and Chinese subjects visiting or residing in the United States should
reciprocally enjoy the same privileges, immunities and exemptions, in
respect to travel or residence, as shall be enjoyed by the citizens or
subjects of the most favored nation, in the country in which they shall
respectively be visiting or residing."

So, by the treaty of 1880, providing for the limitation or suspension of
emigration of Chinese labor, it was declared:

"That the limitation or suspension should apply only to Chinese who
emigrated to the United States as laborers; but that Chinese laborers
who were then in the United States should be allowed to go and come of
their own free will and should be accorded all the rights, privileges,
immunities and exemptions, which were accorded to the citizens and
subjects of the most favored nations."

It will thus be seen that all Chinese laborers who came to this country
prior to the treaty of 1880 were to be treated the same as the citizens
and subjects of the most favored nation; that is to say, they were to be
protected by our laws the same as we protect our own citizens.

These Chinese laborers are inoffensive, peaceable and law-abiding.
They are honest, keeping their contracts, doing as they agree. They
are exceedingly industrious, always ready to work and always giving
satisfaction to their employers. They do not interfere with other
people. They cannot become citizens. They have no voice in the making or
the execution of the laws. They attend to their own business. They have
their own ideas, customs, religion and ceremonies—about as foolish as
our own; but they do not try to make converts or to force their dogmas
on others. They are patient, uncomplaining, stoical and philosophical.
They earn what they can, giving reasonable value for the money they
receive, and as a rule, when they have amassed a few thousand dollars,
they go back to their own country. They do not interfere with our
ideas, our ways or customs. They are silent workers, toiling without any
object, except to do their work and get their pay. They do not establish
saloons and run for Congress. Neither do they combine for the purpose
of governing others. Of all the people on our soil they are the least
meddlesome. Some of them smoke opium, but the opium-smoker does not beat
his wife. Some of them play games of chance, but they are not members of
the Stock Exchange. They eat the bread that they earn; they neither beg
nor steal, but they are of no use to parties or politicians except as
they become fuel to supply the flame of prejudice. They are not citizens
and they cannot vote. Their employers are about the only friends they
have.

In the Pacific States the lowest became their enemies and asked for
their expulsion. They denounced the Chinese and those who gave
them work. The patient followers of Confucius were treated as
outcasts—stoned by boys in the streets and mobbed by the fathers. Few
seemed to have any respect for their rights or their feelings. They were
unlike us. They wore different clothes. They dressed their hair in
a peculiar way, and therefore they were beyond our sympathies. These
ideas, these practices, demoralized many communities; the laboring
people became cruel and the small politicians infamous.

When the rights of even one human being are held in contempt the rights
of all are in danger. We cannot destroy the liberties of others without
losing our own. By exciting the prejudices of the ignorant we at last
produce a contempt for law and justice, and sow the seeds of violence
and crime.

Both of the great political parties pandered to the leaders of the
crusade against the Chinese for the sake of electoral votes, and in the
Pacific States the friends of the Chinese were forced to keep still
or to publicly speak contrary to their convictions. The orators of
the "Sand Lots" were in power, and the policy of the whole country was
dictated by the most ignorant and prejudiced of our citizens. Both
of the great parties ratified the outrages committed by the mobs, and
proceeded with alacrity to violate the treaties and solemn obligations
of the Government. These treaties were violated, these obligations were
denied, and thousands of Chinamen were deprived of their rights, of
their property, and hundreds were maimed or murdered. They were driven
from their homes. They were hunted like wild beasts. All this was done
in a country that sends missionaries to China to tell the benighted
savages of the blessed religion of the United States.

At first a demand was made that the Chinese should be driven out, then
that no others should be allowed to come, and laws with these objects in
view were passed, in spite of the treaties, preventing the coming of any
more. For a time that satisfied the haters of the Mongolian. Then came
a demand for more stringent legislation, so that many of the Chinese
already here could be compelled to leave. The answer or response to this
demand is what is known as the Geary Law.

By this act it is provided, among other things, that any Chinaman
convicted of not being lawfully in the country shall be removed to
China, after having been imprisoned at hard labor for not exceeding one
year. This law also does away with bail on habeas corpus, proceedings
where the right to land has been denied to a Chinaman. It also compels
all Chinese laborers to obtain, within one year after the passage of the
law, certificates of residence from the revenue collectors, and if found
without such certificate they shall be held to be unlawfully in the
United States.

It is further provided that if a Chinaman claims that he failed to get
such certificate by "accident, sickness or other unavoidable cause,"
then he must clearly establish such claim to the satisfaction of the
judge "by at least one credible white witness."

