LIGHTS AND SHADES IN POLITICS.

In the March number of the Fortnightly Review, there is published an article of considerable interest entitled Lights and Shades of American Politics, by. H. M. Hyndman. The mode of conducting elections in the States, under a system of manhood suffrage, is there dilated upon, and presents a very favorable contrast as compared with the conduct of elections in this colony. Mr Hyndman is a gentleman thoroughly qualified to give an unbiassed opinion on the subject of which he treats and he says, speaking of such a momentous event as the election of the President, that the charge of corruption so generally alleged against electors is thoroughly irrational. He writes :

None, I am confident, could pass through the great northern cities during such a contest as that which was decided at the close of last year without being struck by the general courtesy, the invincible fair-play allowed to political opponents, and the regulated enthusiasm of the mass of the people. Does a great Democratic procession pass through a Republican city the people turn out to see it, but no opposition of any kind is offered. The same with the Republicans in a Democratic city. New York is, as even this last vote shows, overwhelmingly Democratic, and numbers among its population a greater proportion of Irish and Germans than perhaps any other American city. Yet the very day before the test elections in Ohio and Indiana 52,000 Republicans paraded in a torchlight procession through the most frequented thoroughfares, and not a single disturbance of any kind took place. This too at a time when business was checked by the political contest, and when in every hotel or railway-car people talked of nothing else. In the same way political orators were safe of a fair hearing, no matter which side they belonged to. I myself heard a most trenchant oration delivered by one of the Cabinet in the very best of the struggle, and yet, though the doors were all open, and anyone could come in, not one single interruption did I note. So it was all over the Union, What trifling disturbance did occur seemed only to make the general peacefulness more noticeable. Surely political discussions and demonstrations conducted in such a spirit are in themselves the best political education, and develop among the mass of the people an admirable power of self-restraint.

What a contrast the above testimony presents to the proceedings at elections in Victoria. Take the latest example — that of North Melbourne. King Boohoo played a very conspicuous part, and Mr Munro, on one occasion, was absolutely refused a hearing. His only chance was to talk to the reporters, and rely upon the press next morning to inform the constituents of what he intended to say. Such a state of things, which is unfortunately constantly repeated in almost every metropolitan constituency, is a disgrace to our boasted education and civilisation; but it is manifest from the experience acquired in the States that it is but a necessary accompaniment of the exercise of the popular franchise; and that it is only evidence of the fact that those who refuse to hear a candidate are afraid of the truth being uttered, and as such are unworthy to possess a vote. Turning from electoral matters the author dwells upon the return of an extraordinary degree of prosperity to the States.

With wages varying from one and a half to two or three dollars a day, with food exceedingly cheap, and clothing by no means so dear for the ordinary working dress as it used to be, a man may easily find himself in a short time in possession of sufficient means to remove himself from the wage-earning class. This process is going on to such an extent that if it were not for immigration there would soon be a shortness of labor for any chance employment. There are many capitalists, of course, who regret the high wages they are obliged to pay, and look upon the independent tone of the working-class as little short of an outrage upon society. But this is not the sounder opinion. Thinking Americans wish above all other matters to keep up the standard of comfort among the bulk of the people, knowing right well that not only is this to too advantage of the whole community, but that in this way alone can the gravest dangers be avoided on the next occurrence of a bad period in industrial concerns. But for the time being there is such prosperity that the certainty of future reaction is entirely overlooked by the majority. The one idea of those who have money and those who have not is to make hay while the sun shines, and there can be little doubt that within a short time we shall see renewal of that great speculative fever which led to the excessive railway building prior to 1873, and which this time may take some other turn.

A great deal is said by the author upon the immense advantage the States derive from the constant stream of immigration which pours upon its shores. As regards the question of Protection, Mr Hyndman puts the views of the farming classes in a very plain and intelligible style.

What, however, is in its way very remarkable, is that these very farmers, though not in all cases well disposed towards the capitalists who lend their money, are distinctly in favor of a Protectionist policy at the present time. No doubt the feeling of pride in the Union, and dread of any State-right doctrines gaining the ascendancy, had much to do with the heavy Republican vote; but it is surprising that in a State like Iowa, for instance, or Wisconsin, where the farming interest may be said to be supreme, Free trade doctrines should have made so little headway. This cannot be attributed to ignorance, for the population is very fairly educated, and men read what comes in their way. But the truth is, as Mr Thomas Hughes puts it, that they do prefer, deliberately prefer, to pay a bonus to their own countrymen, rather than to buy cheap from the foreigner. In this way they contend not only that they build up their own manufactures, but that they keep the wealth in the country. "If your artisans aren't doing well in the old country, let them come over here as your farmers do, they'll soon find plenty of work," All the argument in the world will not affect such a statement.

