The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-01-07 00:00:00

SLAVERY. WHAT IS SLAVERY?

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES.
Slia—That facts are forced upon our attention, even as
greatness is thrust upon some people, is what any one who
has moved about much in the world, will hardly deny.
Whether we will or no, we are compelled to take notice of
some things; we cannot shut our eyes to them, if we
would. Examples are displayed plentifully around us,
and I have thought it expedient, so far as I have progressed
with these letters, to allude to two classes of society--
namely, the actual poor, who are overworked and ground
down by their employers, and the bookkeepers and
clerks—or, more properly speaking, the "genteel" of
small incomes. I was speaking about this class of people
at the conclusion of my last, and will now endeavour to
enlarge upon the subject.
Now, sir, how is it possible for a clerk, who has a wife
and tamily to support, and appearances to keep up on a
salary of .e-80 or "100 a year—and how many there aro in
a great commercial town like this who do not get more,
and in very many instances there are numbers woo do not
get ae much—how is it possible for him so far to get on.
in the world, struggling, as he must do, with the tide of
adversity, in order to keep his head above water during
his onward voyage through life? It is, I think, no very
difficult matter to surmise how he must exist— for living it
cannot well be called. In the first place, he must certainly
have a house to reside in, and he inhabits one at such a
low rent as his means will enable him to pay—perhaps a
small suburban cottage, barely large enough to afford
common conveniences for those who cling to him for
comfort and support. And, doubtless, it may well be
supposed that the strictest frugality must be observed, and
the most rigid economy and vigilant management, essen-
tial to carry on the affairs of a menage like this, with any
degree of decency and respectablity. I maintain that
many of the lower grades of society aro infinitely
more comfortable and better off, for they have
no occasion, in the same degree, for the study of
outward appearances to be observed. They can live
in their humble dwellings, and go about, when toil is
over, in their working clothes—their barragon suits and
linsey petticoats,—and the husband, a labourer, at 3s or
3s 6d a day, when in perfect health, with his wife's
earnings as well as his own; for if she be a thrifty woman,
she will contrive to add something to what he brings
home at the end of the week,—then can my assertion be
denied that the one class, if frugal, is far more indepen-
dent in the pecuniary affairs of this life than the other.
And, moreover, bear in mind what the labouring man gets
when in full employ is ready money, and not paid
quarterly, like the salary, as is generally the case, of the
poor unfortunate clerk; and in many instances where
equivalent wages are given for work done he is in a better
position to fight his way through the world. He enjoys
this comfortable position when properly paid for his hire,
and has so far great advantages over the clerk that on
Saturday evenings he can go with his basket on
one arm, and his wife on the other, being convinced,
as he is, that he can get his Sunday's dinner
far cheaper by purchasing it late when the butchers are
not quite sure that their stock will "keep" till Monday;
and, moreover, he takes great delight in it, as he not only
breathes fresh air, but feels it in some degree a matter of
recreation after a hard and laborious week at his trade is
over. The clerk, on the other hand, finds it difficult to so
contrive and descend to all this searching for cheapness
of living. He has a natural feeling that, by his posi-
tion in life, having had a superior education bestowed
upon him, and ideas of a higher order instilled into him
from his earliest youth, that he should expect something
different to all this—something that would harmonise
more with the scale of society in which he has been
brought up. Yes, this is not as it should be; a different
order of things ought to exist ; and I can well sympa.thise
with those whose avocation is incessantly to wield the
pen, to pore over ponderous books, to turn over and over
again the leaves of the wearisome ledger, and make out or
examine intricate accounts, which is the every day work
carried on in most of our mercantile establishments, and
their only reward for it all is—pay the most paltry and
miserable ! Business men who thus occupy the services of
clerks to transact their commercial affairs, little dream of
the many necessary wants requiiste to bring up a small
family ; for, irrespective of meat and drink to satisfy the
indispensible requirements of the body, there are a variety
of other ways for calls being made upon their small finances,
such as a suit of clothes and shoes for one, a new dress
and tippet for another, suitable attire for themselves and
their wives, servants' wages, taxes, pew.rent in a church,
school bills and doctors' bills, and endless other incidental
expenses, too numerous to mention—and all this on a
hundred a year ! How monstrous and absurd. Far
better go and break stones en the highway road than drag
and struggle through the world iu this toilsome and
unremunerative way.
It often puzzles us when we reflect deliberately and
maturely upon important matters like these, how we are
to train and bring up our children to a calling most
advantageous to them and becoming their station in life ;
how to guide them to make use of talents which, by costly
outlay, has been freely bestowed upon them, and how to
help them on in the world in carrying out any respectable
trade or profession which they may have acquired by
serving their time to.
There are inefficient clerks, I grant, as well as ineffi-
cient workmen ; and this is so far greatly to be deplored,
that the fault very often does not rest entirely with
themselves; for, how many parents and guardians will
bear me out in the assertion, that money without end has
been literally thrown away by placing them in employments
quite unsuited to their tastes, and, therefore, should it not
behove every one who holds the responsible charge of
bringing up the young to try and read the bent of their
minds thoroughly, in order to find out their natural
capabilities, which, so far from lying dormant in them,
frequently displays itself even in the amusements of their
early boyhood ; and by thus keeping a strict and watchful
eye over them whilst their budding minds are expanding
to turn their talents to some good account to bring them
up to, something* which will prove, hereafter, to be their
" stock in trade " through life, and so far enable them to
escape the heavy thundercloud ever learning in the
distance, ere the bow of promise has ceased to span its
future—ere that serenest sky shall be darkened—ere
their fond and loving hearts shall feel the death-pang
of despair. It does, indeed, concern us all to study
well the disposition and tastes of our children,
for their keen eyes are sure to make it out sooner or later
if we neglect it, and if we force them to pursuits for
which they are entirely unfitted, though perhaps in a
manner influenced by good intentions, many evil results
must as a natural consequence inevitably follow, and
which are not very easily eradicated. Let us strive then
to prevent them from entering into life with such a chart
of shoals and quicksands constantly before them. But,
so far study them as to place them to some occupation
they may fix upon, and tell them to go to work, for
Nature utters this aloud in every human ear. She
reminds us by a thousand unmistakeable signs, that
everything within her domain is at work, and that there-
fore we have no right to stand still. She shews us that
every atom and particle of the material world is in a state
of constant activity, that nothing does or can remain at
rest. Then, if these things be so, what a disgraceful
anomaly is laziness, for having nothing to do is the very
worst excuse that could be preferred for doing nothing.
And, again, to have nothing to do is a disgrace to a
reasonable being; to love it is a vice, and to persist in
it is a crime. Whether deprived of empolyment by circum-
stances adverse to us, or are in no need of it through
the possession of a competency, we are morally bound
to find or to create a vocation for our activities and
faculties. Every man ought to have a leading aim of
some sort, and, indeed, every man whose mind is not
morbidly affected, has such an aim, and all that he has to
do is to take good care, in the first instance, that his aim
is a laudable one—such a one as he can follow, and with
heart and soul set about the prosecution of it with vigour
and perseverance, in order to realise to himself the truth
or falsity of impressions formed by actual experiment ;
and although numberless obstacles may be thrown in his
way, he will ultimately succeed in reducing his inventions
to practise, and by so exerting himself will ultimately
achieve his desired end, by so far making a comfortable
competency for his family, if not amass to himself, a
princely fortune: Therefore, I say again, go to work and
try.

