The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1840-06-09

rency, but in sober fact for the purpose Of establish
ing a more despoc Government nj home.
The great opposition party of The country, who
now it is believed have king numbers on their
side, object to ENGRAVING this foreign system upon
our Institutions. They object to il because II
ries the country back Stale Of barbdrisn. They
see in 1t the fruits Of evil. We ARE not Q.
ven stationary under lis exacuons. Our move
mers are retrogresslvc. The cardinal doctrine OF
the Agrarun creed is the levelnG system-a sys-
tenn which the supporters of the administration
cal an equality but which, by its adoption, re-
solves society into its original elements of wicked
ness, ignorance and corruption. We are, men,
retrograding 10 the days of The Anglo Saxon harba-
rsm, under the existing reign OF men and measures
in the United States. Ia the days of Alfred, the
prevailing evil was the system of inequality a
mong the different classes Of society. Then, as
now, the effect of the law was 10 make the rich
man richer, andthc poor man poorer. Men were
then driven in teams, were the horses and oxen
OF their rich owners. Violence was abroad then,
rs now "ldleness," which we are told "is the
the u cat fomenter ofeVery other i'll, Sesnt crime
then, as now. II requires but litle reflections to
learn thu causes Of Tie almost revolutionary, and
absolutely irresponsible and immoral state of so
ciety in the country. Hunger will make men des
perate, and idlnness and suffering are as sure TO
lead desperate of violence, to assassinaons,
to ncendaryisms, aud 10 rphhings, as employment
Is to the formation Of good habits. We are told
that late as tho fourteenth century and later,
robbers formed themselves into bands under The
protection of powerful barons, who employed
them in acts Of violence and plumber, justified
their conduct, anu pnrtuoK O1 theIr booty. we
have as yet, thank God reached a condition so
bad as this but it needs prophet to el that
we approaching to il under the wild and vision
airy experiments of corrupt politicians.
Not The least importance then of the results Of
tho subtreasury scheme IS the effect il will have
upon the morals Of the community II it shall
hnvelhe effect to make them idle, it will tend also To
make them immoral; and while the officers of Gov
eminent have their fortunes bettered, experience
has told us that their principles of morality by
no means improved .y
| My solemn conviction is, that IL the policy of
the present administration should be carried out,
and especially That portion OF lis policy which pro-
poses the reduction of the wages Of labor, and the
Gripping Of the energies and the means Of honest
industrythc total destruction Of The credit system,
tho restoration rather establishment of the fl
nancial policy Of the hard money Governments Of
Eutope,-we shall many Of us live to see This glo
rous Republic of ours sunken 10 tho condition Of
The worst of the Governments are striving to
! initiate With what justice, | ask, is il to sup.
pose that are 10 return TO but Of the condi
lions of the Hard Money Governments of the Old
| World. f.. .... ......
How are we 10 escape the attending evils of that
system Of finance which has been adopted by 9th
! er countries? The officers Of Government under
their Independent Trnasury schemes, are above tho
| People, and irresponsible TO the People. They
task masters, and the laborer is regarded serf
or slave. H|
Are we at will TO establish one system of their
! Government and abandon all others? Are to
have an exclusive metallic currency and none ofthe
nvenencies attending IL? Are we TO reduce
the wages OF labor aud yet 10 DO free from The dis
tresses which tall upen people in countries where
wages are low? Is Ike value of property to be di,
minished without any change of circumstances
growing ont OF such reduction' In holding up Chi
ma and Cuba and the Gov ernments of Europe as ex
amples worthy Of imitation, we should go one
step beyond the nero financial policy of such Gov.
ernments, aud look to the condition of the People.
abapsf 81 %a aere nsaTes Of life His
lies will be effected by 1t while the rich man obv-
ously becomes richer MS the poor man becomes
The denpndeuce Of tho IN ia almost i'm
the ratio us the ndepe ndence of the other
History is full of instruction upon this point
In the days of vassalage days which We fear
arc TO return again, unless those who in power
are thurst from their Ugh places of trust by the
! strong arm of the People the food OF laborers
CONSIST principally of fish, chiefly herrings and
binary bread and beer. Mutton and cheese were
considered articles of luxury and the ,o0ges Of ht
Iaborer 1ccrc t1ed at penny day tn haroGst and
a hg!f penny at other seasons. The habiation ms
of tho people without chmneys and the
princapl furniture consisted of brass pot, valued
from two to three shillngs, and bed, valued from
three to six shilngs Let us look for momen
at the condition of the Agrculturalists of Europe
when wages were reduced aud when the poo
II man was to all ntents and purposes The slave o
r the rch.-The poorer of the producers Of whea
q were then in the habit of getting in their crops n
the earliest moment and il was sold til,
ii harvest When wages a penny
n day the price of wheat was IS IS. quarter. A
d later period than this wheat sold before the har
vest at ga quarter, fell to 6s. Sd n quarter-on,
% ny make this reduction, low the original price
was, fiom tho necessity of meeting past engage
ments and present wants.
Another interesting period in English histor,
which we are reminded ofby the great anxiety O
the American Administration to reduce the wage
of labor is the memorable provision called III
Statute Of laborers, provided by Proclamation an,
designed to fix the wages of the laborer. Cartnen
r ploughmen, plough drivers, shepherds, swineherd
n and other laborers all compelled to work a
n prices fixed bv lawn districts where it Gus
G tomary TO pay wheat money was still 10 he pal
at the rate of ten pence bushel-not at the optic
r, of the laborers but "A, the employers. This elias
n of iaborers were employed by the year othr
- Tor periods and not by the day.
O Under tho statute law, weeders were to b
o Paid at the rate of one penny, mowers five penc
o per acre; or five pence per day The reapers dun
Q ing the first week in August received two penc
n per day. These men had nothing else, and wer
is obliged to support themselves and famles-(
they had anyl-out OF this sum There was anot
# er Infamous law which regulated the diet and ar
pareI orlaborers, and another still, which prohibit
n ed these men from removing from one plate TO All