If we were at war with China then we might legally consider every
Chinaman as an enemy, but we were and are at peace with that country.
The Geary Act was passed by Congress and signed by the President simply
for the sake of votes. The Democrats in Congress voted for it to save
the Pacific States to the Democratic column; and a Republican President
signed it so that the Pacific States should vote the Republican ticket.
Principle was forgotten, or rather it was sacrificed, in the hope of
political success. It was then known, as now, that China is a peaceful
nation, that it does not believe in war as a remedy, that it relies
on negotiation and treaty. It is also known that the Chinese in
this country were helpless, without friends, without power to defend
themselves. It is possible that many members of Congress voted in
favor of the Act believing that the Supreme Court would hold it
unconstitutional, and that in the meantime it might be politically
useful.

The idea of imprisoning a man at hard labor for a year, and this man
a citizen of a friendly nation, for the crime of being found in this
country without a certificate of residence, must be abhorrent to the
mind of every enlightened man. Such punishment for such an "offence" is
barbarous and belongs to the earliest times of which we know. This law
makes industry a crime and puts one who works for his bread on a level
with thieves and the lowest criminals, treats him as a felon, and
clothes him in the stripes of a convict,—and all this is done at the
demand of the ignorant, of the prejudiced, of the heartless, and because
the Chinese are not voters and have no political power.

The Chinese are not driven away because there is no room for them. Our
country is not crowded. There are many millions of acres waiting for
the plow. There is plenty of room here under our flag for five hundred
millions of people. These Chinese that we wish to oppress and imprison
are people who understand the art of irrigation. They can redeem the
deserts. They are the best of gardeners. They are modest and willing to
occupy the lowest seats. They only ask to be day-laborers, washers and
ironers. They are willing to sweep and scrub. They are good cooks. They
can clear lands and build railroads. They do not ask to be masters—they
wish only to serve. In every capacity they are faithful; but in this
country their virtues have made enemies, and they are hated because of
their patience, their honesty and their industry.

The Geary Law, however, failed to provide the ways and means for
carrying it into effect, so that the probability is it will remain a
dead letter upon the statute book. The sum of money required to carry it
out is too large, and the law fails to create the machinery and name the
persons authorized to deport the Chinese. Neither is there any mode of
trial pointed out. According to the law there need be no indictment by
a grand jury, no trial by a jury, and the person found guilty of being
here without a certificate of residence can be imprisoned and treated as
a felon without the ordinary forms of trial.

This law is contrary to the laws and customs of nations. The punishment
is unusual, severe, and contrary to our Constitution, and under its
provisions aliens—citizens of a friendly nation—can be imprisoned
without due process of law. The law is barbarous, contrary to the spirit
and genius of American institutions, and was passed in violation of
solemn treaty stipulations.

The Congress-that passed it is the same that closed the gates of the
World's Fair on the "blessed Sabbath," thinking it wicked to look at
statues and pictures on that day. These representatives of the people
seem to have had more piety than principle.

After the passage of such a law by the United States is it not indecent
for us to send missionaries to China? Is there not work enough for them
at home? We send ministers to China to convert the heathen; but when we
find a Chinaman on our soil, where he can be saved by our example, we
treat him as a criminal.

It is to the interest of this country to maintain friendly relations
with China. We want the trade of nearly one-fourth of the human race.
We want to pay for all we get from that country in articles of our
own manufacture. We lost the trade of Mexico and the South American
Republics because of slavery, because we hated people in whose veins was
found a drop of African blood, and now we are losing the trade of China
by pandering to the prejudices of the ignorant and cruel.

After all, it pays to do right. This is a hard truth to
learn—especially for a nation. A great nation should be bound by the
highest conception of justice and honor. Above all things it should be
true to its treaties, its contracts, its obligations. It should
remember that its responsibilities are in accordance with its power and
intelligence.

Our Government is founded on the equality of human rights—on the idea,
the sacred truth, that all are entitled to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. Our country is an asylum for the oppressed of
all nations—of all races. Here, the Government gets its power from
the consent of the governed. After the abolition of slavery these
great truths were not only admitted, but they found expression in our
Constitution and laws.

Shall we now go back to barbarism?

Russia is earning the hatred of the civilized world by driving the Jews
from their homes. But what can the United States say? Our mouths are
closed by the Geary Law. We are in the same business. Our law is as
inhuman as the order or ukase of the Czar.

Let us retrace our steps, repeal the law and accomplish what we justly
desire by civilized means. Let us treat China as we would England; and,
above all, let us respect the rights of men,—North American Review,
July, 1893.