.•
It is a common remark that "time flies," and ought to
be improved. There are few, however, who make the
observation are really aware how much it involves, and
how far they themselves come short of it. Most
persons do not rightly estimate the worth of smaller
fragments of their time. They have large ideas of what
may be accomplished in years and months, but of the
value of minutes, or even hours, they seem unconscious.
Yet it is only by diligently seizing and employing these,
that we can secure from waste the longer periods. Why
is t his truth so often and so strangely overlooked ? That it
is so is obvious, whatever be the cause. Many people act
as though it had never occurred to them that life is made
up of days—and days of moments. They are, [perhaps,
not. chargeable with gross indolence, or habitual neglect
of duty. But in the intervals of needful occupation they
loiter, dream, or trifle; and, at the close of the year,
wondering that they have done so little, and failed to
accomplish so many of their plans, they complain of the
shortness of time, the multiplicity of their engagements,
or the peculiar hindrances they have sustaained ; in short
throw the blame on anything or anybody rather than
themselves. Might not this be prevented? With energy
of purpose it certainly may.
It is a proverb in respect of money matters, that "if we
take care of the pence, the pounds will take care of them-
selves; and a similar maxim will hold good in regard to
our economy of time. The best mode of ensuring this
economy is to do our daily work on system. Those men
of business accomplish most who have a plan for the
regular performance of their various duties, and who
never deviate from it, except on occasions of emergency.
So important is this habit, that it is hard to say in what
sphere or occupation its value is most deeply felt. By
adopting or adhering to it we fill up our working time, so
as almost entirely to preclude those brief intervals of
cessation which most people find so difficult to improve.
Nobody is kept waiting for us, or keeps us waiting ; and
another consequence of this is, that our work is sooner
&pie, and our leisure, when it comes, is continuous.
Thelpleasure experienced by persons who thus fiulfil their
appointed daily tasks can hardly be conceived by those
who have no method in their business, or who go about it
lazily and with half a heart. These people are always
behind-hand, and always in confusion, their work is never
done, and the intervals they have in it run to absolute
and total waste. It may be noted, too, that those who are