Again he shews that the doctrines of Protection are engrained in the heart of the nation, and for purposes which are neither misstated nor disguised.

The plain object of the great majority of the American people, at the present time, is to make their country absolutely independent, as far as possible, of every external source of supply. Their food and raw material find a ready market everywhere, and if they insist upon having a less price for it in gold or their own bonds than they could obtain in manufactures, that, of course, is their own affair. The annoyance to which they are subjected by the strict Custom-house regulations, the administrative draw-backs, which are so obvious to the bystander, affect but a very small portion of the population; the rest are satisfied that it is better to pay twice as much wheat— in practice it is not nearly so much quality for quality— to an American for an axe, than it would be to pay the less price to an Englishman. Americans are not in the least cosmopolitan in practice, whatever they may be in theory. Patriotism means with them a strong desire to push ahead their own country, and there is no pretence that they wish to do so with any regard for the interests of other people. A nation which commenced its struggle for independence by a resolute determination not to import goods, however much they might want them, to order to avoid paying what they considered unfair duties, may be thought to have an hereditary taint of Protectionism in the blood. Whether that will convey much consolation to our own manufacturers may be doubted. Sooner or later a change will probably come, but the time is not yet.

No one can deny that there exists very much in common with the American spirit in this community, and that the arguments upon which they rest this policy of Protection are precisely similar to those advanced by our leading protectionist politicians. The author deals with the Chinese question, which has come into great prominence in American politics, and puts the American view of the question in so plain a statement that in view of the Mongolian invasion now threatening Australia it is worth while transcribing.

The real objection to the Chinese may be learned from any intelligent working man. What he sees is that the Chinaman comes and begins to compete in his trade. He is very hardworking, very steady, and exceedingly sharp in the matter of wages. He eats little, drinks less, and stows away anywhere— there is no vertebrate animal living of equal size who will thrive on so little air as a Chinaman ; besides, as he is utterly indifferent to amusement is specially anxious to work out his dues on first arrival to the company which imported him, he works double tides. As a result of this industry, ere long he starts a little shop—I am speaking now of work in cities— and takes unto him two or three other Chinamen as industrious, as sober, as easily housed and fed as himself. Thereupon begins a process of underselling, which the working man finds yet more objectionable than the original direct competition. Presently this particular trade is completely blocked. For there come more and yet more Chinamen, and there are no one knows how many millions more of them across the Pacific ready to step in to fill up the places below, as each of the original immigrants takes his place, on a rung higher up the social ladder. But that isn't the worst of it either, "Each of these abominable Mongolians is a sort of economical vampire. He will eat nothing American that be can get the like of from China. He buys Chinese clothes, eats Chinese food, does business with Chinese merchants, smokes— confound him he don't even drink — Chinese opium, there is not a red scent to be squeezed out of him anywhere. And then, when he has made his pile, off he goes with it to China to live, and another Chinaman, for all the world exactly like the one that went, only more thrifty, it possible, comes in to take his place. They don't stop in America ; they don't mix with us ; not a man in the whole country understands their language— look there, there's one of them now reading a post-card, that not a human being but himself can make head or tail of— they take advantage of all our civilisation; and I'll tell you what," with strong Western affirmation, " they'll clear us all out of here if we don't clear them out." In the mining regions, where the Chinamen do not work underground, and are exceedingly useful as cooks and laundrymen, the feeling is not so bitter. Still Americans hate to see these people gathering up money and going away with it. The whole process is to them objectionable in the highest degree ; to Irishmen, the Chinese, like the negroes, are especially hateful, hateful, because they are direct rival in every department of work. Thus all talk here, too, about political economy, the rights of man, and so forth, sounds to them altogether "too thin." There is not room for the white Protectionist and the yellow on that continent.

