The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1844-08-30

men have returned, because their sgrea
miSh wives wished to see their marms.
The first aim of poor man Of thi.
class must of course be the necessaries Of
life. Here he finds them at first cost
Tie pays, for most of them, profit IL
nobody; not TO the farmer, for il lie
chooses, he may dig for himself and
plough for himself, since he can hire both
ground and oxen if he has not money to
buy them, paying the hire in portion oil
the fruits raised. He pays nothing to the
carrier, for articles Of the first necessity
are at hand; nor to the wholesale or re-
tail dealer, for what his own hands do
not procure directly he obtains by barter
for their labor. In the new country the
earth grants a free supply to all those
who have strength and courage to take it
from her bosom.
Our poor man knows no exacting land.
lord. There are for him no caiend8 iris
tes-no heavy quarler-days when his rent
must be forthcoming. If he needs a
house he builds one, finding the materials
IN the forest. lie cuts into proper lengths
the ancient trunks which stand ready at
his hand, shapes them at the ends, and
gets ready the beams and ra(lers, all with
his own trusty axe. When these are
drawn or rolled together, he is ready for
the raising, which is accomplished in one
afternoon by the willing aid of dozen or
a score OF neighbors, each of whom has
known what 1t was TO need the same SER
vice. Here is house half finished, and
for completing it little is required beyond
the owners own lubor-and behold our
poor man householder.
Fuel, the supply Of which furnishes
elsewhere so painful a contrast between
the comforts of the laboring class and
their employers, is here TO be had for the
cutting. Our poor man does not sit cow
ering over a handful of Goals or couple
of brands, forced TO see his half-dozen lit
tie ones changing places to get scaniiy
warm by turns. His cabin is rude, but
there is no freezing spot in it. That lux
ury OF luXuries in our northern winters
blazing wood fre-glves him no cause
to fear lest the current of life should turn
to ice in the veins of those he loves.
Whatever other evils beset him, he knows
not the cold hearthstone.
Shelter and fuel being thus readily pro-
vlded, let us consider what further advan-
tage our poor man finds in new country.
Is it none to have at his very door large
unenclosed tracts-pasture-land which,
whether owned by Government, by the
nonresident, or by the settler who has
not found means to fence in the whole
territory which calls him master, forms
an importont part of his available means
His COW and pig have unlimited privilege
in these broad savannas, and their appear
ance shows that wild grass and acorns
make excellent living.
Not only do the COW and pigs of the
so-called poor man live on the public, but
all our cows and pigs do the same for
most of the year, and if they are good
foragers they pick up pretty good IL
wing too. Instead, therefore, of wonder
ing that the poor man should keep these
useful animals, the wonder would be
should he do without them. Only the
rich man can afford that. And the wide
meadows furnish not only the summers
grass but the winters hay-bountiful
provision for the new settler, and equally
open to the poor and the rich.
The poor man in the new country has
one aid not dreamed of in the older settle
ments-his children. These are else
where subject of dread to those who
depend on the days labor for the days
food, and not always as welcome as they
should be TO some people who have plen-
ly to eat. Here, 'the more the merrier,
and the better off too. For six months
Di the year hats and shoes are out of fash
ion, and drapery of an almost classical
is quite sufficient for the youn
ger children. So the outward is easily
provided for; while the inner man is So
aced with bread and milk half a dozen
lines a-day, and asks for little else. At
seven or eight years old these bread and
milk urchlns begin TO be useful; to do
chores to run on errands, and even TO
lrive oxen and feed calves. have seen
,ne OF these iunctionaries, halless and |
'hoeless, narrowing, with great pair of
oxen, and issuing his haws and gees with
all the authority of three-score, while his
head reached scarcely half way up the
sides OF the team he was driving. From
This they become more and more useful,
until they reach their teens, when he
must be poor block indeed who does
not nav hack into tho common trnoeury