The Ohio Democrat and Dover advertiser. [volume] (Canal Dover, Ohio) 1839-1840, 1840-04-10
PROPER DISTINCTION.

Is, who have no fortune, and live without work,
We take the responsibility to say,they s TEAL
This comes to the root Of nineAtenihs of the
evils which afliet the country, and the sent.
ncnt quoted should be made the motto of every
municipal authority in the land. and the police |
II all our cities should act upon the principle |
-eigiously. One wise man has said, and many !
others haYe repeated the saying, tha'an ounce Of !
preventive is worth pound Of cure which is 1
moi a 10 The ess true for having SecoDe old for
true maxim, ike pure metal becomes brighter
with the use, while the silly and deceited aphor |
ism, like dross-infscted coin, is laid open 10 the
light, and cast aside. when the gliding which !
the imposition is worn away. Does
moi this charge apply to the actual condition of
societyi Surely it does, or all experience teach
90 that idleness is the mother Of Vice-that in
cities where the commission Of theft is of hour
ly occurrence, the offence lies with those who
are engaged in no regular employment, while
the industrious, who labor, and are subject to
of crime. Idlers are the bane Of
every society, and were our municipal authori-
ties to take cognizancs Of the case and see that
all were properly employed, they would be re-
Leved in great measure from the subsequent
eVlCS Of paupeIlsh anu 6Ilme.
We like very much the system adopted and
enforced by the worthy Mynhesrs of Holland.
some hundred years ago, of which we remem-
Der to have read in an old volume, lang syne
which was carried out with great success.
Then idlenesS was a sin, Of omission if not Of
commission, and once in specified time all
were summoned to appear before q magistrate,
and give an account of themselves-h they
had spent their time, in what employment and
il idle, who supported them. and all those inH
quistive interrogatones which il would we o.
pine, puzzle cur modern gentlemen loafers,'
SO sadly to answer. If they had been sedate
and industrious, they were dismissed with com.
mendations--if incapable Of convincing their
CsLsors that they were both industrious and hon
est they were SGT TO work by authority and
taught better habits. Fer 6ld offenders such
as were found 10 be incorrigibly coafrmed in
their lazy propensities they had machine sunk
in wator. something like square box with
just room enough inside for Dutchman of the
18th century (what great box y to stand in.
Apump was inserted;ths s uices opened land the
Delinquent, inundated, SO that he was compelled
to work for dear life. and if he relaxed a mo-
ment was on the point Of drowning-anG it is
further recorded, that but very few loved the
dreneher SO we'll as 10 be caught there again.
The first visit was enough, and the consequece
was that the people Of Holland were famed
throughout the world for industry, regular hab-
its and freedom from the common vices of CIV
iIized society, and even now they are proverb
-'as patient as Dutchman, is old, but has an
application every day. Well is the nation ent>
tied to the gratitude Gf the world, for this home
ly, but useful portion of its jurisprudence.
How gloriously would our country prosper
if this relic Of the olden time were to bo
brought into use Our canals would be dug
our waste lands tilled-our domestic manufac-
lures tenfold more Aonrlshing and all but inl'
prlsonment for debt and for crime would pros.
per-more would work, and as our friend a
Gaena has it, fewer would steal, and misery
poverty, and their attendant crimes would be
bdnished from the land. But curse on our cog
itations: how unpopular such a thing would bel
1t would be voted down in our citIest two to one
for how many sleek and genteel looking bibedi
there are who would take an ague in certain az
ticipation Of cold bath, If arraigned before
tribunal of these ancient and honorable guar.
dians of the public veal
Besides, this is the land of liberty, and mer
may do as they please in such matters. The
magistrate has no right to keep men honest, bu
only to punish them for not being so-be cannot
prevent crime, but he may punish the criminal
he cannot compel the der TO work for hmseu
but when he advances nick farther and steal
the considerate dispenser of justice makes him
get out stone for the state al Sing Sing. orBlack
| wells Island, or make tubs and shoes at Au,
burn at half price, which all had been spared
| him If he haG but been placed an hour in oul
Dut,hman's aquatick piory, and taught to a.
void crime before he had done trittlng with III
temp mptations--idleness and want.
Our modern ideas Of right and wrong are quit
loose and underlined. The right of property il
no. Justly appreciated. In the striciest mora
sense, the man who lives idly upon the fruits o
| the labor of others, and contracts debts whicl
he never intended to pay, is as culpabls as h
| who steals his neighbor's purse at once. Ave
'nore--fo r he imposes perhaps upon the kind
ness of his best friend, and pervertS that conf
dence, which he should strive above all thing
TO retain in unsulled integrity, TO the most bas'
and dislonGrable ends.
We should prefer to see snch as those deal
with as common criminals, than many of thu
sons aud daughters of misfortune, who, driver
by necessity and perhaps the cries Of tamishinl
| children, change to commit petty offence a
gainst the property of others. One is crime a.
merable TO the laws, and punished by statue.
tho other is crime which the laws scarcely
reach, but if either were to te made an aterna
tive, what man Of true sensibllity and honora
BILE feeling would not choose the melancholy net
essity Of the one before the meanness and trca
cherry Of the other
The line Of distinction snoud be drawn NOR
closely between the happiness and security o
the community, without which freedom canno
be said to exist, and which can come only from
wise ana 2rovident regulations, and that lawles
license to do wrong which too many style lbeI
ty. No people can long be happy unless crime
is either driven from tho land dy sangulnary pur
iShments (Which all know cannot be done) o.
its commission prevented by law. Then let thu
law be leveled at that which produces vice, and
generates mischief in communities, and the sue
ceedng misdeeds will cease to burden the lant
with the victims Of folly. ....
Let industry be esteemed honorable, and en-