We have not space for further notice of Mr Hyndman's interesting article, in which he deals with national railways, railways constructed by companies assisted by the State, national canals, etc. ; but we hope to be able to return to the subject shortly, because —although a colony — in political matters we follow the aspirations of the States, and have striven to emulate their enterprise and go-aheadism, whilst avoiding the errors into which they have fallen.

Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Tuesday 26 April 1881, page 2

Yesterday we introduced our readers to the revelations contained in the recently published paper of Mr H. M. Hyndman, on American politics. To-day we continue the subject, because the experiences gained in America, where democracy may be said to have reached its highest degree of development, cannot fail to be of interest and of use to us who are treading the same path. In some respects Victoria is far and away ahead of the States, and this is the more noticeable in the position of the working classes, who have achieved the eight hours institution for which their brethren in the States are still agitating. Again, in the matter of the housing of the working classes, the author speaks of it in New York as being "infamously bad." New York in this respect is alleged to be worse than either London or Glasgow, and nothing is done to remedy the evil, whilst rents are excessively high. Wherever no combination exists amongst the working classes every effort is made to decrease wages and increase the hours of work. The miserable condition of the seamstresses and shirtmakers in New York has been fully exposed in Harper's Magazine, and the revelations surpass in their distressing narratives the worst state of a similar class ever known in London. Yet no attempt, we are told, has been made to relieve those poor people, and the operations of the "sweater" continue unchecked. It is to the existence of such abuses that the author ascribes the formation of Socialist organisations at Pittsburg and Philadelphia, as well as at New York, Chicago and St. Louis. Between 1875 and 1878 it is alleged that there were in the States not less than three million "tramps" — a class which answers to our "swagmen." The most stringent laws were enacted for their suppression, and the author says that the "almost ferocious enactments against vagrants" were revived and put in force.  In dealing with the money-getting classes in the States, the author is as severe as he is outspoken. He says: —
As to any moral restraint upon the money-getting class, that unfortunately is practically non-existent in the larger circle of operations. Nowhere is more honest hard work done than in America, nowhere is more business transacted among ordinary men on mere verbal contract, but nowhere assuredly is a man who has made a large sum of money by nefarious means so quickly forgiven.
Now it so happened that in California, quite apart from the Chinese grievance, nearly all the dictatorial and corrupt features of the worst capitalism of the Eastern States appeared in their worst shape. Moreover, too people were less inclined to submit to them. Here, too, I may say, by way of parenthood, that it is impossible to pass through any of the Western mining States without being utterly shocked at the complete indifference of greed for gain not only to the welfare of future but even of present inhabitants. Forests are swept away for railway sleepers, timbers for mines and fuel, as if the trees were so much valueless brushwood. Mountain side after mountain side is swept completely bare. It is miserable to see one vast array of stumps where but now stood magnificent timber. Nothing is planted in place of what is destroyed, and the whole landscape is spoilt. As a result the climate is too often changed, streams, instead of flowing with tolerable evenness, alternate between a rivulet and a flood. It is nobody's business, and even now the people are beginning to feel the effects of such recklessness, which still goes on unchecked. What has been done is almost incredible. The action of the hydraulic mining companies in particular is most baneful. You see a magnificent mountain valley completely flooded with water, here and there perhaps the tops of some trees of exceptional height showing above the surface. A vast dam has been built just below, and the water thus accumulated is used merely to wash down masses of sand which contain a few cent's worth of free gold to the cubic yard. So far only a fine valley has been spoiled and a splendid forest ruined, but now far more mischief is done. The stuff thus washed down goes into the streams and chokes them up, flooding the country below and even blocking up part of San Francisco harbor with the debris. A greater curse to a country than the hydraulic gold washing could scarcely be. The farmers complain, San Francisco complains, and yet such is the influence of the capitalists who control these gold properties that even yet nothing has been done to check them. Such instances of the supreme selfishness of the money class, who seem to settle down upon a country and ruin it in their haste to be rich, with as little regard for the future as a flight of locusts descending upon the farmer's land, give one a feeling of disgust at the idea of a whole community falling into the grip of men who care for nothing in the world but the rights of capital to increase itself no matter at what cost to others.

The following statement of the unscrupulous accumulation of wealth by individuals, and of their method of manipulating the legislature itself by the free use of their dollars, is an astounding revelation : —

Within the last few years, however, has been witnessed a growth of wealth and a concentration of capital, which is probably unequalled in any other portion of America. The story of the four Irishmen, Mackay, Flood, O'Brien, and Fair, reads like a romance. In effect they achieved their enormous fortune because they acted in concert and played a game with the Comstock mines against the rest of the the community. From the time when, by artful manipulation, they secured the control of the Hale and Norcross mine, until they became the possessors of of enormous wealth in mines, money, and land, their one idea was to pile up money. Of poor education and little refinement, there was nothing to gild the dirty transactions of which they or others might be guilty. We here at home are at least accustomed for the most part to be mulcted by men of some culture. To class which controls the whole of one branch of the Legislature and seats so many members In the other has at any rate acquired or inherited some dexterity in its method of living upon the fruits of other men's labor. But Californian aristocracy is aristocracy in the rough, and its way of managing legislatures is, to say the least of it, primitive or Walpolian. They buy them outright. The whole State may be said to be in the hands of eight men, who buy the representatives to do what they want. From the Central Pacific Railroad downwards the people are crushed by a gang of unscrupulous monopolists, who laugh outright at the idea that universal suffrage can send up legislators whom they cannot control.

A peculiar feature noticed by the author which deserves explanation, but for which none is forthcoming, is alluded to as follows:—

Meanwhile it is worthy of note that although America has not the slightest reason to fear invasion from any quarter whatever, the inclination for drill is greatly on the increase, No doubt the regular army is absurdly small even taking account of the fact that there are only Indians to fight or Mexicans to keep in order. But the amount of military training that goes on in one way or another is astonishing for a purely industrial community. For this is by no means confined to those who take part in processions or for other purposes of political display. From one end of the country to the other a large proportion of all classes are devoting themselves to regular drill, and rifle-shooting at a target is becoming a popular pastime In England the militia and the volunteers are valuable, because invasion is or might be possible, but neither they nor the regular army possess such a magnificent building as the armory of the 7th Regiment of New York, for which the land and a large sum of money were voted by the city. It is sometimes said that all this military spirit is due to the war ; but this came to an end fifteen years ago, and still the ardor for military exercises is on the increase. The poor citizens share it no less than the well-to-do. The thousands of working man who met at the Sand Lots at San Francisco were well armed and most of them were or less drilled, and the organisations in other cities are not behindhand. Whether it is fear of the success of the mob which leads one side to drill so resolutely, and on the other hand a desperate hope on the part of the poorer classes that by preparing themselves beforehand they may be able to act better in concert at the next period of distress, it is impossible to say. But this voluntary militarisation in a country where to all appearance the people may calculate upon perpetual peace, and have quite enough in the industrial development of their enormous resources to occupy all their energies, is certainly singular enough. With such complete liberty as all possess, and the universal right to a fair hearing, it would indeed lead one almost to despair of human improvement if violence were resorted to to solve any political or social difficulty.

Although we have quoted copiously from the excellent paper before us, we should hardly do justice to the writer did we not append his final conclusion, which is as follows : —

But when all drawbacks are made the most of and all dangers discounted, the good most clearly over-balances the bad. There is no fair comparison between the condition of the mass of the people, either as regards food or education, in America and in England during ordinary times. The working class across the Atlantic is far better off. The mischiefs below the surface are common to our civilisation ; the compensating advantages are, happily for America, peculiar to her. If is always possible in such circumstances that the growth of public spirit may counteract dangers before they come to a head, that the selfishness of the capitalists and the middle class may be controlled by the State in the interest of the bulk of the people, Corruption in any case must gradually work its own cure. Education and the instinctive faculty for organisation will do the rest. After every deduction the great central fact stands out clear, that a nation of 50,000,000 can pass through periods of extraordinary political excitement time after time with little or no disturbances; that they deliberately choose to follow the party which calls for universal sacrifice and general equality ; that they absorb with little danger a less intelligent population, and are able to educate the bulk of the community up to a standard of patriotism which is nowise inferior to that which obtains in any old historic country. No privileged class is needed to keep up a traditional policy, no social subservience is thought necessary. There is no reason why Englishmen, with their glorious record of progress, should long envy the Americans any of their political advantages. That, however, notwithstanding caucuses and wirepullers, unscrupulous slugs and corrupt legislators, we have a good deal to learn from them in the direction of political organisation and general political knowledge can scarcely be questioned.